The Papal Election in the Philippines: Negotiating Religious Authority in Newspapers

Abstract

The Roman Catholic Church has always been present in news media worldwide. In 2013 the papal election caused special attention from the media because of the resignation by Benedict xvi. Heated discussions not only on the possible successor, but also on the necessary obligations of the Pope took place in the press discourse. Is there a changing understanding of authority, as the press coverage as well as millions of websites, Twitter contributions etc. suggested? The influence of new media on religious authority structures is assessed quite differently so far. However, what exactly is understood as religious authority? The paper presents exemplarily the press coverage in the Philippines and discusses the construction of religious authority in the press discourse during the papal election. Applying an analysis model, it thereby analyzes the different construction processes within a specific media genre and asks how and what kind of authority was ascribed to.