Cardinal Tagle to media: Avoid using labels

MANILA, Philippines – Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle has an advice to journalists covering the Church.

Tagle on Thursday, October 30, briefed the Philippine media on issues discussed during the recent “extraordinary synod” or assembly of bishops in the Vatican, where the Catholic Church’s discussion on gay marriage and divorce were at the center of media attention. 

Midway through the synod, the Vatican released an initial draft of a document indicating a shift towards welcoming gays, but the paragraphs on it were revised in the final document. 

International media reports highlighted the outcome of the discussions as indicative of the “divide” between progressives or liberals and conservatives or traditionalists within the Catholic Church. 

For Tagle, such labels do not help advance discussions.

“Let me address the journalists. I don’t think it is helpful to label people. Labelling people as progressive, as conservative, as traditionalists, may hinder a full listening to them. If we have decided already in our minds, ‘this person is traditionalist,’ whatever the person says, you or we, will always say, ‘Ah, traditionalist.’ Or if a person says something that does not sound traditionalist, we change the label – ‘Ah, he’s not a traditionalist, he’s a progressive,” Tagle said. 

“A person will always be deeper than any label. And no person especially talking about deep, deep mysteries – love, marriage, relationship – could be labelled. It is not helpful to the public,” Tagle added. “It is not helpful to us. It is not helpful to you to think of persons based on names. Let us listen, listen, to the totality. Try to understand, and from that understanding we will get a better picture of the event.”

The Catholic Church recognizes that the world is becoming more complex and acknowledges that everyone should be “at home with diversity and complexity,” Tagle said. 

Tagle, who served as one of the delegate presidents of the synod, also downplayed the divide among Catholic officials in the Vatican. “Let us not be shocked if there are different opinions. And in the end, the Christian tradition, the word of God, the bible, the teachings of the Church throughout the years, are rich. They are not monochrome. They are not monotne. So, what may sound to be different opinions may be different facets of the same reality,” Tagle said. 

Dominated by the West

The full document on the synod, including the contentious paragraphs, was published at the Pope’s request.

Pope Francis called for the October assembly in the Vatican in preparation for the “ordinary synod” in October 2015, where the Vatican is expected to craft a more concrete response to the concerns raised during the recently-concluded gathering. 

Gay unions and divorce were not the only topics discussed during the synod, Tagle stressed. Among the concerns tackled were the “crisis of faith” all over the world, how financial constraints are discouraging the youth from getting married, mixed religious marriages, how the Church will reach out to families divided by migration or overseas work, domestic violence and pornography. 

Tagle said the call of some sectors to legalize divorce in the Philippines was not discussed but the Philippines was mentioned in some discussions as “a unique country for not having legal divorce.” 

Asked how he would evaluate the international media coverage on the Vatican assembly, Tagle said it was “generally fair.”

“My observation, at least, those that I’ve read, of course, I think it’s part of human… our style of communicating, each communicator has a focus,” Tagle said.

“Let’s say everyone wants to communicate something. So, without denying the other parts, they focus on one and others will just be mentioned in passing. Is that fair? On the one hand, fair, because everything was mentioned but one topic gets 50% (of the attention). Nothing is denied but the attention is focused on others. Some people do need to hear about the other things, which are also important,” he added. 

Tagle also lamented the lack of Asian and African journalists covering the Vatican, saying that coverage of the synod was still dominated by the West.

Up to 80% of Filipinos belong to the Catholic Church. – Rappler.com