Rome Seminar: The Church Up Close

2014 seminar

On Monday, 10 September, journalists who cover the Catholic world are meeting in Rome for a seminar 'The Church Up Close: Covering Catholicism in the Age of Francis,' organised by the School of Church Communications at Rome's Pontifical University of the Holy Cross.

The seminar's sixth edition will take place in Rome 10-16 September, and is designed to equip journalists with the tools to enhance their coverage of today's Roman Catholic Church.

The seminar takes place every two years and has seen the participation of reporters from Catholic media outlets and others, such as The New York Times, The Guardian, The Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Daily Telegraph, Il Corriere della Sera, El País, the BBC and Le Monde.

Among this year's guest speakers are Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States (Vatican Secretariat of State); Bishop Fabio Fabene, Under-Secretary of the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops; Bishop Brian Farrell, LC, Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity; Msgr. Mauro Rivella, Secretary of the APSA; Mgr Santiago Michael, from the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue; Mgr Lucio A Ruiz, Secretary of the Dicastery for Communication; Professor Guzmán M.Carriquiry Lecour, Secretary of the Pontifical Commission of Latin America; Rev Michael Czerny SJ, from the Vatican's Department for Migrants; and Rev Professor Hans Zollner, SJ, from the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.

The participants will be attending the weekly audience of Pope Francis. In addition to conference sessions, this week-long seminar features on-site visits and personal meetings with curial officials and veteran Vatican correspondents. Among others, participants will meet the Honorable Mrs Sally Axworthy, British Ambassador to the Holy See; Mgr Philip Whitmore, rector of the Venerable English College; Rev Prof Paul Mueller, SJ, vice-director of the Vatican Observatory; and Fr Tad Oxley of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The Church Up Close provides an insight into the nature of the Catholic Church and the inner workings of the Vatican. Conference sessions and interactive workshops address topics from the financial life of the Holy See, the Synod for the youth, the work of the Holy See in the international arena, Christians and the Muslim world, the Magisterium of Pope Francis, ecumenism and inter-religious dialogue, and the state of the Church in Africa and Asia.According to the president of the organizing committee,

Rev Prof John Wauck said: "The Church Up Close seminar was inspired by a series of classes that our school was already offering throughout the year for Rome-based 'vaticanisti'. The Church Up Close is a condensed, intensified and amplified version of the class that has been tailored for journalists from around the globe."

The goal is to provide both a basic understanding of the Vatican and an in-depth analysis of specific hot issues regarding the Church today.

Fr Wauck observes: "Covering an institution as old and as large as the Catholic Church has always been a huge challenge, and in today's shrinking world, it's becoming ever more necessary to tell even local stories about the Church from a global perspective. The seminar should help reporters do that. What's more, Rome is an ideal setting for reflecting on religion and the media with journalists from around the world."The full program and detailed information about '

For more information, see: www.church-communication.net/english-seminar-2018

Josephine Siedlecka, editor of ICN, and writer Ellen Teague are attending the seminar.