Reclaiming Religion in Secular Public Life: The Media on the Papal Visit

In September 2010, Benedict XVI made the first state visit by a Pope to Britain, following Pope John Paul II’s pastoral tour in 1982. Coinciding with our two studies of religion in the media, they gave us the opportunity to analyse and compare how the media portrayed, interpreted and constructed major public religious occasions. For most of the population, the media event – no less in 1982 than in 2010 – was the Papal visit ‘as we know it’. ¹ Media stories and pictures – selected, crafted and made available in the newspapers, on television, radio and online – constituted the event for the British public.