June 16, 2012. (Romereports.com) The global reach of the Church means that it's also covered by journalists from around the world. Not all of them have the same
access to the Vatican to know the ins and outs when trying to report on one of the world's oldest institutions.
That's why the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome has created a week long seminar for journalists called
'The Church Up Close'. It's held for English speaking reporters that want an insider's view of the Church.
Fr. John Wauck
Church Up Close, Pontifical University of the Holy Cross
“What they get is an opportunity to visit the places in Rome where
decisions are made, the key points in the life of the Church. They go
into the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith for instance, meet with
officials who work in the Vatican, hear their side of the story, get a
sense of who's who.”
Father John Wauck is the president of the conference that has brought
together journalists from secular media like the New York Times, and the
Times of London, to religious newspapers such as the Catholic Herald.
Wauck says the interaction between these two diverse groups is a learning experience by itself.
Fr. John Wauck
Church Up Close, Pontifical University of the Holy Cross
“It's a very interesting mix of journalists actually that are coming and
of course interacting with each other. They are talking with each other
about the challenges of covering the Church and getting a perspective,
the religious journalists are getting a perspective of the secular
journalists, the secular journalists are hearing how the Catholic
journalists see things, but also there is the international
perspective.”
That international perspective will include journalists from every
continent, all of whom will bring their own style of covering the
Vatican.
But one area of the Church that all of them seem to cover is when the
Vatican is trying to deal with a scandal that has broken out.
Fr. John Wauck
Church Up Close, Pontifical University of the Holy Cross
“We've talked about the hot issues of the day, whether it was the sex
abuse scandals earlier, or its a question about Vatican finances or now
its a question of the Vatileaks, the leaks within the Vatican, and all
these things will be talked about.”
This September, the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross will hold
it's third seminar that will host around 30 journalists. They have
started to cap off the number of participants in order to ensure that
each journalist gets a good amount of face time with Vatican officials.
It's a way for those who cover the Catholic Church from a distance to
become an expert, or a so called “vaticanista”, in the span of a week.
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