The Catholic Church places a very strong basis on authority. There is a strict hierarchy within the church that consists of the Pope, cardinals, bishops, priests, and so on and so forth. Each of these positions of authority are responsible for watching over one another – a system of checks and balances of sorts. However, unfortunately, even in an ideal world, hierarchy fails and even authority cannot prevent sins and scandals. Even more unfortunately – just as with any organization, corporation, or religion – there has been no shortage of scandals. For example, Father Coughlin’s anti-Semitism and Steven J. Cook’s molestation charges against Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, just to name a few. Through scandal, churches are able to do more because of media than ever: create a social order and congregate members, even through media ridicule.
According to Paul Soukup (1997), author of Church, Media, and Scandal, “scandal emerges as a tool for establishing identity and social control within a religious community” (223). Throughout history, it would be impossible to find one religion or religious sector clean and free of any scandal. Due to this, religion is able to form rules and guidelines regarding and in response to these scandals, which can further cement their authority rather than dismiss it. An example of this can be seen in the recent news – former Roman Catholic cardinal Theodore McCarrick was defrocked by The Vatican in regards to his recent sexual allegations and history of misconduct. Instead of allowing this scandal to delegitimize the Catholic authority, The Vatican acted quickly and swiftly, instead further establishing an identity of fairness and social control over the religion.
Media can tell a different story, however. Says Soukup, “while they, too, attempt to exercise their own kind of social control, scandal forms less a tool to enforce behavior within their community… the news media tend to regard scandal as an instance of moral hypocrisy and employ public exposure, even ridicule, to develop a story” (225). By selling scandals, media outlets are then able to sell more copies of newspapers, magazines, etc. Thus, media sees scandal as profit, a commodity to be sold. In this instance, it is even more important for the Catholic Church to set a positive example in the public eye through affirmative authority. In today’s day and age, information is distributed mainly from the church in modes of mass media. It is therefore the Catholic authority’s job to be able to exercise influence and control over their believers through positive mass media, as nowadays, members have a stake in both media consumption and religion.
It is thus incredibly important for both sides – the Catholic authority and media - to reach an understanding of one another. Though both sides regard scandal and authority differently, oddly, perhaps one day, scandal could “become common ground and a site of reconciliation” (238).
Soukup, P. A. (1997). Church, Media, and Scandal. Media Scandals; Morality and Desire in the Popular Culture Marketplace, 222-239. Retrieved March 31, 2019.
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