What CVs said
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Being part of CV has been a real help for my faith and love of the Church. Above all, this is through meeting with everyone involved because their faith and commitment has been a real witness to me. Being able to discuss Church teaching has also deepened my understanding of the wisdom of Church and how her teaching is the only true human position; and this has also been helped by being put in the position of having to defend what we believe publicly. I have also been moved by seeing the depth of hatred towards the Church. Sometimes I have seen real personal hatred of the Church. But more often it is a case of misunderstanding - people starting from a good intention but apply it wrongly. Here is evident what the Church calls "structures of sin" - ie a force of evil which seems to be bigger than individuals and manipulates society and public opinion so that good intentions become closed in a prejudice. Paradoxically this has made me love the Church more and desire to witness to the truth which is Christ's love for us.Chris Morgan |
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I was really proud to be able to serve the Church as a Catholic Voice during the visit and in the run-up to the Pope's arrival. Each encounter I had where I was able to speak out for my faith proved to be an opportunity for me to grow in my own convictions. I found that it got easier with every interview and felt well equipped to answer the questions directed at me. Generally, I found the media to be open and genuinely interested in what I had to say apart from one occasion where the journalist clearly had already made his mind up and was suffering from invincible ignorance! I think the most important lesson I learned was the necessity of transparent simplicity in interview settings.Marie Jones |
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The whole thing was a privilege and absolutely fascinating. Seeing the Holy Father's speeches before they were given, attending press briefings and being on hand to give immediate interviews were an excellent experience. Experience of the media on the whole was good but that is because my expectations had been managed! I don't think I had any bad interviews as such but some were more of a challenge than I was led to believe by the producer in that the subject areas covered were unlimited.Ella Leonard |
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I felt privileged to be part of such a momentous event. I felt fully prepared and equipped for whatever was thrown at us … from Protest the Pope, to Media and to Protestant Truth Society and SNAP. The media were very welcoming and grateful for someone who articulates things in a reasonable way.Neil D’Aguiar |
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My first interview felt quite hostile and I was taken aback by this. I had been briefed by BBC Wales that it would be a few general points on Cardinal Kasper and they soon launched into a whole series of questions on child abuse. It felt quite difficult at the time and as if I was under attack. Listening to it later gave me a completely different perspective, and although I was being grilled, I didn't notice the hostility that I felt when I was being interviewed. I was much happier with the end result after hearing it.William Johnstone |