English
HomeDocumentationArticles and studiesA Study of International Press Coverage of the Canonization of Josemaría Escrivá
Documentation
A Study of International Press Coverage of the Canonization of Josemaría Escrivá
Juan Manuel Mora
The following pages offer some reflections on the echo awakened in public opinion by the canonization of the founder of Opus Dei, as reflected in the media. Some studies have already been published (1), generally in the form of surveys of the press in a particular country, and limited to the actual days of the canonization. The present study does not aim to summarize the information published, nor to repeat what many people already know from what they read, saw, heard or experienced when present at the canonization. It is rather to attempt to give an overall view ranging over different countries and the preceding ten years (2), and to trace the tendencies and basic themes reflected in media comments on the canonization. Reference will be made to the beatification of Josemaría Escrivá on 17 May 1992 as a significant precedent, and the way it was reported in the media, compared and contrasted with the reporting on his canonization.
CONTENTS:
1. Introduction
(a) Preliminary remarks
(b) The context
2. Review by date and by theme
(a) 20 December 2001
(b) 9 January 2002
(c) 26 February 2002
(d) 6 October 2002
(e) After 6 October
3. Epilogue
1. Introduction
(a) Preliminary remarks
On 21 December 2002 the Pope had a meeting with the Roman Curia to exchange Christmas greetings. In his speech the Holy Father referred to some of the significant events of the year which about to end. The last passages of his speech were on the subject of holiness, the “summit of the ecclesial landscape”. He thanked God for the beatifications and canonizations he had carried out in 2002: those of Pedro de San José de Betancur, Juan Diego and the Oaxaca martyrs which he had celebrated during his visit to Guatemala City and Mexico City; and of Padre Pio de Pietrelcina and Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer, celebrated in Rome, which had, the Pope added, “awakened a special echo in public opinion.” (3).
This provisional study offers personal interpretations and a few hypotheses, but does not claim to be a definitive or final account. In-depth analysis would require a detailed, methodical study of all the press articles published, and it would have to be done after sufficient time had passed to provide the necessary objectivity (4).
It is a recognized fact that public opinion as reflected in the press is very hard to measure, not only because of its transitory nature but also because it has no clear outlines. As a result, prominence is easily given to subjective impressions with no foundation in reality, or even to personal prejudices. Additionally, in the case of Saint Josemaría’s canonization, the fact that this event was reported in the press of many different countries, with very different overtones, means that it is not always possible to identify general lines or factors common to all.
At this point it may be useful to consider some elements of the context of Saint Josemaría’s canonization which enable a fuller understanding of it to be gained.
(b) The context
(i) Recent beatifications and canonizations
In his address on 21 December 2002, John Paul II referred to the canonization of Padre Pio, which had taken place on 16 June 2002. This, and other beatifications and canonizations in the past few years, have made a considerable impact on the mass media. It would be fair to say that together they have given the topic of holiness a place in the international media, from which it had been virtually absent for a very long time.
The case of Padre Pio is a highly significant one, especially in Italy, his native country, where popular devotion to him is widespread and noticeable. This is more apparent than ever now: the church of San Giovanni Rotondo is one of the most frequently visited shrines in Western Europe; pictures of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina turn up in the most unexpected places in towns and the countryside – in buses, pubs and offices; there are dozens of internet sites about him and even credit cards and football championships named after him; and at the time of his beatification in May 1999, Italian television channels vied with one another to be the first to produce a mini-series about him (5).
This is not the place to outline the coverage of Padre Pio’s canonization in the Italian mass media. What is of interest here is the fact that it meant the irruption into the media of a radical figure and model of holiness, which pointed straight to Christ on the Cross, to stigmata, miracles, sin and the grace of Confession. Vittorio Messori called Padre Pio a “brilliant meteorite” who seemed to have come to us straight from the Middle Ages (6). This phenomenon, running directly contrary to popular culture in many aspects, attracts widespread attention and confirms “today’s rediscovery of the authentic values found in popular piety” (7) and its open return to the public sphere (8).
Padre Pio and the cause of his canonization were also the object of criticism, starting before he was beatified. Old myths and extravagant accusations were resurrected, together with real problems such as the difficulty some Catholics experienced in understanding Padre Pio’s particular brand of holiness. In any case, these attacks were mild in comparison with those levelled at other recent causes, such as the canonizations of Edith Stein, Pope Pius IX, and Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac. In addition to what was said above in regard to Padre Pio and popular piety, it should also be said that the criticisms aroused by certain canonizations show that saints are not always “politically correct” (9), and there exist unresolved discrepancies between the aims of the Church and those of the dominant culture.
Such critical reactions are evident again now with the announcement of the beatification of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who might have been thought of as a universally admired figure. A particular element in contemporary culture seems to finds it impossible to accept someone who says that suffering can lead people closer to Christ and be a way of purification and salvation (10). How could anyone be praised for preaching submission to suffering instead of seeing it as something which must simply be got rid of? And so, when Christianity speaks of suffering and the Cross, it once again shows how it resists mere assimilation by the culture of the day. However, bearing in mind that one of the greatest dangers the Church faces today is relativism (11), this conflict may not be such a bad thing after all. It proves that the dialogue is ongoing, and that although there is not yet complete agreement, at least there is no confusion.
(ii) The Jubilee of the year 2000
Another important event, which shaped almost ten years of output on religious matters, was the Jubilee of the year 2000. With something so rich in content it is not easy to measure its results, either among Catholics or beyond the boundaries of the Church. Basically John Paul II approached it from the viewpoint of faith from beginning to end, making it an invitation to look to Christ once again on the two thousandth anniversary of his Incarnation (12).
Essentially the Jubilee was not a media event. It made its effects felt through highly visible celebrations, but its influence worked at a deeper level. According to Novo Millennio Ineunte, the fruits of the Jubilee were: contributing to an increased spirit of unity and communion among Christians (no. 12); helping many young people to renew their desire to take part enthusiastically in the evangelizing mission of the Church (no. 9); clarifying anew the centrality of the mystery of Christ in the life of Catholics (no. 5); and bringing about a calm and positive attitude in the Church’s own understanding of herself and her mission in the world (no. 15).
It is worth dwelling on this last point from the perspective of public opinion. In the year 2000 the Church spoke ever more explicitly about the great problems facing the world: war, poverty, the family, external debt, and violence against life. Additionally, the years of preparation for the Jubilee witnessed a progressively clearer and broader general awareness of Pope John Paul II’s moral authority. This became an accepted fact, and helped to bring about a more mature view of the Church in many countries.
Without going into the personal merits of the Holy Father, mention may be made here of an event which was closely connected to the story of his life: the fall of the Berlin Wall, which really had “traversed the whole of humanity and penetrated people’s hearts and minds, creating divisions that seemed destined to last indefinitely” (13). When the ideological blocks disappeared, the Church recovered not only her freedom but also her geographical, cultural and social unity. To quote John Paul II again, “the world, tired of ideology, is opening itself to the truth. (14)”
Now that long-standing ideological divisions have been for the most part overcome, the Church’s aims are more easily accepted by all kinds of people (both conservative and progressive, to employ the conventional terms) to the extent that they free themselves of prejudices. Concerning Italy, press comments on the Pope’s historic visit to the Italian Parliament on 14 November 2002 show a new maturity in the relations between religious and political subjects, with greater openness, serenity and respect.
The foregoing might seem to have little to do with the subject of this essay. But it must not be forgotten that in the last twenty or thirty years religious journalism has often made use of political terms as a framework for analysis, dividing the Church, over-simplifying the truth and making dialogue more difficult (15). Religious reporting in the media is strongly marked by the principles at the heart of journalism, and journalism is a profession which is in turn deeply influenced by political ideologies. It follows therefore that press reporting on the Church has benefited from the cultural change which has taken place over the last twenty years.
2. Review by date and by theme
This description of some aspects of the press coverage of the canonization of Josemaría Escrivá will follow a broadly chronological order, though sometimes interrupting this to look at underlying themes where this is relevant to the context.
The important dates in the last phase of the cause of canonization were: the reading of the decree of approbation of the miracle on 20 December 2001; the announcement of the date of the canonization after the ordinary public consistory of 26 February 2002; and the day of the canonization ceremony, 6 October 2002. To these may be added a fourth date, 9 January 2002, the centenary of Josemaría’s birth, since some of the activities organized to celebrate the centenary attracted media attention.
(a) 20 December 2001: Decree of approbation of the miracle
The first unofficial public notification came on 29 September 2001. On that day it was reported on the news on RAI (an Italian television channel), followed by the rest of the Italian media, that a meeting had been held of the Commission of Cardinals as the last step in the approbation of the miracle, and that therefore the road to canonization lay open. The “Vatican watcher” who gave the report, Giuseppe De Carli, stated that the year 2002 would be “an important one for the Church” because of the beatifications and canonizations of recent figures which would be celebrated in the course of it, as against those who held that a period of dullness had set in with the end of the Jubilee. In particular, De Carli offered the names of Padre Pio, Mother Teresa, Pius XII and Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer, calling them “giants of holiness in the twentieth century” (16).
Shortly afterwards, on 4 October, the Roman daily Il Tempo published another unofficial announcement: the identity of the person in whom the miracle had been worked, Dr Manuel Nevado, and the story of his cure. In the following months the Italian media were often the first to publish news related to the canonization, and journalists in other countries used them as their source. Be that as it may, in Autumn 2001 there was nothing more than rumours to be had, and most of the media preferred to wait for confirmation rather than publish unfounded items.
On 20 December 2001 the Vatican information services gave the first official news on the subject, with the announcement of the reading of the Decree on the miracle. The Italian and international press reported this, some with comments and others more briefly. Reports on the miracle and about the person who had been cured began to appear in the media (17).
On 21 December 2001 the Spanish daily La Vanguardia (Barcelona) published an exclusive interview with the Austrian Cardinal Franz Koenig, who spoke about the founder of Opus Dei’s deep understanding of the mission of lay people and other major themes of Vatican II (18). The retired Archbishop of Vienna expressed his joy about all the new saints, and said that Josemaría Escriva’s canonization meant that he “belonged to the treasury of the Church”. This idea, expressed in many different ways, was repeated frequently throughout 2002 by members of the hierarchy and ordinary Catholics. It seems to have been one of the main collective perceptions produced by the event. Cardinal Meisner, for example, said in Cologne on 19 January 2002, during his homily at the Mass commemorating the centenary, that the canonization meant the “de-privatization” of Josemaría Escrivá, who had now become part of the “shared inheritance of the Church” (19).
The journalist Marco Tosatti (La Stampa, Turin, 21 December 2001) reviewed the history and evolution of the image of Opus Dei in Italian media over the past few years. He added that in his opinion the forthcoming canonization of Josemaría Escrivá would not give rise to much controversy (20); this was confirmed by events. He speculated on the reason for this change in attitude in two press conferences, on 26 February and 3 October. The facts and reflections offered in the present study may provide at least part of the answer.
(b) 9 January 2002: Centenary
Shortly after the reading of the Decree came 9 January 2002, the centenary of the birth of Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer. Conferences, exhibitions and seminars were organized and articles were published on the topic in many countries.
