Journalists from the East and West Coast joined a recent edition of the Diocese’s Talking Catholic podcast to discuss the importance of Catholic media.
“Whether it’s journalism or other types of communication … we’re trying to help our audience have a better relationship with God. We’re also trying to enable our audiences to have a better relationship with one another. To love God and to love neighbor,” said J.D. Long-García, a senior editor at America Magazine and past president of the Catholic Media Association. “Catholic journalism, at its best [is] when we’re demonstrating that love of neighbor and we’re able to be a medium for solidarity with people who are suffering injustice.”
Long-García joined Matthew Gambino, editor of CatholicPhilly.com, the news website of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, and Peter G. Sánchez, Catholic Star Herald staff writer and co-host of the award-winning Talking Saints podcast, as guests on the show. Co-hosts Mike Walsh, diocesan director of communications, and Jennifer Mauro, managing editor of the Catholic Star Herald, spoke with the three during February, Catholic Press Month. Just a few weeks earlier, the Church celebrated Saint Francis de Sales, patron saint of journalists.
Catholic media, the panel discussed, is crucial as it gives consumers of all faiths an in-depth, educated account of what is happening in the Church.
“The Catholic culture has various hallmarks, and information is one of them,” Gambino said. “Let’s be honest, we don’t see as many of our fellow Catholics as we used to in worship spaces, faith formation, so forth. People are thoroughly saturated in our media culture, and that’s where our Catholic communications needs to be.”
As a Catholic journalist for 16 years, Sánchez spoke of how reporting on Catholic news, the Church and its people is a form of evangelization that goes both ways.
“My faith is so built up by the individuals I meet every day,” he said. “It’s such a privilege to tell their stories. I feel such a responsibility. I need to make sure I do right by them.”
Long-García agreed. “It’s a blessing to be part of Catholic media … to put into practice the discipline of journalism and also my faith. Learning from my peers [and] all the beautiful people I meet in our work inspires me to be a better Catholic.”
Listen to the entire Catholic media podcast episode at camdendiocese.org/talkingcatholic.
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