UNDERPINNING CATHOLIC VOICES has been an approach or method born of the experiences of Valero and Ivereigh in communicating the Church, assisted by Griffin‘s knowledge and skills as a producer and journalist. Five principles have shaped the project‘s outlook and methods:

(a) We believe in the media: the CV approach is to respond to criticism or curiosity on the part of the media transparently and positively, believing in the values of journalism and the right and duty of the media to hold the Church to account. Although we are not naive about the constraints and realities of contemporary journalism – in which the need for impact often overrides balance and truth – we do not believe that the media has an ―anti-Catholic bias‖. The experience of the CVs during the papal visit led them to the same conclusion.

(b) We understand news. The project understands the constraints and pressures on studios and starts from those realities. The emphasis therefore has been on training for a short (3/4-mins) interview on radio and TV and on communicating effectively, compellingly, and concisely within those constraints. The CV coordinators are either journalists or close to journalists, and understand news and the way news works — and how to be present at the start of a developing story, before myths take hold of the narrative.

(c) Light, not heat. Aware that many of the neuralgic issues generate passions, the CV formation has emphasised the need to keep calm under fire, and to generate clarity in any studio discussion or debate.

(d) Witnessing, not winning. While the CV training equips speakers to think on their feet and debate vigorously, it has also communicated the importance of witnessing to who Catholics are, and the faith which nurtures us – rather than ―defeating‖ opponents.

(e) Flexibility / informality. Because CV speakers are not official representatives of the Church, they are able to act quickly and responsively; as faithful Catholics who have been well trained and briefed, they can speak authoritatively if not officially. We believe this benefits both the bishops (who need to intervene only when an official voice is needed) as well as the media.

In evaluating the project after the papal visit, the following elements were identified by those involved (coordinators, speakers, helpers, etc.) as key to its success:

• Identifying the “neuralgic issues”. The training concentrated on those areas where Church and society are perceived to be at odds, and where church positions are seen as baffling or scandalous. Prior to the actual briefings, the speakers received detailed written briefings with links to important resources, and were asked to think through the issues thoroughly before the sessions. The issues included: equality v religious freedom, sexuality, Aids/condoms, population, Catholic social teaching, male ordination, celibacy, clerical sex abuse, anti-Semitism, relations with Anglicans, the role of the papacy, assisted suicide/euthanasia, abortion/embryonic stem-cell research, beatification/canonisation, faith and science, faith schools.
• Intensive briefings. These took place on Tuesday nights at Notre Dame campus off Trafalgar Square, following Mass there (celebrated by Fr Wang) at 6.15pm. After sandwiches and refreshments, an invited expert was asked to summarise the key points, and was then ―grilled by the speakers – asked questions which the CVs themselves anticipated being asked. The briefing session was then followed by a period of ―reframing, in which the CVs were asked to identify the ―positive intentions behind the criticism — in other words, to identify the moral values implicitly appealed to in the criticism. By understanding the source of the criticism, we were better able to identify the key messages CVs should be putting across in a three-minute interview. The reframing was then followed by a period of role-play in which CVs were allocated different roles (as CVs, presenters, opponents etc.) and asked to role-play a studio debate or discussion. The CVs later said that the neuralgic issues identified were precisely those which came up in interviews, and they felt extremely well prepared for them.
• Media skills training. The training in media skills was the other key element of the training. The CVs would learn one ―top tip‖ at each briefing – a point to bear in mind or remember – which they would then put into practice at the media skills workshops. These workshops were held in studios, ―as-live, using BBC or Sky News presenters hired for the day, in both radio and TV formats. The template was the three or four-minute BBC News24-style or six-minute BBC Radio Five Live kind of interview. CVs were recorded and given feedback. These trainings were considered vital for building skills and confidence in advance of the ―real interviews.
• The Worth retreat. Participants all mentioned the three-day retreat at Worth in July, not only vital for tying up loose ends in terms of briefing and training, and for dealing with remaining questions left hanging from the briefings, but also for enabling the CVs to bond as a group, and for seeing their work as part of a larger purpose during reflections led by Fr Wang — expressed also in the ‗Catholic Voices Prayer‘ he wrote.
• Pastoral and spiritual support. Beginning each briefing with Mass, and the reflections given by Fr Wang at Worth and at the briefing sessions, as well as his availability to the CVs, were all cited by the CVs as vital for the project‘s ―heart and deeper purpose. The experience of togetherness and community – giving of ourselves in service of the Church – has been a key element of the project, and source of great joy to all of us involved.