Words and silence: the relationship between Benedict XVI and the media

Abstract

The relationship between Benedict XVI and the media could be called both tense and intense. In the following pages, I analyze four episodes especially demonstrative of this relationship: the publication of The Ratzinger Report (1985), the controversial Regensburg Address (2006), the subsequent Papal visit to Turkey and the 2010 visit to the United Kingdom–this last one ending, ironically, on an idyllic note. By examining these events, we can better understand Benedict XVI’s reflections about the media and social networks, and the necessary relationship between reason, word, silence and truth.