THE CHURCH UP CLOSE

Rome, September 5-11, 2016

Religion news occupies an increasingly important place in today's journalism, and many media professionals are seeking keys to unlock a complex institution that sparks enormous public interest: the Catholic Church. Building on its successful monthly seminars for Rome-based Vatican correspondents, the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome once again offers The Church Up Close, a one-week seminar in English for journalists who cover the Vatican from afar.

Previous seminars were attended by journalists from media outlets such as The New York Times and USA Today (USA), The Guardian, The Times, The Financial Times and BBC (UK), The Record (Australia), The Southern Cross (South Africa), The National Post, CBC and El Universal (Venezuela), Neue Zürcher Zeitung (Switzerland) and Radio Renascença (Portugal).

Combining conferences, interactive workshops, personal encounters, and on-site visits, the seminar is designed to give journalists an array of tools to enhance the quality of their coverage of today’s Roman Catholic Church. Here is what participants receive:

• A basic sense of the lay of the land at the Vatican;
• A serious, in-depth analysis of specific hot-button issues;
• A personal introduction to some of the key players in Rome; a taste of the rich complex history and culture that lies behind contemporary Church affairs;
• A chance to reflect, in an ideal setting, with journalists from around the world, on the fascinating relationships between religion and the media.