The Catholic Church as a public diplomacy actor: an analysis of the pope’s strategic narrative and international engagement

ABSTRACT

While religion is often considered a cultural element of soft power, religious institutions are rarely studied as diplomatic actors. The purpose of this study was to better understand the manner in with the Catholic Church attempts to build relationships with foreign audiences, a key function of public diplomacy. Emphasising the role of Pope Francis as an iconic world leader, this study employed a qualitative textual analysis to determine what themes are selected and emphasised in papal speeches in order to construct the strategic narrative of the Catholic Church. Results suggest that Pope Francis’ speeches rely most on narratives of universal identity and values, shared responsibility, and calls to action to present the Catholic Church more favourably in the eyes of both Catholic and non-Catholic audiences around the world. These findings contribute to the study of public diplomacy, the concept of strategic narrative, and the theoretical framework of framing.

KEYWORDS:

• Religious diplomacy
• Pope Francis
• Catholic Church
• strategic narrative
• framing

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to acknowledge and thank Janessa White for her contributions to early drafts of the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Guy J. Golan is a Visiting Associate Professor at the Zimmerman School of Advertising and Mass Communications at the University of South Florida. He has published more than 40 peer reviewed manuscripts centered on international public opinion and media effects.

Phillip C. Arceneaux is a PhD student in the College of Journalism and Communications at the University of Florida. He holds an M.S. from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and a B.A. from Louisiana State University. His research investigates both the uses of political public relations in international contexts as well as media policy and technology policy implications that arise from such behaviour.

Megan Soule was a student at the S.I. Newhouse School graduate program in public diplomacy at Syracuse University.