An international congress on “The Grandeur of Ordinary Life” was held in Rome from 8 to 11 January 2002, organized by the University of the Holy Cross. Teachers and professionals from different countries and with different areas of expertise gathered to reflect together on one of the central themes of the teachings of Josemaría Escrivá. The congress attracted the attention of the Italian media (21) and foreign correspondents, who focused on the participation in the congress of members of different denominations and faiths (22) as well as social and political leaders of contrasting tendencies.
The congress in Rome and the other activities organized around the centenary were not simply commemorative (23), but aimed to go further, taking occasion of the anniversary to study Escrivá’s teachings, consider their application, examine the meaning of such seminal ideas as “the sanctification of work”, “the greatness of ordinary life”, “following Christ in the middle of the world” and others, which have already become common currency in Christian parlance. Something similar may be said of the activities organized around the canonization, which also offered an “invitation to reflection” (24).
Orazio Petrosillo wrote an account of the canonization in Il Messaggero, Rome, 7 October 2002. He said “Starting from yesterday, the authority of the Church has made its own the strategic lines of apostolate in the sphere of work, and the sanctification of work. In the most solemn and committed way, John Paul II has incorporated the programme traced out by that Spanish priest into his own magisterium.” He went on, “The things of every day, work, one’s job, have to be done in a search for perfection, because the value of work lies in doing it well to serve men and to offer it to God.” These words make a fair summary of another tendency which was very much in evidence throughout 2002: an attitude of serene reflection and a focus on underlying ideas.
Among other themes analyzed around the centenary, one in particular is worth noting: the social consequences of the sanctification of work. This was the central theme of a conference held in Naples on 13 October 2001 (25). On this and similar occasions, speakers recalled that the founder of Opus Dei saw work as “a self-sacrificing service that is not degrading, but uplifting; it expands the heart (…) and leads one to pursue the honour and the good of people of every nation – to try to see that every day there are fewer people who are poor and uneducated, fewer souls without faith, without hope; fewer wars, less uncertainty, and more charity and peace” (26).
As well as spending days studying these and related topics, the centenary celebrations also took a practical form. People from many different countries decided to set up social projects in memory of and homage to Josemaría Escrivá. In the course of 2002 rural hospitals, training schools, and centres for immigrants and the elderly were set up in Nigeria, Venezuela, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mexico, Colombia, Spain, and Uruguay (27).
There is an evident connection between the ideals behind these projects and those of Harambee 2002 which was closely linked to the canonization. The source of their inspiration was the same: the teachings of the founder of Opus Dei. Harambee 2002 was set up by the organizing committee of the canonization ceremonies, and its main patron was Mama Ngina Kenyatta. Basically it concerned the creation of a fund for educational projects in Sub-Saharan Africa out of donations from people who came to the canonization and anyone else who wanted to contribute (28). The appeal met with a generous response from a large number of individuals, institutions and businesses (29), and was amply featured in the media which covered the ceremonies of 6 October. All these social initiatives not only represent tangible fruits of the 6 October celebrations, but also show how the new Saint’s message applies to cultural and social development among other aspects.
To return to 9 January 2002, it is worth underlining one particular fact about the press coverage, and that is the quality of the reporting in Christian publications. The list is a long one (30). Of particular interest is the article on 9 January 2001by John L. Allen (31), National Catholic Reporter’s Rome correspondent, and the two articles by Annabel Miller published in The Tablet, 10 and 17 October 2001 (32). These articles sum up a process which was repeated throughout the coming months. As the canonization of Josemaría Escrivá was news, journalists decided to investigate, starting off from an attitude of disagreement with Opus Dei which, to begin with, they only knew from references in newspapers. Their investigations brought them into contact with people and Centres of the Prelature, and with other sources opposed to it. By the end of their investigation the journalists maintained that what they had found did not reflect the stereotypes. Allen, addressing fellow-reporters, stated that it was a mistake to support prejudiced views, and that “Rather than demonizing Opus Dei, progressives need to deepen their theological reflection on the key issues facing Catholicism (33).
The examples given here focused on the content of Josemaría Escrivá’s teachings. In the course of 2002 many Catholic journalists improved their knowledge of these teachings, as is apparent from their articles. This happened not only with journalists but also with theologians, as in the following case.
A number of German-speaking intellectuals decided to mark the centenary of Escrivá’s birth by publishing an interdisciplinary collection of essays, testimonies and studies on the life and teachings of the founder of Opus Dei. The book included a contribution by Mgr Koch, Bishop of Basle and a theologian in his own right. A certain journalist called the Bishop’s action regrettable. This attack gave Mgr Koch the opportunity to publish a very frank, open explanation of the reasons why he had contributed to the work. In his article (34) Mgr Koch recalled that in 1992 he had publicly expressed reservations about Josemaría Escrivá and Opus Dei, which at the time he only knew through hearsay. In the meantime, he had read the writings of Josemaría Escrivá and met some of the faithful of Opus Dei. The new information he had gained had made him change his mind, and this explained his present appreciation of the future Saint. Mgr Koch ended by saying that it was wrong to judge people or things without knowing them, and right to acknowledge one’s mistakes.
This is not the place to study the media mechanisms which provide information about the Church and Catholics. But it is plain that only in certain circumstances do the main media focus on religious matters. One of the situations which make religious affairs “newsworthy” is internal division: to put it in rather simplified terms, if there is no conflict there is no news, just the same as in other spheres. And if there is internal conflict, it ends up by making the pages of the big dailies. In the present case, the quantity and quality of the articles published in the Catholic media around the world created a climate of serenity with regard to the canonization of Josemaría Escrivá.
(c) 26 February 2002: the consistory
On 26 February 2002, in an ordinary public consistory, the Pope announced the dates of several beatification and canonization ceremonies, and confirmed that Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer would be canonized on 6 October. He also announced that of Padre Pio for 16 June and gave the dates of canonizations during his trip to Central America.
Some of the media reported comments from different notable figures about the news of Josemaría’s canonization: cardinals and bishops from several countries, the postulator of the cause of canonization of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Giancarlo Cesana (Communione e Liberazione), Carla Cotignoli (Focolari), and a representative of Catholic Action, among others (35).
On 26 February itself, in a press conference, Mgr Flavio Capucci, postulator of the cause of canonization of Josemaría Escrivá, read some messages he had received from the superiors of enclosed orders of religious who were Cooperators of Opus Dei, about the canonization. One of these messages may stand as a summary of the rest: “We are delighted about the forthcoming canonization of Blessed Escrivá, and are certain that it represents a gift for the whole Church” (36). In the course of the press conference Sister Fernanda Barbiero, a lecturer in theology, made a joint presentation of a book (37) of testimonies by priests and men and women religious who had known Josemaría Escrivá and witnessed to the holiness of his life. Sister Barbiero’s speech reviewed the reasons why, in her opinion, the example and message of the founder of Opus Dei can help Catholics to follow Christ, each along their own individual path.
For a few months after 26 February, when the Pope’s decision to canonize Josemaría Escrivá and the date of the ceremony had been published, media interest in the topic slackened, and then picked up again strongly as 6 October approached.
There were, however, exceptions to this general tendency. Between March and September various news items were published, mainly in relation to the centenary. One of them concerned the presentation, in several Spanish cities, of the critical-historical edition of Camino (The Way) (38) by Professor Pedro Rodriguez. This book is the first volume in the series “The Complete Works” being undertaken by the Instituto Histórico Josemaría Escrivá, an international research centre set up by the Prelate of Opus Dei on 9 January 2001 (39). The Institute fosters “historical studies on Blessed Josemaría and other scientific (theological, canonical, pedagogical etc.) works on his spirit and his teachings, and on the apostolates which have been set in motion under his influence, directly or indirectly” (40).
The publication of this book was a very significant event in terms of the media as well as in other ways. Press reports on the presentations, interviews and special features all contributed to a better understanding of the author of The Way (41), which, with close on five million copies sold, is not just a best-seller but a long-seller (42). The critical-historical edition gives details on how the book came to be written, the spiritual journey of the author while he was writing it, and the connections between the process of literary creation with the apostolic dynamism of the early years of Opus Dei.
Leaving aside other considerations, since this survey is simply concerned with the canonization and its representation in the media, it can be stated Rodriguez’s book provided an unprecedented insight into Josemaría Escrivá, because of the sources employed, the clarity of the texts and documents, and the methodology used.
In Rodriguez’s volume, Saint Josemaría Escriva is shown to the reader in a new light. His joys, crosses, doubts, influences, love for God and for his neighbour are all made apparent. And it is not only the author of The Way but his thinking and the book itself that are presented anew, even for people who perhaps know The Way by heart. By giving the context of a particular point, or comments the author made about it, Rodriguez frequently enables its exact meaning to become clear. What some people had seen merely as a series of pieces of good advice was now seen to be a valuable collection of lived experiences, from which Saint Josemaría Escrivá himself was the first to learn. Paradoxically, this critical-historical edition, which might be thought of as the “coldest” edition of The Way, is in fact the one which best reveals Saint Josemaría’s deep humanity and high degree of holiness (43). As this type of work, based on authentic documents and produced with scholarly method, is published, the personality of Saint Josemaría can be expected to become better known in its historic reality. In the sphere of public opinion and the press, this kind of publication helps to raise the level of debate above mere arguments devoid of real content.
Some stereotypes which distorted the historical truth (44) about Saint Josemaría Escrivá and his teachings were repeated around 6 October (45). They can be summed up as follows: (a) there were very few of them compared with the number of reports which succeeded in reflecting the essence of his message; (b) they consisted mainly of unfounded statements about historical events (alleged connection with the Franco regime in Spain, opinion on Nazism, and so on, some of them being really grotesque); (c) frequently they merely reproduced the content of old articles (46); and (d) they were sometimes circulated by an international news agency which simply recycled archive material without taking account of current news.
In this field it is worth noticing another of the most significant “collective perceptions” of the year 2002. An Italian journalist wrote that “with the passage of time, certain emotions have been moderated” (47). And a Spanish newspaper, referring to former criticisms, said “Of all that, practically nothing remains today” (48). This may be a slight exaggeration, but it is true that the results of the research being done by historians will help people not to fall into over-simplifications or reductionism.
(d) 6 October 2002: the ceremony
Almost a year after the first unofficial announcements, the canonization returned to the forefront of news stories. In Italy, the media devoted even more attention to it than to the beatification in 1992; in 2002 the news was ranked as a “major event” (49). The authorities did all they could to facilitate the organization of the ceremony. Rome City Council held a press conference on 20 September to inform local inhabitants about the arrangements for traffic, transport, public services, security etc. The Mayor declared at the press conference “We are proud to be taking part in an event of this nature” (50).
During the first week of October the Italian media devoted a lot of space to the preparations (51). This included the RAI news broadcasts, reports on the other television channels, and frequent bulletins issued by the ANSA and ADN-Kronos news agencies. The television programme “Porta a Porta” about the canonization was particularly interesting. The Roman daily newspaper Il Tempo brought out a series of reports on the new Saint, and published a special supplement on 6 October containing among other items the text of the letter written by the late Indro Montanelli, a well-known reporter, to Pope Paul VI in 1978, suggesting the opening of the cause of canonization of the founder of Opus Dei.
New books included a brief biography published by Piemme, entitled Escrivá, Fondatore dell’Opus Dei, by Andrea Tornielli, which was presented in Rome on 4 October 2002, at a book-launch attended by Cardinal Saraiva, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints (53).
