Pope John Paul II was 'showman of God' in use of media, nuncio says

Published: 2005-05-16

NEW YORK (CNS) -- The distinctiveness and greatness of Pope John Paul II as a communicator lay in his ability to use the media effectively without succumbing to their dangers, Archbishop Celestino Migliore said in an address May 14. He was known as a "showman of God" and called "pontifex massmediaticus," or mass media pontiff, the archbishop said. But he said Pope John Paul operated as a mass communicator in the service of a truth that "is not man-made" but "totally dependent upon God." The archbishop, who is Vatican nuncio to the United Nations, spoke at a New York bookstore of the Daughters of St. Paul, an order that has social communications as its apostolate. In acknowledgment of the observance of World Communications Day May 8, Archbishop Migliore spoke on "John Paul II: A Great Communicator of Our Times," and said that "never before him did a pope use the media as effectively."

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