Talking Francis: A Pope's Spontaneous, Personal, Controversial Communication
By Ian Bush
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Part of the excitement surrounding the Pope's visit to Philadelphia is the way he interacts with crowds: there's an individual focus and spontaneous feel to his communication. That's the assessment of a speechwriter-turned-priest who spoke at Villanova University on Monday.
All the world's a stage, and the recent popes?
"John Paul II was a natural actor; he seemed at ease talking to a million people as if it was the most natural thing in the world," says Fr. John Wauck, professor of literature and communication of the faith at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome.
The bookish Benedict XVI was uncomfortable with crowds.
"He had a case of something like stage fright, and he gave the sense that he didn't really want to be there," Wauck says. "He would have been happy to mail you the text of the speech and you can read it at home."
Francis, too, is afflicted with a nervousness when addressing crowds, which Wauck -- a former speechwriter for the late Pennsylvania Gov. Robert Casey -- believes the pope overcomes by getting personal.
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"You can even see in his eyes in the photos of the audiences: he's not looking out in the infinite, he's looking at whoever's in front of him," Wauck explains. "He's just acting naturally. What you get a sense of is his desire to engage you. There's an immediate connection with someone you could relate to in a familial and familiar way. That he could be the dad that perhaps the world was looking for."
More so than his predecessors, the professorial Benedict and John Paul II, who became sort of a mythic figure. That's brought Francis a new audience.
(Wauck:) "You're also now getting non-believers who are tuning in."
(Ian:) And is there a reason for that?
(Wauck:) "I think even Catholic audiences are not really sure what he's going to say next."
That's met with open arms by some, unease by others, but is intriguing to most. Wauck, speaking in an event co-sponsored by Villanova's Center for Church Management & Business Ethics and the university's Department of Communication, thinks it'll lead to a 'phenomenal' response when Francis is in this country.
"Unfortunately, the venues -- the UN, Congress -- they're not really the best way to get to know the United States," says Wauck. "So Philly, I think, offers the best chance for the Pope to get to know America."