Pope's communication style: 'What you see is what you get'
The Tablet
11 December 2017 | by Rose GambleBishop Paul Tighe described the pope as having a communication style that is 'very direct and simple'
Pope
Francis communicates well in today’s digital culture because “what you
see is what you get”, the secretary of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council
for Culture has said.
Bishop Paul Tighe, who was named as secretary of Vatican’s culture department
in late October, described the pope as having a communication style
that is “very direct and simple” in an interview on 10 December.
Discussing the Church’s digital ministry, Bishop Tighe told the Jesuit Post that the faithful were “blessed” to have a pope who is “rather visual in his style of communication".
He
said this worked particularly well in video clips, which captured
something of Francis’ spontaneity, good humour, simplicity and his
generosity.
“So, one of the things that becomes very clear, is that what people see is what they get," he explained.
“I
think it’s a reminder for us all to recover a certain authenticity in
terms of digital media, that we’re seen to be people who have a concern
for the other," he added.
But,
he told the Jesuit publication, he believes Francis would be
disappointed if people didn’t look beyond this visual representation of
the pope and see “where he’s trying to point people”, which is the
Gospel itself.
The
59 year-old Irish prelate explained that Pope Francis has built up over
40 million followers across Twitter accounts in nine different languages
and, through Twitter, is reaching out to “people who don’t follow him".
Bishop Tighe also said that the church was engaged in social media because it “exists to communicate.”
“The
church has always been engaged. Whatever else we do, we’re here to
communicate. We don’t exist for our own name. We exist to communicate,
and the message we’re here to communicate is not our own message. It’s
the message of Christ, which has been entrusted to us,” he said.
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