GKP calls on Vatican to be open to media at world synod
"What concerns everyone should also be discussed and debated transparently for everyone." The Society of Catholic Publicists calls on the Vatican not to exclude the media from the deliberations of the World Synod in October.
The German Society of Catholic Publicists (GKP) is calling on the Vatican to make the deliberations of the World Synod in Rome in October open to the media. "What concerns everyone should also be discussed and debated transparently for everyone," explained GKP President Joachim Frank in Kürten on Thursday. He said this also applies to the World Synod and its first phase from 4 to 29 October. The "no" that Pope Francis expressed on his return flight from Mongolia to Rome when asked about possible direct broadcasts from the Synod Assembly was disappointing in view of the expectations of many people worldwide and the far-reaching importance of the deliberations, he said.
"For too long, decisions in the Catholic Church - whether at the world level or in particular Churches - have been made after non-transparent consultations. The pressure to reform that currently exists in the Catholic Church is also due to a lack of transparency and comprehensibility," Frank continued. He said that the synodal processes at the level of the particular church had clearly shown the media and thus the faithful and the interested wider public that the church was in motion and that discussions were possible. "The admission of media representatives does not turn a synod assembly hall into a Parliament. This concern is unjustified," said the GKP president.
No independent media in the Vatican audience hall
On his return flight from Mongolia, Pope Francis had confirmed reports that no media representatives would be admitted to the debates at the World Synod in the Vatican. Media independent of the Vatican will not be able to follow the plenary sessions in the Vatican Audience Hall in real time. Only Synod participants selected by the Pope will have access to the auditorium; journalists should instead be informed daily via the Vatican Communications Authority, Francis said. This barrier should help preserve the religious character of the meeting and allow more freedom for participants in the debate, he said.
If the Catholic Church is newly on the way to the people and to necessary reforms, it is much more difficult to communicate this as an event behind closed doors, not only in the media, but also internally in the Church as a whole, according to the GKP. This is also due to too many disappointments "in the face of non-transparent decisions of previous pontificates", in which the debates in the synod hall took place in pre-cut formats and without the liveliness of the path of faith. A World Synod, he said, is not an internal pastoral conversation, but a common journey. "A path that the 375 participants walk on behalf of the faithful worldwide," said Frank.