Worldwide news coverage of the canonization was too abundant and varied to be summed up here. Several television channels transmitted the ceremony via satellite: RAI and RAI-International (54); Telepace; EWTN; and Televisión Española on its international channel. More than forty television channels in different countries including some in Africa transmitted the ceremony live or at a later point.
Mention should be made here of the work done by the Canonization Press Office (55). Its driving principle was to facilitate the work of journalists as much as possible. Between September 2001 and October 2002 it received thousands of requests for information as events unfolded. The Press Office responded in two ways:
(i) In the first place, by supplying abundant information about each step: the miracle, the cause, the ceremony, the participants. It was in regular contact with the organizing committees of the canonization, and provided statements, interviews, news, statistics and other data as a basis for reporters’ work. Part of this material, as well as being passed on to individuals or in press releases, was put on the internet for public access (56).
(ii) Secondly, by being constantly available to respond to specific requests from journalists. As well as the articles, statements and interviews of the Prelate of Opus Dei, four press conferences were held over the course of the year (57), attended by Mgr Flavio Capucci, Postulator for the cause of canonization, Marta Manzi, Italian author and spokesperson for the canonization, and others. Demand was obviously greatest during the days of the canonization itself, when more than 300 journalists from different countries went to the Press Office in person.
News reports on the canonization ceremony focused on the numbers present (58), the evident piety during the Mass and devotion to the Eucharist (59), the presence of young people (60), and the international character and good organization of the event (61) as reflecting the depth of people’s motivation.
As well as straight news reporting, other articles were published by religious correspondents on or around 6 October focusing on the perception of Opus Dei and its founder by public opinion. These included the articles by Henri Tincq in Le Monde (62), Joachim Fischer in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (63), Jacek Moskwa in Rzeczpospolita (64) and Frank Bruni in the New York Times (65). All these articles focused on the main themes previously outlined in the Catholic media (66). Henri Tincq concluded that, “now that past misunderstandings have been overcome, Opus Dei will find it easier henceforth to show its worth and respond to its founder’s call to re-Christianize society, helping businessmen, students, immigrants to defend traditional Christian values, and offering them formative activities, spiritual retreats, times for prayer and devotional practices” (67).
(e) After 6 October
(i) A controversial case
In Italy, and probably in general, perhaps the only subject which aroused any significant controversy was the presence at the canonization ceremony of a well-known Left-wing politician, Massimo D’Alema, President of the Left-Wing Democrats party. On 7 October La Repubblica published a statement by D’Alema proclaiming the importance of the canonization of Josemaría Escrivá, expressing respect towards the Catholic Church, and suggesting that all political groupings should learn to take up the challenge of the religious dimension (68). Reactions were not long in coming. Some expressed respect for D’Alema’s position and convictions (69); others, surprise and disappointment (70).
After a number of comments by both politicians and journalists Massimo D’Alema returned to the subject in another interview, this time about a book-launch (71). He had previously expressed surprise at the “sectarianism and hatred” contained in some of the criticisms. Now he added an obvious fact overlooked by such criticisms: that the Church, and Opus Dei within it, are made up of people of all political persuasions, many of whom are very far from identifying with right-wing political parties. In this regard it is relevant to point out that the presence at the canonization of other left-wing political leaders (to employ the currently accepted terms) did not cause such controversy. Still less did the fact that those attending the ceremony included followers of political parties much further to the left than the Italian “Left-Wing Democrats”.
To analyze this brief controversy would be an interesting task but one which would fall outside the scope of this survey and involve switching to the language of political debate. However, keeping to the viewpoint of an analysis of religious coverage in the media, it is relevant to recall the cultural change of the past few years which was mentioned above in general terms (72). Some people have taken an article written by Eugenio Scalfari for the magazine L’Espresso as an expression of this new style (73). This veteran journalist, after describing his favourable impressions of the “spectacle” of Saint Peter’s Square, expressed his personal opinion about causes of canonization: “We laici (74) do not believe in miracles (…) nor in supernatural intervention of any kind, either in bodies or souls, whatever that word is understood to mean. Otherwise what sort of laici would we be? But we respect those who do believe.” He went on, “We do not quarrel with the fact that Josemaría Escrivá was a holy man just as Padre Pio was (…). A holy man, and hats off to him; I wish there were a lot more like him” (75) .
To sum up, part of the new climate of opinion in the media with regard to the Church is the proper exercise of the art of disagreeing, a much harder skill to learn than the art of agreeing. Perhaps Tertullian’s famous saying, “Hatred ceases when ignorance ceases” should continue: “Dialogue begins when respect begins”.
(ii) A personal story
The death of Leonardo Mondadori on 13 December 2002 sparked a wide debate in the Italian media (76). He was a well-known publisher from a renowned family, a lover of books and art, and much valued by his business colleagues and employees. He had recently written a book with Vittorio Messori whose subject was announced in its title, Conversione. Up to the beginning of December 100,000 copies had been sold.
In the book, Mondadori tells of the radical change effected in his life by reading The Way in 1992. In the context of the beatification of Josemaría Escrivá, his publishing house had studied the possibility of bringing out a new edition of Escrivá’s most popular work. Mondadori read the book himself and thus embarked on a process of conversion – a gradual process rather than a sudden one. Little by little the Christian faith began to make itself felt in this successful publisher, who sensed that something important was lacking from his life. With The Way in his hands he discovered that faith in Jesus Christ and his Church affected him personally, and he began to take an interest in it. The Gospel, the Commandments and the Sacraments transformed his life slowly but surely. Then came his final illness. In the weeks leading up to the canonization, when he may have felt that he was soon to die, Leonardo Mondadori offered his personal witness about this saint who had accompanied him to the threshold of faith (77).
The time between 1992 and 2002 had been a crucial period for Leonardo Mondadori. His attitude towards the faith changed radically over those ten years. Stories like his bring to mind something the Pope has written: “Where does the true power of the Church lie? Naturally, over the centuries in the West and the East the power of the Church has lain in the witness of the saints, of those who made Christ’s truth their own truth” (78)
3. Epilogue
This survey began by quoting Pope John Paul II’s address to the Roman Curia on 21 December 2002. It will finish with more words by the Holy Father, this time from his homily at the Mass of 1 November 2002, Solemnity of All Saints. The Pope referred to the new saints canonized in the course of the year: “Thinking of these luminous witnesses of the Gospel, we thank God, “the source of all holiness”, for having given them to the Church and the world.” And he went on, “With their example they show that “all the faithful”, as the Council teaches, “are called to the fullness of Christian life and the perfection of charity” (Lumen Gentium, 10), aiming for the “high goal” of ordinary Christian life (cf. Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte, 31)” (79),
These words shine a powerful light on the fruits Pope John Paul II expects from all canonizations. And from another point of view they answer the questions which many people have asked at one time or another: “Why is this Pope encouraging so many beatifications and canonizations?” By proclaiming people Saints and Blesseds, the Pope is inviting us to imitate Jesus Christ, who is our only Model; he is confirming the fact that holiness is possible, today as well as yesterday. In that way he is nourishing Catholics in their hope and promoting the sowing of charity in the world. What further reasons are needed?
J. M. Mora, Professor of Communication and Management, Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, Rome.
Notes
1. See e.g. Osservatorio Comunicazione e Cultura, no. 11-2002, pp.17-18 (an information sheet published by the Italian Episcopal Conference’s National Office of Social Communication), Rome, November 2002.
2. The newspapers and documents used as sources for this study, date from 1992 and 2002, come from many different countries and are held in the Opus Dei Prelature’s Communication Department in Rome.
3. Vatican Information Service, Rome, 21 December 2002.
4. The present study was completed on 6 January 2003, just three months after the canonization.
5. Television programmes about Padre Pio broke all records for Italian audience ratings in this field: Canale 5 obtained nearly 50% and RAI, shortly afterwards, over 50%, both at peak viewing times.
6. Corriere della Sera, 30 December 2002.
7. John Paul II, Crossing the Threshold of Hope, London: Jonathan Cape, 1994, p.116.
8. Anyone working in the field of communication in Italy cannot fail to be struck by the occurrence of expressions such as beatificazione (“beatification”), bisogna essere santi (“need to be holy”) and other similar ones, on posters. These advertisements had not been designed with any view to religious instruction, but composed by copy-writers who had caught on to new, fresh-sounding phrases in popular usage and adopted them as part of their professional vocabulary.
9. Cf. Diego Contreras, Aceprensa, no. 14/02, Madrid, 30 January 2002.
10. Cf. Giovanna Zucconi, “Dio mi sta baciando? Per favore, digli di smettere”, La Stampa, 17 December 2002.
11. Cf. Il sale della terra, interview of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger by Peter Seewald, Rome 1997, p.153.
12. See the Apostolic Letters Tertio Millennio Adveniente explaining the meaning of the Jubilee and Novo Millennio Ineunte summarizing it and reflecting on it.
13. John Paul II, Message for the World Day of Peace, 1 January 2003, 2.
14. Crossing the Threshold of Hope, 1994, p.164.
15. Such matters have in fact been thoroughly discussed by several newspaper correspondents with reference to Josemaría Escrivá’s canonization and public perceptions of Opus Dei. See for example “Opus Dei comes in from the cold”, Catholic Herald editorial, 18 January 2002; Rodolfo Brancoli, “Il fantasma dell’Opera”, Liberal, June-July 2002; John L. Allen, “Incomprehensions about Opus Dei”, National Catholic Reporter, 11 October 2002; and Michael W. Higgins, “Polarizing tendencies afflict Catholicism”, The Toronto Star, 9 November 2002.
16. At that stage (September 2001), the canonization of Giuseppina Bakhita (beatified in May 1992, at the same time as Josemaría Escrivá), and the beatification of Pope John XXIII, had already taken place, together with other beatifications and canonizations which had been accomplished relatively quickly, in accordance with the canonical legislation in force since 1983. The cause of Mother Teresa was proceeding extremely quickly, with dispensations granted from some of the statutory intervals. The number and popularity of these cases explains why some of the criticisms made about the beatification of Josemaría Escrivá under this heading in 1992 were not repeated in 2002.
17. Cf. for example, on the same day (20 December 2002) the interview with Dr Manuel Nevado on RAI television; a longer interview published by Famiglia Cristiana; and the long article by Vittorio Messori in the Corriere della Sera. The internet site www.opusdei.org featured video clips of statements by Dr Nevado and witnesses of the case. This site continues to offer articles published from 20 December 2001 onwards.
18. Among others the late Cardinal Basil Hume, Archbishop of Westminster, spoke along the same lines at a Mass of thanksgiving for the 70th anniversary of the founding of Opus Dei in 1998. He said, “The founder of Opus Dei understood that he was to urge men - and indeed of course women as well – in all walks of life to seek holiness, and carry out an apostolate in the midst of the world, through the exercise of their profession or trade, without change of life. No change of life; but surely always a change of heart! But already those words, 70 years ago, anticipated the Vatican Council’s Decree on place and the rôle of the laity in the world.” Cardinal Hume’s words were echoed in UK press, cf. Annabel Miller, “Muscular Catholicism”, The Tablet, 17 November 2001.
19. This collective perception was confirmed by the presence at the canonization of over 400 bishops, many superiors of religious orders, and representatives of movements, associations and other entities within the Church.
