Media shift over UK papal visit

The battle between faith and secularism dominated media coverage of Benedict XVI’s visit to the United Kingdom in 2010, a shift from 1982 when ecumenism was presented as the overriding theme of Pope John Paul II’s trip, according to a new study, writes Liz Dodd.

Findings from the Ashgate Arts and Humanities Research Council/Economic and Social Research Council Religion and Society Programme reveal that while reporting of the 1982 papal visit focused on relations between the Catholic and Anglican Churches, the marginalisation of faith dominated the 2010 visit.

The research, which analysed media coverage of both visits, was published this month in Media Portrayals of Religion and the Secular Sacred.

In 1982 the British media portrayed Pope John Paul II’s visit as a way of overcoming disagreements between Catholics and Protestants.

But comparison with coverage of the 2010 visit revealed a greater identification of the political Left with secularism, and the Right with Christianity and a criticism of multiculturalism.

Authors of the study, Professor Kim Knott, Dr Elizabeth Poole and Dr Teemu Taira, said: “In 2010 there was felt a need to reclaim the position of religion and to justify it in public discourse against (real or imagined) threats posed by increasing diversity and a more audible atheism and secularism.”

The interfaith emphasis was the media’s own, they concluded, because the issue did not feature prominently in Pope Benedict’s speeches.

The overall impression that Benedict’s visit had been successful was also due to the media, although initially they had reinforced doubt about the trip.