The influence of new media
If the extent of this media hubbub is unprecedented, if the dissemination of false information has never been easier, if the confusion between real and false news is important (so the tweet of a Donald Trump disguised as the official account of the White House), rumors have always existed on the margins of the conclaves, notes Olivier Mathonat, teacher-researcher communication school located in Angers). Previously, these attempts at influences were played, however, most of the time, through classic media. The true novelty of this conclave is the appearance of very influential sites which offer searched portraits of the cardinals, and some of which claim to classify them from the most progressive to the most conservative. These sites (College of Cardinals Report, Cardinalis, Red Hard Report, etc.) are aimed at the general public as well as to the cardinals themselves.
“This year, these cardinals know each other, underlines Olivier Mathonat. Such sites are therefore presented as an interesting tool. Cardinals Report has even published a 190 -page book, given to all cardinals so that they can read the portraits of their colleagues.” The catch is that they have ideological biases; Conservatives in the case of cardinals Report.
Who will be elected to the conclave? Here are the eight favorites of the free
No need to believe that the cardinals could be dictated their vote following a single reading, underlines the researcher. “The cardinals have an intellectual and spiritual build that does not make them easily influenced.” However, “these initiatives participate in the war of information. Inevitably, even on the fringes, they color the judgment of the cardinals.”
Such influence games have always existed, confirms Iacopo Scaramuzzi, journalist for the Italian daily La Repubblica. “Cardinals are therefore attentive to the possible interference. I do not think that it is social networks that will determine the choice of the new pope.”
-If the cardinals are rather resilient, what about Catholic faithful?
At a time when so-called populist speeches are multiplying, defying the legitimacy of the state and intermediate bodies, could they be wary of their own institution: the Church? Will they doubt the pope’s legitimacy by imagining that he was elected following external interference, even on the occasion of a conspiracy whose rumor would have spread? A recent example makes it possible to bet on a certain resistance of the church in the face of such destabilizations. On July 5, 2024, recalls Iacopo Scaramuzzi, Cardinal Vigano was excommunicated (excluded from the church) after rejected the authority of Pope Francis. He multiplied in the process the speeches of distrust of Rome, but without success.
“Likewise, look at the unanimity around Pope Francis on the occasion of his funeral, adds Olivier Mathonat. While his pontificate had cleaned the Catholics in some respects, they united behind his memory.”
“To decipher the cogs of the Vatican, I embarked on an ant work”
Critics, but not schismatic
But tomorrow, while the sites multiply to classify the cardinals on the ideological and political levels, will Catholics welcome the Pope as their requests the Church: with critical spirit, certainly, but humbly and with kindness, since the cardinals chose it by praying to the Holy Spirit? Or do these sites accentuate political cleavages within the Church? “I do not think so, analyzes Olivier Mathonat. The Catholics approach such an election according to two perspectives. The first is that of continuity. The new pope, according to their faith, continues the work of the apostles. In this sense, the Pope is the Pope and they experience loyalty to him. Nevertheless, they are indeed also taken by the second perspective. Elements of ruptures and the ideological nuances between pontiffs. Testimony of spiritual maturity and remains underpinned by a feeling of fundamental loyalty to Rome. “
If social networks color the life of the Church, they do not upset it or threaten the Roman authority. On the contrary prognostic Olivier Mathonat. “By networks, the Pope is at hand and in our pockets. In this way, if John Paul II embodied a form of universal authority, François has become, by the globalization of means of communication, the parish priest of a universal parish. For many, Catholicism is now limited to parishes, clergy, religious … But the only figure of the pope.”