20. Tosatti noted that Maria del Carmen Tapia, who had repeatedly opposed the beatification in 1992, now declared that she “bowed to the Pope’s decision”. On 24 December 2001 the Spanish press agency ANSA released further statements by M. C. Tapia to clarify her position, in which she said that “The forthcoming successful conclusion of the cause of Monsignor Escrivá’s canonization makes me very happy, because since his death I have often asked him for favours which I can honestly say he has granted.” After giving the reasons for her attitude, she spoke of a book she had published in 1992, saying that “it would be a serious mistake to use the information contained in my book to cast doubt on the holiness of the founder of Opus Dei.” The fact that this item was released by ANSA at 3.30 in the afternoon of Christmas Eve explains why certain journalists missed it altogether.
21. Rodolfo Brancoli, in the article “Il fantasma dell’Opera” referred to above, spoke of the “extraordinary media coverage” of the congress. The Italian daily newspaper Avvenire devoted almost a whole page to it every day for a week.
22. Among others they highlighted the papers by Rabbi A. Kreiman, a Cooperator of Opus Dei, on the sanctification of work, and E. Pazhukin, a Russian writer and Orthodox Christian who had recently published a biography of Josemaría Escrivá developing the most significant aspects of his teachings in the context of the Eastern tradition.
23. Cf. Javier Echevarría, “Il dinamismo di un messaggio donato alla Chiesa universale”, L’Osservatore Romano, 9 January 2002. Bishop Echevarría, the Prelate of Opus Dei, said that to give in to the “temptation of celebrating” in commemorating the centenary would be to forget the founder of Opus Dei’s basic “lesson of humility”.
24. A veteran Italian Vatican-watcher headed his article of 8 October 2002 “Dall’evento, un invito per tutti alla riflessione” (“From the event, an invitation to reflection for all”) (Arcangelo Paglialunga, Il Giornale di Brescia).
25. Cf. www.opusdei.org (Italian version). Professor Roberto Panizza detailed some of the conclusions of the conference in Il Sole-24 Ore, 11 October 2001, in an article entitled “Il sottosviluppo sarà vinto dal lavoro” (Underdevelopment will be beaten by work). He outlined the serious problems afflicting many countries in the world and maintained that “man can fulfill himself and achieve the freedom he aspires to” through work, which is a powerful motor of development. This fact, he claimed, proves that “Josemaría Escrivá’s thinking needs to be applied in today’s world”.
26. Josemaría Escrivá, Letter 31 May 1943, no. 1, quoted in J. L. Illanes, F. Ocariz and P. Rodriguez, Opus Dei in the Church, Dublin/Princeton, 1994, p.107.
27. The projects set up because of the centenary were: the Institute for Industrial Technologies (Nigeria), Arauco mobile clinic (Venezuela), the Moluka medico-social outpost (Democratic Republic of the Congo), “Children’s City” clinic (Mexico), Guatanfur Family Agricultural School (Colombia), Braval and Terral immigrants’ centres (Spain), and Los Pinos Educational Centre (Uruguay). And the canonization stimulated others to set up the Laguna Medical Centre (Spain) and Aq’on Jay Day-care Centre (Guatemala). On 9 January a press conference in Rome presented a number of the social projects undertaken to mark the centenary; see “Un centenario all’insegna della solidarietà”, Avvenire, 10 January 2002.
28. Bishop Javier Echevarría, the Prelate of Opus Dei, spoke of this project in an interview with the Misna agency on 3 October 2002. He said that Harambee 2002 was born of the conviction that “what matters most are people, and in this case Africans, who have to be the ones who build progress in Africa. Therefore an indispensable element of development is their education, because it opens the doors to work and progress, both in the material sphere and the spiritual sphere. Education is, if I may so express it, a way of sowing hope. Harambee 2002 aims to contribute its grain to the collective enterprise.”
29. See http://harambee-africa.org for information about the development of the project and the fund-raising.
30. Besides the articles mentioned previously, the list would include the Deutsche Tagespost (Germany); Alfa y Omega, Ecclesia, and Vida Nueva (Spain); National Catholic Reporter and Inside the Vatican (US); La Croix, Famille Chrétienne and France Catholique (France); Katholiek Nieuwsblad (Netherlands); Katorikku Shimbum (Japan); The Universe (UK); and the Zenit, ACI, KNA and CNS news agencies.
31. “Opus Dei: no surprise it gets top billing this papacy”.
32. “Saints in the Office” and “Muscular Catholicism”.
33. Cf. John L. Allen, op. cit. For her part, Annabel Miller, having interviewed people of Opus Dei as well as people opposed to it, concluded that the message of Josemaría “would not suit me”; but that for some people “it is a helpful way to be a better Christian. Who am I to quarrel with that?” The Tablet, 17 November 2002.
34. “Soll meine Wende Sünde sein?” Tages Anzeiger, 30 January 2002.
35. See the texts of their statements on 26 February 2002 at www.opusdei.org.
36. See ibid.
37. Flavio Capucci (ed.), Un Santo per Amico, Milan: Ares, 2001.
38. Camino: edición crítico-histórica, Madrid: Rialp, 2002.
39. See Romana, Bulletin of the Opus Dei Prelature, no. 32, January-June 2001, p.47.
40. Ibid., p.76.
41. The first presentation of this edition was held in Madrid on 13 March 2002, with contributions by Cardinal López Trujillo and Professor Antonio Fontón.
42. For an example of its spiritual influence see (e) below, “After 6 October”.
43. This is also one of the main contributions made by Andrés Vazquez de Prada’s book The Founder of Opus Dei: the life of Josemaría Escrivá, the second volume of which, God and Daring, was published in November 2002 (English translation, Scepter Publishers, 2003).
44. With reference to that type of argument, it seems relevant to quote some words by Hannah Arendt about the criticisms of her famous book The Banality of Evil. She said, “Even before its publication, this book became both the centre of a controversy and the object of an organized campaign. The clamour centred on the ‘image’ of a book which was never written, and touched upon subjects that often had not only not been mentioned by me but had never occurred to me before.” Eichmann in Jerusalem. A Report on the Banality of Evil, Penguin Books, 1994, pp.282-3. (Postscript to the revised and enlarged edition she published in 1965 of the original 1963 version.)
45. E.g. some of the reports published in the Spanish newspaper El Pais around 9 January, and the statements by Peter Hertel in the German-language press.
46 Taken, for example, from Der Spiegel or Le Monde Diplomatique.
47. Marco Politi, La Repubblica, 10 January 2002. The comment was made in the introduction to an interview with the Prelate of Opus Dei about the centenary.
48. Tiempo, 7 October 2002.
49. The Italian government rated this ceremony a “major event”, as it had the canonization of Padre Pio. Cf. Decree of the President of the Council of Ministers, published in the Gazzetta Ufficiale della Repubblica Italiana, 19 July 2002.
50 Cf. “Pellegrini di tutto il mondo per la canonizzazione del fondatore dell’Opus Dei” in La Repubblica, 1 October 2002.
51. Lola Galan said in El Pais, 6 October 2002 that “the enthusiastic reception given by State television and most of the Italian press to the new Saint is very indicative.”
52. RAI-1, 2 October 2002.
53. Cardinal Saraiva made other contributions in the course of 2002, including his article “Si sono aperti i cammini divini della terra” (Osservatore Romano, 21 September 2002) and the interview published by Il Messaggero el 5 October 2002. The Congregation for the Causes of the Saints handled all the information relating to the canonization in a very opportune way.
54.RAI produced a four-hour programme, representing a considerable investment of effort on the part of the news editors.
55 This paragraph applies equally to the International Congress “The Grandeur of Ordinary Life” in January 2002, which had its own Press Office and also a website, www.escriva2002.org
56. From October 2001 on www.opusdei.org and from April 2002 onwards on www.escriva-canonization.org, a site dedicated expressly to practical information and news about the canonization ceremony.
57. In December 2001 and January, February and October 2002.
58. For many people this was a news item in its own right. As usual, there is no absolute agreement on numbers. Many reports spoke of “over 300,000 people”; some newspapers gave the figure of 400,000 or even 500,000 (Paris Match, 17 October 2002). Some journalists referred to it as “the best-attended canonization in the history of the Church” (Cf. Osservatorio Comunicazione e Cultura, no.11-2002, p.17, Rome, November 2002).
59. The white umbrellas indicating that the Blessed Sacrament was being carried were a sign of respect that attracted a lot of attention.
60. Cf. Luigi Accatoli, “Il santo dei giovani e dei ceti medi”, Corriere della Sera, 7 October 2002.
61. Much quoted in this regard was the article by Vittorio Messori in the Corriere della Sera of 6 October 2002 entitled “Il foglio segreto dell’Opus Dei”.
62. “L’Opus Dei, l’avant-garde de Dieu”, 4 October 2002.
63 “Vater in der Welt”, 7 October 2002.
64. This correspondent published two very interesting articles on 5 and 7 October respectively.
65. In regard to the United States the scant attention paid to the canonization by Newsweek was very noticeable. On 7 October 2002 it published an article written by Kenneth Woodward before the ceremony, which actually contained no up to date news but was merely a run-down of the journalist’s own opinions on the canonization. Woodward had played a large part in criticizing the beatification, starting with another Newsweek article published on 6 January 1992.
66. See 2. (b) above, about 9 January 2002.
67. Le Monde, 4 October 2002
68. “This canonization is a very great event which must not go unnoticed. I accepted the invitation for that reason, and not only that: I am also here out of respect for the Catholic Church, its institutions, history, witnesses and symbols. And the new Saint Escrivá de Balaguer is certainly one of them.” Asked what the Church could teach politicians, he answered: “The Church has a lot to teach. What most impresses people about the Church is its consistency, the strength of its convictions, its faith, its capacity to sink roots in society, as manifested in all its expressions and movements, and all its men and women. The Catholic Church is unquestionably the greatest ‘fact’ of our time, and you have to take up its challenge. Everyone should feel called to do so, including those who dedicate their lives to politics.”
69. Including Piero Fassino, the Secretary General of his party.
70. Such as Antonio Tabucchi, in El Pais, 15 October 2002. This and other articles based their criticism on a deformed picture of Opus Dei and its founder. In their defense, it should be noted that they might have arrived at a more balanced opinion if they had had more information. In such cases, it is useful to recall a phrase frequently used by the founder of Opus Dei: for communication to work well there has to be a capacity to understand and also, to at least the same degree, a capacity to explain.
71. See La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno, 16 November 2002.
72. See 1. (b) above. The words “cultural change” were used by Giuseppe De Carli, the RAI reporter covering the canonization ceremony, who referred to a huge change, which was manifested on 6 October in the maturity of the press coverage of the canonization of Opus Dei’s founder.
73. “I miracoli di Escrivá e la fabbrica dei santi”L’Espresso, 17 October 2002. Scalfari is the founder of the Roman daily newspaper La Repubblica.
74. The word laici, which could sometimes be translated “lay-people”, is often used in Italian to denote the opposite of “Catholic”.
75. Something similar, from a different background, was written by Joan Estruch in an article published in Avui, Barcelona, on 9 January 2002. On the subject of the forthcoming canonization Estruch said that people who do not believe in miracles are not in a position to criticize the Pope’s decision. This warning marks a rule for fair play in public debate.
76 All the Italian media reported at length on the subject: see for example the Italian magazine Panorama, 2 January 2003.
77. On 2 October 2002 he told his story modestly and attractively in “Porta a Porta”, a very popular television debate, and in a press conference at the Quirinetta Theatre in Rome. On 7 October La Repubblica published a short interview in which he again told what had happened in simple terms.
