Popes, religion and the media, or back to normal after the conclave

 

The death of Pope Francis and the election of Pope Leo XIV brought an estimated 7,000 reporters to Rome — swamping the Vatican press corps, which has about 100 permanent accredited journalists. 

For a few weeks in April and May, they reported everything there was possible to know about the two men. 

And then all the reporters went home.

And now reporting about Catholicism by the mainstream media goes back to normal. If that Church makes the news, it will likely be due to scandal or conflict at most media outlets. But not at the Free Press, the only daily newspaper in Canada that still has a faith beat. We will keep covering that church, and other religious groups, too.

As a veteran Vatican reporter said about the importance of covering religion: “If you look at the current world situation only through political and sociological glasses and leave religion out of consideration, you miss something very essential.”

You can read my column about popes, religion and the importance of religion coverage in the Free Press. 

Photo above: Media scrum in St. Peter's Square in 2022 when the Indigenous delegation from Canada was there to visit Pope Francis. I am barely visible on the left side (just the top of my head).