I had a conversation with a colleague yesterday after the Pope died. He reflected that he feels funny about seeming to capitalize on the Holy Father’s death, using his passing as means for us to earn our living. I agree that it feels funny, but I added that this is what our vocation is about.
As Catholic journalists we’re here to present the truth and to help make sense of what goes on in the world, and especially in the Church, and with the eyes of the whole world focused on the Church today, in a time of confusion and loss, we can make that happen.
It is for times just such as these that we have been chosen, not just for this job, but this vocation. To be a Catholic journalist is a calling and we serve not for our own good, and certainly not for fame or fortune (hah!).
It is a fine line to walk, but if we pray to the Holy Spirit asking for the grace to do our jobs well and humbly, we can do it.
Dom, the conversation to which you refer raises some of the issues that troubled me about the cable stations’s death-watch at the Vatican. However, there is a salient difference with respect to mission. Folks turn to you and your Catholic journalistic colleagues for news and opinion about the Church all the time. In this you are part of the fabric of Catholic life, fostering the vital dialogue upon which major institutions in free societies depend. At momentous times such as these, your work is needed even more than usual, as few of your colleagues in the mainstream media bring the depth of knowledge and feeling to their reportage and commentary as you do to yours. To be sure, neither your background nor your faith assures a purchase on wisdom, so I believe it is entirely appropriate that, with deep humility, you pray for grace, as you pursue your vocation, especially at a time when the whole world is watching as this new chapter in Catholic history unfolds. But, so long as you and your colleagues pursue the search for truth with industry and integrity, you need make no apologies for being paid—not particularly handsomely—for your service.
I totally agree with Tonychill. If you did not provide your insight and analysis, Dom, there would be a serious void which would likely be filled by those who do not have your integrity and deep insight. You should not feel guilty but ,rather, you should feel grateful for the talent God has endowed you with!