78. Crossing the Threshold of Hope, p.176.
79. Osservatore Romano, daily edition in Italian, 2/3 November 2002, p.1. On this subject, see Edward Nowak, “La nouvelle évangélisation avec les saints”, Osservatore Romano (French edition), nos 49 and 50, dated 4 and 11 December 2001 respectively.
CONTENTS:
1. Introduction
(a) Preliminary remarks
(b) The context
2. Review by date and by theme
(a) 20 December 2001
(b) 9 January 2002
(c) 26 February 2002
(d) 6 October 2002
(e) After 6 October
3. Epilogue
1. Introduction
(a) Preliminary remarks
On 21 December 2002 the Pope had a meeting with the Roman Curia to exchange Christmas greetings. In his speech the Holy Father referred to some of the significant events of the year which about to end. The last passages of his speech were on the subject of holiness, the “summit of the ecclesial landscape”. He thanked God for the beatifications and canonizations he had carried out in 2002: those of Pedro de San José de Betancur, Juan Diego and the Oaxaca martyrs which he had celebrated during his visit to Guatemala City and Mexico City; and of Padre Pio de Pietrelcina and Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer, celebrated in Rome, which had, the Pope added, “awakened a special echo in public opinion.” (3).
This provisional study offers personal interpretations and a few hypotheses, but does not claim to be a definitive or final account. In-depth analysis would require a detailed, methodical study of all the press articles published, and it would have to be done after sufficient time had passed to provide the necessary objectivity (4).
It is a recognized fact that public opinion as reflected in the press is very hard to measure, not only because of its transitory nature but also because it has no clear outlines. As a result, prominence is easily given to subjective impressions with no foundation in reality, or even to personal prejudices. Additionally, in the case of Saint Josemaría’s canonization, the fact that this event was reported in the press of many different countries, with very different overtones, means that it is not always possible to identify general lines or factors common to all.
At this point it may be useful to consider some elements of the context of Saint Josemaría’s canonization which enable a fuller understanding of it to be gained.
(b) The context
(i) Recent beatifications and canonizations
In his address on 21 December 2002, John Paul II referred to the canonization of Padre Pio, which had taken place on 16 June 2002. This, and other beatifications and canonizations in the past few years, have made a considerable impact on the mass media. It would be fair to say that together they have given the topic of holiness a place in the international media, from which it had been virtually absent for a very long time.
The case of Padre Pio is a highly significant one, especially in Italy, his native country, where popular devotion to him is widespread and noticeable. This is more apparent than ever now: the church of San Giovanni Rotondo is one of the most frequently visited shrines in Western Europe; pictures of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina turn up in the most unexpected places in towns and the countryside – in buses, pubs and offices; there are dozens of internet sites about him and even credit cards and football championships named after him; and at the time of his beatification in May 1999, Italian television channels vied with one another to be the first to produce a mini-series about him (5).
This is not the place to outline the coverage of Padre Pio’s canonization in the Italian mass media. What is of interest here is the fact that it meant the irruption into the media of a radical figure and model of holiness, which pointed straight to Christ on the Cross, to stigmata, miracles, sin and the grace of Confession. Vittorio Messori called Padre Pio a “brilliant meteorite” who seemed to have come to us straight from the Middle Ages (6). This phenomenon, running directly contrary to popular culture in many aspects, attracts widespread attention and confirms “today’s rediscovery of the authentic values found in popular piety” (7) and its open return to the public sphere (8).
Padre Pio and the cause of his canonization were also the object of criticism, starting before he was beatified. Old myths and extravagant accusations were resurrected, together with real problems such as the difficulty some Catholics experienced in understanding Padre Pio’s particular brand of holiness. In any case, these attacks were mild in comparison with those levelled at other recent causes, such as the canonizations of Edith Stein, Pope Pius IX, and Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac. In addition to what was said above in regard to Padre Pio and popular piety, it should also be said that the criticisms aroused by certain canonizations show that saints are not always “politically correct” (9), and there exist unresolved discrepancies between the aims of the Church and those of the dominant culture.
Such critical reactions are evident again now with the announcement of the beatification of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who might have been thought of as a universally admired figure. A particular element in contemporary culture seems to finds it impossible to accept someone who says that suffering can lead people closer to Christ and be a way of purification and salvation (10). How could anyone be praised for preaching submission to suffering instead of seeing it as something which must simply be got rid of? And so, when Christianity speaks of suffering and the Cross, it once again shows how it resists mere assimilation by the culture of the day. However, bearing in mind that one of the greatest dangers the Church faces today is relativism (11), this conflict may not be such a bad thing after all. It proves that the dialogue is ongoing, and that although there is not yet complete agreement, at least there is no confusion.
(ii) The Jubilee of the year 2000
Another important event, which shaped almost ten years of output on religious matters, was the Jubilee of the year 2000. With something so rich in content it is not easy to measure its results, either among Catholics or beyond the boundaries of the Church. Basically John Paul II approached it from the viewpoint of faith from beginning to end, making it an invitation to look to Christ once again on the two thousandth anniversary of his Incarnation (12).
Essentially the Jubilee was not a media event. It made its effects felt through highly visible celebrations, but its influence worked at a deeper level. According to Novo Millennio Ineunte, the fruits of the Jubilee were: contributing to an increased spirit of unity and communion among Christians (no. 12); helping many young people to renew their desire to take part enthusiastically in the evangelizing mission of the Church (no. 9); clarifying anew the centrality of the mystery of Christ in the life of Catholics (no. 5); and bringing about a calm and positive attitude in the Church’s own understanding of herself and her mission in the world (no. 15).
It is worth dwelling on this last point from the perspective of public opinion. In the year 2000 the Church spoke ever more explicitly about the great problems facing the world: war, poverty, the family, external debt, and violence against life. Additionally, the years of preparation for the Jubilee witnessed a progressively clearer and broader general awareness of Pope John Paul II’s moral authority. This became an accepted fact, and helped to bring about a more mature view of the Church in many countries.
Without going into the personal merits of the Holy Father, mention may be made here of an event which was closely connected to the story of his life: the fall of the Berlin Wall, which really had “traversed the whole of humanity and penetrated people’s hearts and minds, creating divisions that seemed destined to last indefinitely” (13). When the ideological blocks disappeared, the Church recovered not only her freedom but also her geographical, cultural and social unity. To quote John Paul II again, “the world, tired of ideology, is opening itself to the truth. (14)”
Now that long-standing ideological divisions have been for the most part overcome, the Church’s aims are more easily accepted by all kinds of people (both conservative and progressive, to employ the conventional terms) to the extent that they free themselves of prejudices. Concerning Italy, press comments on the Pope’s historic visit to the Italian Parliament on 14 November 2002 show a new maturity in the relations between religious and political subjects, with greater openness, serenity and respect.
The foregoing might seem to have little to do with the subject of this essay. But it must not be forgotten that in the last twenty or thirty years religious journalism has often made use of political terms as a framework for analysis, dividing the Church, over-simplifying the truth and making dialogue more difficult (15). Religious reporting in the media is strongly marked by the principles at the heart of journalism, and journalism is a profession which is in turn deeply influenced by political ideologies. It follows therefore that press reporting on the Church has benefited from the cultural change which has taken place over the last twenty years.
2. Review by date and by theme
This description of some aspects of the press coverage of the canonization of Josemaría Escrivá will follow a broadly chronological order, though sometimes interrupting this to look at underlying themes where this is relevant to the context.
The important dates in the last phase of the cause of canonization were: the reading of the decree of approbation of the miracle on 20 December 2001; the announcement of the date of the canonization after the ordinary public consistory of 26 February 2002; and the day of the canonization ceremony, 6 October 2002. To these may be added a fourth date, 9 January 2002, the centenary of Josemaría’s birth, since some of the activities organized to celebrate the centenary attracted media attention.
(a) 20 December 2001: Decree of approbation of the miracle
The first unofficial public notification came on 29 September 2001. On that day it was reported on the news on RAI (an Italian television channel), followed by the rest of the Italian media, that a meeting had been held of the Commission of Cardinals as the last step in the approbation of the miracle, and that therefore the road to canonization lay open. The “Vatican watcher” who gave the report, Giuseppe De Carli, stated that the year 2002 would be “an important one for the Church” because of the beatifications and canonizations of recent figures which would be celebrated in the course of it, as against those who held that a period of dullness had set in with the end of the Jubilee. In particular, De Carli offered the names of Padre Pio, Mother Teresa, Pius XII and Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer, calling them “giants of holiness in the twentieth century” (16).
Shortly afterwards, on 4 October, the Roman daily Il Tempo published another unofficial announcement: the identity of the person in whom the miracle had been worked, Dr Manuel Nevado, and the story of his cure. In the following months the Italian media were often the first to publish news related to the canonization, and journalists in other countries used them as their source. Be that as it may, in Autumn 2001 there was nothing more than rumours to be had, and most of the media preferred to wait for confirmation rather than publish unfounded items.
On 20 December 2001 the Vatican information services gave the first official news on the subject, with the announcement of the reading of the Decree on the miracle. The Italian and international press reported this, some with comments and others more briefly. Reports on the miracle and about the person who had been cured began to appear in the media (17).
On 21 December 2001 the Spanish daily La Vanguardia (Barcelona) published an exclusive interview with the Austrian Cardinal Franz Koenig, who spoke about the founder of Opus Dei’s deep understanding of the mission of lay people and other major themes of Vatican II (18). The retired Archbishop of Vienna expressed his joy about all the new saints, and said that Josemaría Escriva’s canonization meant that he “belonged to the treasury of the Church”. This idea, expressed in many different ways, was repeated frequently throughout 2002 by members of the hierarchy and ordinary Catholics. It seems to have been one of the main collective perceptions produced by the event. Cardinal Meisner, for example, said in Cologne on 19 January 2002, during his homily at the Mass commemorating the centenary, that the canonization meant the “de-privatization” of Josemaría Escrivá, who had now become part of the “shared inheritance of the Church” (19).
The journalist Marco Tosatti (La Stampa, Turin, 21 December 2001) reviewed the history and evolution of the image of Opus Dei in Italian media over the past few years. He added that in his opinion the forthcoming canonization of Josemaría Escrivá would not give rise to much controversy (20); this was confirmed by events. He speculated on the reason for this change in attitude in two press conferences, on 26 February and 3 October. The facts and reflections offered in the present study may provide at least part of the answer.
(b) 9 January 2002: Centenary
Shortly after the reading of the Decree came 9 January 2002, the centenary of the birth of Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer. Conferences, exhibitions and seminars were organized and articles were published on the topic in many countries.
An international congress on “The Grandeur of Ordinary Life” was held in Rome from 8 to 11 January 2002, organized by the University of the Holy Cross. Teachers and professionals from different countries and with different areas of expertise gathered to reflect together on one of the central themes of the teachings of Josemaría Escrivá. The congress attracted the attention of the Italian media (21) and foreign correspondents, who focused on the participation in the congress of members of different denominations and faiths (22) as well as social and political leaders of contrasting tendencies.
The congress in Rome and the other activities organized around the centenary were not simply commemorative (23), but aimed to go further, taking occasion of the anniversary to study Escrivá’s teachings, consider their application, examine the meaning of such seminal ideas as “the sanctification of work”, “the greatness of ordinary life”, “following Christ in the middle of the world” and others, which have already become common currency in Christian parlance. Something similar may be said of the activities organized around the canonization, which also offered an “invitation to reflection” (24).
