Reputation, Image and Identification: How Pope Francis Influences Views of His Church Through Media

Abstract

Culture, especially in large organizations, can be difficult to change. Entrenched practices, established power hierarchies and organizational structures, mission and vision statements, organizational narratives and myths that constitute part of the culture make it even more difficult to change an organization's culture. However, studies have shown that while changes are difficult and time consuming, making the necessary changes, including hiring the right persons or dismissing those who hinder the new culture, setting the right leadership tone and having a keen insight into the organization can aid in establishing a new culture. A large, old and powerful organization such as the Roman Catholic Church, with all of the elements of entrenched organizational culture mentioned above provides an ideal case study. A key belief shared throughout the world and the Catholic Church is that actions speak louder than words (Siri, 1999). Pope Francis, who since his elevation to the papacy has made efforts to change the culture of the Catholic Church, is the focus of this research. I examine Pope Francis' activities through the lens of public relations in the Catholic Church. Specifically, I examine how his words and actions are reshaping the Catholic Church. As with any change agent, Pope Francis cannot start enforcing new policies or change doctrines until he changes the Catholic Church culture. Knowledge of the history of the Catholic Church and the papacy are important in understanding how challenging and lengthy it would be for one to change such a large organization steeped in centuries-old tradition. This research analyzes popular literature to identify key public relations principles that support Pope Francis' symbolic actions. I compare and contrast five magazines that put Pope Francis as their cover story. I also analyzed multiple websites run by the Vatican and Pope Francis. To evaluate what certainly seems to be public relations change in the Catholic Church, I research how management, cultures, and organizations change a culture. As Pope Francis embraces his identity as the "pope of the poor", he has gained worldwide attention from both Catholics and non-Catholics (Chua-Eoan, 2013). This project gave me insight about how Pope Francis may change one of the oldest and largest institutions in the world.