Training sessions help local Catholics explain the faith to journalists - Catholic Philly

 

When Pope Francis visits Philadelphia this September following the World Meeting of Families, in addition to the huge numbers of the faithful in town hoping to see and hear the Holy Father, it’s a certainty there will be thousands of journalists all trying to get a unique quote, if not from the lips of Francis himself but from people who came to see and hear him.

Since there will be far too many for the Communications staffs of the archdiocese and the World Meeting of Families to serve, an invitation went out for volunteers who are knowledgeable in the faith to attend weekend training sessions so they will be able to articulate the faith in the public square as needed.

In a letter last December, Archbishop Charles Chaput said more than 5,000 reporters are expected to be present in Philadelphia for the families’ congress Sept. 22-25 and the papal visit Sept. 25-27.

“We’re going to need well-informed priests, religious and lay people from across the archdiocese who represent the broad spectrum of our diverse Catholic family to help us speak to the media about Church teaching on a variety of matters,” he said.

He invited local Catholics to attend training sessions offered by Catholic Voices USA in conjunction with the Communications Office of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and communications personnel with the World Meeting of Families.

Founded in 2012, Catholic Voices USA is one of a dozen similar groups around the world patterned after Catholic Voices UK, which was founded in 2010. Catholic Voices has done similar training in a number of dioceses.

The purpose is not to tell people what they should say but rather how they should express it, and the techniques are effective no matter what the topic. By coincidence when Catholic Voices UK was founded, the first issue they dealt with was a visit by Pope Benedict XVI to England.

The initial training sessions were held at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in January and most recently on Friday evening, Feb. 20 and Saturday, Feb. 21. Fifteen people had signed up to come to last week’s sessions, according to Lizanne Magarity-Pando, director of communications and marketing for the World Meeting of Families.

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