Orazio Petrosillo wrote an account of the canonization in Il Messaggero, Rome, 7 October 2002. He said “Starting from yesterday, the authority of the Church has made its own the strategic lines of apostolate in the sphere of work, and the sanctification of work. In the most solemn and committed way, John Paul II has incorporated the programme traced out by that Spanish priest into his own magisterium.” He went on, “The things of every day, work, one’s job, have to be done in a search for perfection, because the value of work lies in doing it well to serve men and to offer it to God.” These words make a fair summary of another tendency which was very much in evidence throughout 2002: an attitude of serene reflection and a focus on underlying ideas.
Among other themes analyzed around the centenary, one in particular is worth noting: the social consequences of the sanctification of work. This was the central theme of a conference held in Naples on 13 October 2001 (25). On this and similar occasions, speakers recalled that the founder of Opus Dei saw work as “a self-sacrificing service that is not degrading, but uplifting; it expands the heart (…) and leads one to pursue the honour and the good of people of every nation – to try to see that every day there are fewer people who are poor and uneducated, fewer souls without faith, without hope; fewer wars, less uncertainty, and more charity and peace” (26).
As well as spending days studying these and related topics, the centenary celebrations also took a practical form. People from many different countries decided to set up social projects in memory of and homage to Josemaría Escrivá. In the course of 2002 rural hospitals, training schools, and centres for immigrants and the elderly were set up in Nigeria, Venezuela, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mexico, Colombia, Spain, and Uruguay (27).
There is an evident connection between the ideals behind these projects and those of Harambee 2002 which was closely linked to the canonization. The source of their inspiration was the same: the teachings of the founder of Opus Dei. Harambee 2002 was set up by the organizing committee of the canonization ceremonies, and its main patron was Mama Ngina Kenyatta. Basically it concerned the creation of a fund for educational projects in Sub-Saharan Africa out of donations from people who came to the canonization and anyone else who wanted to contribute (28). The appeal met with a generous response from a large number of individuals, institutions and businesses (29), and was amply featured in the media which covered the ceremonies of 6 October. All these social initiatives not only represent tangible fruits of the 6 October celebrations, but also show how the new Saint’s message applies to cultural and social development among other aspects.
To return to 9 January 2002, it is worth underlining one particular fact about the press coverage, and that is the quality of the reporting in Christian publications. The list is a long one (30). Of particular interest is the article on 9 January 2001by John L. Allen (31), National Catholic Reporter’s Rome correspondent, and the two articles by Annabel Miller published in The Tablet, 10 and 17 October 2001 (32). These articles sum up a process which was repeated throughout the coming months. As the canonization of Josemaría Escrivá was news, journalists decided to investigate, starting off from an attitude of disagreement with Opus Dei which, to begin with, they only knew from references in newspapers. Their investigations brought them into contact with people and Centres of the Prelature, and with other sources opposed to it. By the end of their investigation the journalists maintained that what they had found did not reflect the stereotypes. Allen, addressing fellow-reporters, stated that it was a mistake to support prejudiced views, and that “Rather than demonizing Opus Dei, progressives need to deepen their theological reflection on the key issues facing Catholicism (33).
The examples given here focused on the content of Josemaría Escrivá’s teachings. In the course of 2002 many Catholic journalists improved their knowledge of these teachings, as is apparent from their articles. This happened not only with journalists but also with theologians, as in the following case.
A number of German-speaking intellectuals decided to mark the centenary of Escrivá’s birth by publishing an interdisciplinary collection of essays, testimonies and studies on the life and teachings of the founder of Opus Dei. The book included a contribution by Mgr Koch, Bishop of Basle and a theologian in his own right. A certain journalist called the Bishop’s action regrettable. This attack gave Mgr Koch the opportunity to publish a very frank, open explanation of the reasons why he had contributed to the work. In his article (34) Mgr Koch recalled that in 1992 he had publicly expressed reservations about Josemaría Escrivá and Opus Dei, which at the time he only knew through hearsay. In the meantime, he had read the writings of Josemaría Escrivá and met some of the faithful of Opus Dei. The new information he had gained had made him change his mind, and this explained his present appreciation of the future Saint. Mgr Koch ended by saying that it was wrong to judge people or things without knowing them, and right to acknowledge one’s mistakes.
This is not the place to study the media mechanisms which provide information about the Church and Catholics. But it is plain that only in certain circumstances do the main media focus on religious matters. One of the situations which make religious affairs “newsworthy” is internal division: to put it in rather simplified terms, if there is no conflict there is no news, just the same as in other spheres. And if there is internal conflict, it ends up by making the pages of the big dailies. In the present case, the quantity and quality of the articles published in the Catholic media around the world created a climate of serenity with regard to the canonization of Josemaría Escrivá.
(c) 26 February 2002: the consistory
On 26 February 2002, in an ordinary public consistory, the Pope announced the dates of several beatification and canonization ceremonies, and confirmed that Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer would be canonized on 6 October. He also announced that of Padre Pio for 16 June and gave the dates of canonizations during his trip to Central America.
Some of the media reported comments from different notable figures about the news of Josemaría’s canonization: cardinals and bishops from several countries, the postulator of the cause of canonization of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Giancarlo Cesana (Communione e Liberazione), Carla Cotignoli (Focolari), and a representative of Catholic Action, among others (35).
On 26 February itself, in a press conference, Mgr Flavio Capucci, postulator of the cause of canonization of Josemaría Escrivá, read some messages he had received from the superiors of enclosed orders of religious who were Cooperators of Opus Dei, about the canonization. One of these messages may stand as a summary of the rest: “We are delighted about the forthcoming canonization of Blessed Escrivá, and are certain that it represents a gift for the whole Church” (36). In the course of the press conference Sister Fernanda Barbiero, a lecturer in theology, made a joint presentation of a book (37) of testimonies by priests and men and women religious who had known Josemaría Escrivá and witnessed to the holiness of his life. Sister Barbiero’s speech reviewed the reasons why, in her opinion, the example and message of the founder of Opus Dei can help Catholics to follow Christ, each along their own individual path.
For a few months after 26 February, when the Pope’s decision to canonize Josemaría Escrivá and the date of the ceremony had been published, media interest in the topic slackened, and then picked up again strongly as 6 October approached.
There were, however, exceptions to this general tendency. Between March and September various news items were published, mainly in relation to the centenary. One of them concerned the presentation, in several Spanish cities, of the critical-historical edition of Camino (The Way) (38) by Professor Pedro Rodriguez. This book is the first volume in the series “The Complete Works” being undertaken by the Instituto Histórico Josemaría Escrivá, an international research centre set up by the Prelate of Opus Dei on 9 January 2001 (39). The Institute fosters “historical studies on Blessed Josemaría and other scientific (theological, canonical, pedagogical etc.) works on his spirit and his teachings, and on the apostolates which have been set in motion under his influence, directly or indirectly” (40).
The publication of this book was a very significant event in terms of the media as well as in other ways. Press reports on the presentations, interviews and special features all contributed to a better understanding of the author of The Way (41), which, with close on five million copies sold, is not just a best-seller but a long-seller (42). The critical-historical edition gives details on how the book came to be written, the spiritual journey of the author while he was writing it, and the connections between the process of literary creation with the apostolic dynamism of the early years of Opus Dei.
Leaving aside other considerations, since this survey is simply concerned with the canonization and its representation in the media, it can be stated Rodriguez’s book provided an unprecedented insight into Josemaría Escrivá, because of the sources employed, the clarity of the texts and documents, and the methodology used.
In Rodriguez’s volume, Saint Josemaría Escriva is shown to the reader in a new light. His joys, crosses, doubts, influences, love for God and for his neighbour are all made apparent. And it is not only the author of The Way but his thinking and the book itself that are presented anew, even for people who perhaps know The Way by heart. By giving the context of a particular point, or comments the author made about it, Rodriguez frequently enables its exact meaning to become clear. What some people had seen merely as a series of pieces of good advice was now seen to be a valuable collection of lived experiences, from which Saint Josemaría Escrivá himself was the first to learn. Paradoxically, this critical-historical edition, which might be thought of as the “coldest” edition of The Way, is in fact the one which best reveals Saint Josemaría’s deep humanity and high degree of holiness (43). As this type of work, based on authentic documents and produced with scholarly method, is published, the personality of Saint Josemaría can be expected to become better known in its historic reality. In the sphere of public opinion and the press, this kind of publication helps to raise the level of debate above mere arguments devoid of real content.
Some stereotypes which distorted the historical truth (44) about Saint Josemaría Escrivá and his teachings were repeated around 6 October (45). They can be summed up as follows: (a) there were very few of them compared with the number of reports which succeeded in reflecting the essence of his message; (b) they consisted mainly of unfounded statements about historical events (alleged connection with the Franco regime in Spain, opinion on Nazism, and so on, some of them being really grotesque); (c) frequently they merely reproduced the content of old articles (46); and (d) they were sometimes circulated by an international news agency which simply recycled archive material without taking account of current news.
In this field it is worth noticing another of the most significant “collective perceptions” of the year 2002. An Italian journalist wrote that “with the passage of time, certain emotions have been moderated” (47). And a Spanish newspaper, referring to former criticisms, said “Of all that, practically nothing remains today” (48). This may be a slight exaggeration, but it is true that the results of the research being done by historians will help people not to fall into over-simplifications or reductionism.
(d) 6 October 2002: the ceremony
Almost a year after the first unofficial announcements, the canonization returned to the forefront of news stories. In Italy, the media devoted even more attention to it than to the beatification in 1992; in 2002 the news was ranked as a “major event” (49). The authorities did all they could to facilitate the organization of the ceremony. Rome City Council held a press conference on 20 September to inform local inhabitants about the arrangements for traffic, transport, public services, security etc. The Mayor declared at the press conference “We are proud to be taking part in an event of this nature” (50).
During the first week of October the Italian media devoted a lot of space to the preparations (51). This included the RAI news broadcasts, reports on the other television channels, and frequent bulletins issued by the ANSA and ADN-Kronos news agencies. The television programme “Porta a Porta” about the canonization was particularly interesting. The Roman daily newspaper Il Tempo brought out a series of reports on the new Saint, and published a special supplement on 6 October containing among other items the text of the letter written by the late Indro Montanelli, a well-known reporter, to Pope Paul VI in 1978, suggesting the opening of the cause of canonization of the founder of Opus Dei.
New books included a brief biography published by Piemme, entitled Escrivá, Fondatore dell’Opus Dei, by Andrea Tornielli, which was presented in Rome on 4 October 2002, at a book-launch attended by Cardinal Saraiva, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints (53).
Worldwide news coverage of the canonization was too abundant and varied to be summed up here. Several television channels transmitted the ceremony via satellite: RAI and RAI-International (54); Telepace; EWTN; and Televisión Española on its international channel. More than forty television channels in different countries including some in Africa transmitted the ceremony live or at a later point.
Mention should be made here of the work done by the Canonization Press Office (55). Its driving principle was to facilitate the work of journalists as much as possible. Between September 2001 and October 2002 it received thousands of requests for information as events unfolded. The Press Office responded in two ways:
(i) In the first place, by supplying abundant information about each step: the miracle, the cause, the ceremony, the participants. It was in regular contact with the organizing committees of the canonization, and provided statements, interviews, news, statistics and other data as a basis for reporters’ work. Part of this material, as well as being passed on to individuals or in press releases, was put on the internet for public access (56).
