THE CHURCH UP CLOSE


Covering Catholicism in the Age of Benedict XVI (September 10-16, 2012)

SEMINAR IN ROME FOR JOURNALISTS COVERING THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
Organized by the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross

In September 2012, the School of Church Communications at Rome’s Pontifical University
of the Holy Cross will be offering, for the third time, a one-week seminar designed to provide religion journalists with an array of tools to strengthen their coverage of today’s Roman Catholic Church.The seminar, entitled “The Church Up Close: Covering Catholicism in the Age of Benedict XVI,” will take place in Rome from September 10 to September 16, 2012. It will be conducted in English and is open to all working journalists, but the number of participants is limited. Registration deadline is June 24. Previous seminars have included reporters from media outlets like The New York Times, The Guardian, The Times, Il Corriere della Sera, El País, the BBC and Le Monde.
This year, speakers will include: Msgr. Peter Wells, Assessor for the Secretariat of State's Section for
General Affairs; Archbishop Rino Fisichella, President of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of
the New Evangelization; Cardinal Raymond Burke, Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic
Signatura; Nigel Baker, British Ambassador to the Holy See; Msgr. Fortunatus Nwachukwu, Head of
Protocol of the Vatican Secretariat of State; Debrah Mason, Executive Director of the Religion
Newswriters Association, and María-Paz López, president of the International Association of Religion Journalists. Along with general presentations describing the nature of the Church and how the Vatican functions, a number of more specific topics, including the following, will also be addressed at the seminar: bioethics and sexual morality; the legacy of the Second Vatican Council; economics and Catholic social doctrine; the role of canon law in the Church’s life; the “New Evangelization.” The seminar has been made possible by a generous grant from the U.S.-based Our Sunday Visitor Institute. According to the president of the organizing committee, Rev. Prof. John Wauck, “The Church Up Close seminar is a condensed version of a series of classes that our school already offers – once a month, in Italian - during the academic year for Rome-based ‘vaticanisti.’ The success of that series inspired us to offer a similar program  - all in one week, and in English - for journalists who are not permanently based in Rome.” In addition to classroom sessions, the fall seminar also features on-site visits and personal meetings with curial officials and veteran Vatican correspondents. The goal is to provide both a basic sense of the lay of the land at the Vatican and a serious, in-depth analysis of specific hot-button issues facing the Church today. Coming on the eve of the official “Year of Faith”, which begins in October 2012, the seminar will offer key insights into the Benedict XVI’s thinking and his leadership of the world’s largest church. 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”.


Piazza di Sant’Apollinare, 49 – 00186 ROMA – Tel. +39 06 68164399 – Fax +39 06 68164400
1© 2012 - PONTIFICIA UNIVERSITÀ DELLA SANTA CROCE

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“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 “The Church Up Close” seminar is available on its website (http://www.church-communication.net/). Applications must be submitted online, through the website.
For more information please contact: Ashley Noronha or Daniel Arasa
churchupclose@pusc.i