(ii) Secondly, by being constantly available to respond to specific requests from journalists. As well as the articles, statements and interviews of the Prelate of Opus Dei, four press conferences were held over the course of the year (57), attended by Mgr Flavio Capucci, Postulator for the cause of canonization, Marta Manzi, Italian author and spokesperson for the canonization, and others. Demand was obviously greatest during the days of the canonization itself, when more than 300 journalists from different countries went to the Press Office in person.
News reports on the canonization ceremony focused on the numbers present (58), the evident piety during the Mass and devotion to the Eucharist (59), the presence of young people (60), and the international character and good organization of the event (61) as reflecting the depth of people’s motivation.
As well as straight news reporting, other articles were published by religious correspondents on or around 6 October focusing on the perception of Opus Dei and its founder by public opinion. These included the articles by Henri Tincq in Le Monde (62), Joachim Fischer in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (63), Jacek Moskwa in Rzeczpospolita (64) and Frank Bruni in the New York Times (65). All these articles focused on the main themes previously outlined in the Catholic media (66). Henri Tincq concluded that, “now that past misunderstandings have been overcome, Opus Dei will find it easier henceforth to show its worth and respond to its founder’s call to re-Christianize society, helping businessmen, students, immigrants to defend traditional Christian values, and offering them formative activities, spiritual retreats, times for prayer and devotional practices” (67).
(e) After 6 October
(i) A controversial case
In Italy, and probably in general, perhaps the only subject which aroused any significant controversy was the presence at the canonization ceremony of a well-known Left-wing politician, Massimo D’Alema, President of the Left-Wing Democrats party. On 7 October La Repubblica published a statement by D’Alema proclaiming the importance of the canonization of Josemaría Escrivá, expressing respect towards the Catholic Church, and suggesting that all political groupings should learn to take up the challenge of the religious dimension (68). Reactions were not long in coming. Some expressed respect for D’Alema’s position and convictions (69); others, surprise and disappointment (70).
After a number of comments by both politicians and journalists Massimo D’Alema returned to the subject in another interview, this time about a book-launch (71). He had previously expressed surprise at the “sectarianism and hatred” contained in some of the criticisms. Now he added an obvious fact overlooked by such criticisms: that the Church, and Opus Dei within it, are made up of people of all political persuasions, many of whom are very far from identifying with right-wing political parties. In this regard it is relevant to point out that the presence at the canonization of other left-wing political leaders (to employ the currently accepted terms) did not cause such controversy. Still less did the fact that those attending the ceremony included followers of political parties much further to the left than the Italian “Left-Wing Democrats”.
To analyze this brief controversy would be an interesting task but one which would fall outside the scope of this survey and involve switching to the language of political debate. However, keeping to the viewpoint of an analysis of religious coverage in the media, it is relevant to recall the cultural change of the past few years which was mentioned above in general terms (72). Some people have taken an article written by Eugenio Scalfari for the magazine L’Espresso as an expression of this new style (73). This veteran journalist, after describing his favourable impressions of the “spectacle” of Saint Peter’s Square, expressed his personal opinion about causes of canonization: “We laici (74) do not believe in miracles (…) nor in supernatural intervention of any kind, either in bodies or souls, whatever that word is understood to mean. Otherwise what sort of laici would we be? But we respect those who do believe.” He went on, “We do not quarrel with the fact that Josemaría Escrivá was a holy man just as Padre Pio was (…). A holy man, and hats off to him; I wish there were a lot more like him” (75) .
To sum up, part of the new climate of opinion in the media with regard to the Church is the proper exercise of the art of disagreeing, a much harder skill to learn than the art of agreeing. Perhaps Tertullian’s famous saying, “Hatred ceases when ignorance ceases” should continue: “Dialogue begins when respect begins”.
(ii) A personal story
The death of Leonardo Mondadori on 13 December 2002 sparked a wide debate in the Italian media (76). He was a well-known publisher from a renowned family, a lover of books and art, and much valued by his business colleagues and employees. He had recently written a book with Vittorio Messori whose subject was announced in its title, Conversione. Up to the beginning of December 100,000 copies had been sold.
In the book, Mondadori tells of the radical change effected in his life by reading The Way in 1992. In the context of the beatification of Josemaría Escrivá, his publishing house had studied the possibility of bringing out a new edition of Escrivá’s most popular work. Mondadori read the book himself and thus embarked on a process of conversion – a gradual process rather than a sudden one. Little by little the Christian faith began to make itself felt in this successful publisher, who sensed that something important was lacking from his life. With The Way in his hands he discovered that faith in Jesus Christ and his Church affected him personally, and he began to take an interest in it. The Gospel, the Commandments and the Sacraments transformed his life slowly but surely. Then came his final illness. In the weeks leading up to the canonization, when he may have felt that he was soon to die, Leonardo Mondadori offered his personal witness about this saint who had accompanied him to the threshold of faith (77).
The time between 1992 and 2002 had been a crucial period for Leonardo Mondadori. His attitude towards the faith changed radically over those ten years. Stories like his bring to mind something the Pope has written: “Where does the true power of the Church lie? Naturally, over the centuries in the West and the East the power of the Church has lain in the witness of the saints, of those who made Christ’s truth their own truth” (78)
3. Epilogue
This survey began by quoting Pope John Paul II’s address to the Roman Curia on 21 December 2002. It will finish with more words by the Holy Father, this time from his homily at the Mass of 1 November 2002, Solemnity of All Saints. The Pope referred to the new saints canonized in the course of the year: “Thinking of these luminous witnesses of the Gospel, we thank God, “the source of all holiness”, for having given them to the Church and the world.” And he went on, “With their example they show that “all the faithful”, as the Council teaches, “are called to the fullness of Christian life and the perfection of charity” (Lumen Gentium, 10), aiming for the “high goal” of ordinary Christian life (cf. Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte, 31)” (79),
These words shine a powerful light on the fruits Pope John Paul II expects from all canonizations. And from another point of view they answer the questions which many people have asked at one time or another: “Why is this Pope encouraging so many beatifications and canonizations?” By proclaiming people Saints and Blesseds, the Pope is inviting us to imitate Jesus Christ, who is our only Model; he is confirming the fact that holiness is possible, today as well as yesterday. In that way he is nourishing Catholics in their hope and promoting the sowing of charity in the world. What further reasons are needed?
J. M. Mora, Professor of Communication and Management, Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, Rome.
Notes
1. See e.g. Osservatorio Comunicazione e Cultura, no. 11-2002, pp.17-18 (an information sheet published by the Italian Episcopal Conference’s National Office of Social Communication), Rome, November 2002.
2. The newspapers and documents used as sources for this study, date from 1992 and 2002, come from many different countries and are held in the Opus Dei Prelature’s Communication Department in Rome.
3. Vatican Information Service, Rome, 21 December 2002.
4. The present study was completed on 6 January 2003, just three months after the canonization.
5. Television programmes about Padre Pio broke all records for Italian audience ratings in this field: Canale 5 obtained nearly 50% and RAI, shortly afterwards, over 50%, both at peak viewing times.
6. Corriere della Sera, 30 December 2002.
7. John Paul II, Crossing the Threshold of Hope, London: Jonathan Cape, 1994, p.116.
8. Anyone working in the field of communication in Italy cannot fail to be struck by the occurrence of expressions such as beatificazione (“beatification”), bisogna essere santi (“need to be holy”) and other similar ones, on posters. These advertisements had not been designed with any view to religious instruction, but composed by copy-writers who had caught on to new, fresh-sounding phrases in popular usage and adopted them as part of their professional vocabulary.
9. Cf. Diego Contreras, Aceprensa, no. 14/02, Madrid, 30 January 2002.
10. Cf. Giovanna Zucconi, “Dio mi sta baciando? Per favore, digli di smettere”, La Stampa, 17 December 2002.
11. Cf. Il sale della terra, interview of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger by Peter Seewald, Rome 1997, p.153.
12. See the Apostolic Letters Tertio Millennio Adveniente explaining the meaning of the Jubilee and Novo Millennio Ineunte summarizing it and reflecting on it.
13. John Paul II, Message for the World Day of Peace, 1 January 2003, 2.
14. Crossing the Threshold of Hope, 1994, p.164.
15. Such matters have in fact been thoroughly discussed by several newspaper correspondents with reference to Josemaría Escrivá’s canonization and public perceptions of Opus Dei. See for example “Opus Dei comes in from the cold”, Catholic Herald editorial, 18 January 2002; Rodolfo Brancoli, “Il fantasma dell’Opera”, Liberal, June-July 2002; John L. Allen, “Incomprehensions about Opus Dei”, National Catholic Reporter, 11 October 2002; and Michael W. Higgins, “Polarizing tendencies afflict Catholicism”, The Toronto Star, 9 November 2002.
16. At that stage (September 2001), the canonization of Giuseppina Bakhita (beatified in May 1992, at the same time as Josemaría Escrivá), and the beatification of Pope John XXIII, had already taken place, together with other beatifications and canonizations which had been accomplished relatively quickly, in accordance with the canonical legislation in force since 1983. The cause of Mother Teresa was proceeding extremely quickly, with dispensations granted from some of the statutory intervals. The number and popularity of these cases explains why some of the criticisms made about the beatification of Josemaría Escrivá under this heading in 1992 were not repeated in 2002.
17. Cf. for example, on the same day (20 December 2002) the interview with Dr Manuel Nevado on RAI television; a longer interview published by Famiglia Cristiana; and the long article by Vittorio Messori in the Corriere della Sera. The internet site www.opusdei.org featured video clips of statements by Dr Nevado and witnesses of the case. This site continues to offer articles published from 20 December 2001 onwards.
18. Among others the late Cardinal Basil Hume, Archbishop of Westminster, spoke along the same lines at a Mass of thanksgiving for the 70th anniversary of the founding of Opus Dei in 1998. He said, “The founder of Opus Dei understood that he was to urge men - and indeed of course women as well – in all walks of life to seek holiness, and carry out an apostolate in the midst of the world, through the exercise of their profession or trade, without change of life. No change of life; but surely always a change of heart! But already those words, 70 years ago, anticipated the Vatican Council’s Decree on place and the rôle of the laity in the world.” Cardinal Hume’s words were echoed in UK press, cf. Annabel Miller, “Muscular Catholicism”, The Tablet, 17 November 2001.
19. This collective perception was confirmed by the presence at the canonization of over 400 bishops, many superiors of religious orders, and representatives of movements, associations and other entities within the Church.
20. Tosatti noted that Maria del Carmen Tapia, who had repeatedly opposed the beatification in 1992, now declared that she “bowed to the Pope’s decision”. On 24 December 2001 the Spanish press agency ANSA released further statements by M. C. Tapia to clarify her position, in which she said that “The forthcoming successful conclusion of the cause of Monsignor Escrivá’s canonization makes me very happy, because since his death I have often asked him for favours which I can honestly say he has granted.” After giving the reasons for her attitude, she spoke of a book she had published in 1992, saying that “it would be a serious mistake to use the information contained in my book to cast doubt on the holiness of the founder of Opus Dei.” The fact that this item was released by ANSA at 3.30 in the afternoon of Christmas Eve explains why certain journalists missed it altogether.
21. Rodolfo Brancoli, in the article “Il fantasma dell’Opera” referred to above, spoke of the “extraordinary media coverage” of the congress. The Italian daily newspaper Avvenire devoted almost a whole page to it every day for a week.
22. Among others they highlighted the papers by Rabbi A. Kreiman, a Cooperator of Opus Dei, on the sanctification of work, and E. Pazhukin, a Russian writer and Orthodox Christian who had recently published a biography of Josemaría Escrivá developing the most significant aspects of his teachings in the context of the Eastern tradition.
23. Cf. Javier Echevarría, “Il dinamismo di un messaggio donato alla Chiesa universale”, L’Osservatore Romano, 9 January 2002. Bishop Echevarría, the Prelate of Opus Dei, said that to give in to the “temptation of celebrating” in commemorating the centenary would be to forget the founder of Opus Dei’s basic “lesson of humility”.
24. A veteran Italian Vatican-watcher headed his article of 8 October 2002 “Dall’evento, un invito per tutti alla riflessione” (“From the event, an invitation to reflection for all”) (Arcangelo Paglialunga, Il Giornale di Brescia).
25. Cf. www.opusdei.org (Italian version). Professor Roberto Panizza detailed some of the conclusions of the conference in Il Sole-24 Ore, 11 October 2001, in an article entitled “Il sottosviluppo sarà vinto dal lavoro” (Underdevelopment will be beaten by work). He outlined the serious problems afflicting many countries in the world and maintained that “man can fulfill himself and achieve the freedom he aspires to” through work, which is a powerful motor of development. This fact, he claimed, proves that “Josemaría Escrivá’s thinking needs to be applied in today’s world”.
26. Josemaría Escrivá, Letter 31 May 1943, no. 1, quoted in J. L. Illanes, F. Ocariz and P. Rodriguez, Opus Dei in the Church, Dublin/Princeton, 1994, p.107.
27. The projects set up because of the centenary were: the Institute for Industrial Technologies (Nigeria), Arauco mobile clinic (Venezuela), the Moluka medico-social outpost (Democratic Republic of the Congo), “Children’s City” clinic (Mexico), Guatanfur Family Agricultural School (Colombia), Braval and Terral immigrants’ centres (Spain), and Los Pinos Educational Centre (Uruguay). And the canonization stimulated others to set up the Laguna Medical Centre (Spain) and Aq’on Jay Day-care Centre (Guatemala). On 9 January a press conference in Rome presented a number of the social projects undertaken to mark the centenary; see “Un centenario all’insegna della solidarietà”, Avvenire, 10 January 2002.
28. Bishop Javier Echevarría, the Prelate of Opus Dei, spoke of this project in an interview with the Misna agency on 3 October 2002. He said that Harambee 2002 was born of the conviction that “what matters most are people, and in this case Africans, who have to be the ones who build progress in Africa. Therefore an indispensable element of development is their education, because it opens the doors to work and progress, both in the material sphere and the spiritual sphere. Education is, if I may so express it, a way of sowing hope. Harambee 2002 aims to contribute its grain to the collective enterprise.”
29. See http://harambee-africa.org for information about the development of the project and the fund-raising.
30. Besides the articles mentioned previously, the list would include the Deutsche Tagespost (Germany); Alfa y Omega, Ecclesia, and Vida Nueva (Spain); National Catholic Reporter and Inside the Vatican (US); La Croix, Famille Chrétienne and France Catholique (France); Katholiek Nieuwsblad (Netherlands); Katorikku Shimbum (Japan); The Universe (UK); and the Zenit, ACI, KNA and CNS news agencies.
31. “Opus Dei: no surprise it gets top billing this papacy”.
32. “Saints in the Office” and “Muscular Catholicism”.
33. Cf. John L. Allen, op. cit. For her part, Annabel Miller, having interviewed people of Opus Dei as well as people opposed to it, concluded that the message of Josemaría “would not suit me”; but that for some people “it is a helpful way to be a better Christian. Who am I to quarrel with that?” The Tablet, 17 November 2002.
34. “Soll meine Wende Sünde sein?” Tages Anzeiger, 30 January 2002.
35. See the texts of their statements on 26 February 2002 at www.opusdei.org.
36. See ibid.
37. Flavio Capucci (ed.), Un Santo per Amico, Milan: Ares, 2001.
38. Camino: edición crítico-histórica, Madrid: Rialp, 2002.
39. See Romana, Bulletin of the Opus Dei Prelature, no. 32, January-June 2001, p.47.
40. Ibid., p.76.
41. The first presentation of this edition was held in Madrid on 13 March 2002, with contributions by Cardinal López Trujillo and Professor Antonio Fontón.
42. For an example of its spiritual influence see (e) below, “After 6 October”.
43. This is also one of the main contributions made by Andrés Vazquez de Prada’s book The Founder of Opus Dei: the life of Josemaría Escrivá, the second volume of which, God and Daring, was published in November 2002 (English translation, Scepter Publishers, 2003).
44. With reference to that type of argument, it seems relevant to quote some words by Hannah Arendt about the criticisms of her famous book The Banality of Evil. She said, “Even before its publication, this book became both the centre of a controversy and the object of an organized campaign. The clamour centred on the ‘image’ of a book which was never written, and touched upon subjects that often had not only not been mentioned by me but had never occurred to me before.” Eichmann in Jerusalem. A Report on the Banality of Evil, Penguin Books, 1994, pp.282-3. (Postscript to the revised and enlarged edition she published in 1965 of the original 1963 version.)
45. E.g. some of the reports published in the Spanish newspaper El Pais around 9 January, and the statements by Peter Hertel in the German-language press.
46 Taken, for example, from Der Spiegel or Le Monde Diplomatique.
47. Marco Politi, La Repubblica, 10 January 2002. The comment was made in the introduction to an interview with the Prelate of Opus Dei about the centenary.
48. Tiempo, 7 October 2002.
49. The Italian government rated this ceremony a “major event”, as it had the canonization of Padre Pio. Cf. Decree of the President of the Council of Ministers, published in the Gazzetta Ufficiale della Repubblica Italiana, 19 July 2002.
50 Cf. “Pellegrini di tutto il mondo per la canonizzazione del fondatore dell’Opus Dei” in La Repubblica, 1 October 2002.
51. Lola Galan said in El Pais, 6 October 2002 that “the enthusiastic reception given by State television and most of the Italian press to the new Saint is very indicative.”
52. RAI-1, 2 October 2002.
53. Cardinal Saraiva made other contributions in the course of 2002, including his article “Si sono aperti i cammini divini della terra” (Osservatore Romano, 21 September 2002) and the interview published by Il Messaggero el 5 October 2002. The Congregation for the Causes of the Saints handled all the information relating to the canonization in a very opportune way.
54.RAI produced a four-hour programme, representing a considerable investment of effort on the part of the news editors.
55 This paragraph applies equally to the International Congress “The Grandeur of Ordinary Life” in January 2002, which had its own Press Office and also a website, www.escriva2002.org
56. From October 2001 on www.opusdei.org and from April 2002 onwards on www.escriva-canonization.org, a site dedicated expressly to practical information and news about the canonization ceremony.
57. In December 2001 and January, February and October 2002.
58. For many people this was a news item in its own right. As usual, there is no absolute agreement on numbers. Many reports spoke of “over 300,000 people”; some newspapers gave the figure of 400,000 or even 500,000 (Paris Match, 17 October 2002). Some journalists referred to it as “the best-attended canonization in the history of the Church” (Cf. Osservatorio Comunicazione e Cultura, no.11-2002, p.17, Rome, November 2002).
59. The white umbrellas indicating that the Blessed Sacrament was being carried were a sign of respect that attracted a lot of attention.
60. Cf. Luigi Accatoli, “Il santo dei giovani e dei ceti medi”, Corriere della Sera, 7 October 2002.
61. Much quoted in this regard was the article by Vittorio Messori in the Corriere della Sera of 6 October 2002 entitled “Il foglio segreto dell’Opus Dei”.
62. “L’Opus Dei, l’avant-garde de Dieu”, 4 October 2002.
63 “Vater in der Welt”, 7 October 2002.
64. This correspondent published two very interesting articles on 5 and 7 October respectively.
65. In regard to the United States the scant attention paid to the canonization by Newsweek was very noticeable. On 7 October 2002 it published an article written by Kenneth Woodward before the ceremony, which actually contained no up to date news but was merely a run-down of the journalist’s own opinions on the canonization. Woodward had played a large part in criticizing the beatification, starting with another Newsweek article published on 6 January 1992.
66. See 2. (b) above, about 9 January 2002.
67. Le Monde, 4 October 2002
68. “This canonization is a very great event which must not go unnoticed. I accepted the invitation for that reason, and not only that: I am also here out of respect for the Catholic Church, its institutions, history, witnesses and symbols. And the new Saint Escrivá de Balaguer is certainly one of them.” Asked what the Church could teach politicians, he answered: “The Church has a lot to teach. What most impresses people about the Church is its consistency, the strength of its convictions, its faith, its capacity to sink roots in society, as manifested in all its expressions and movements, and all its men and women. The Catholic Church is unquestionably the greatest ‘fact’ of our time, and you have to take up its challenge. Everyone should feel called to do so, including those who dedicate their lives to politics.”
69. Including Piero Fassino, the Secretary General of his party.
70. Such as Antonio Tabucchi, in El Pais, 15 October 2002. This and other articles based their criticism on a deformed picture of Opus Dei and its founder. In their defense, it should be noted that they might have arrived at a more balanced opinion if they had had more information. In such cases, it is useful to recall a phrase frequently used by the founder of Opus Dei: for communication to work well there has to be a capacity to understand and also, to at least the same degree, a capacity to explain.
71. See La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno, 16 November 2002.
72. See 1. (b) above. The words “cultural change” were used by Giuseppe De Carli, the RAI reporter covering the canonization ceremony, who referred to a huge change, which was manifested on 6 October in the maturity of the press coverage of the canonization of Opus Dei’s founder.
73. “I miracoli di Escrivá e la fabbrica dei santi”L’Espresso, 17 October 2002. Scalfari is the founder of the Roman daily newspaper La Repubblica.
74. The word laici, which could sometimes be translated “lay-people”, is often used in Italian to denote the opposite of “Catholic”.
75. Something similar, from a different background, was written by Joan Estruch in an article published in Avui, Barcelona, on 9 January 2002. On the subject of the forthcoming canonization Estruch said that people who do not believe in miracles are not in a position to criticize the Pope’s decision. This warning marks a rule for fair play in public debate.
76 All the Italian media reported at length on the subject: see for example the Italian magazine Panorama, 2 January 2003.
77. On 2 October 2002 he told his story modestly and attractively in “Porta a Porta”, a very popular television debate, and in a press conference at the Quirinetta Theatre in Rome. On 7 October La Repubblica published a short interview in which he again told what had happened in simple terms.
78. Crossing the Threshold of Hope, p.176.
79. Osservatore Romano, daily edition in Italian, 2/3 November 2002, p.1. On this subject, see Edward Nowak, “La nouvelle évangélisation avec les saints”, Osservatore Romano (French edition), nos 49 and 50, dated 4 and 11 December 2001 respectively.
Prayer
RSS
FACEBOOK
TWITTER
YOUTUBE