Pope Benedict XVI's Public Relations

In 2008, Pope Benedict XVI made a trip to the United States.  The trip came on the heels of The Catholic Church’s destructive scandal involving pedophile priests. In order to make a name for himself and in an attempt to combat the humiliation of such a historic disaster, Pope Benedict orchestrated his time in America by including events which would ultimately restore the public’s faith in the church. 

He began by discussing the pedophile scandal with reporters before his plane even landed. Next, he held a conference with sex-abuse victims. In addition, he went to a synagogue in New York, held a mass at Yankee Stadium and spoke with the United Nations.

But the Pope had other options. One option would have been to ignore the problems and try to rise above them. He could have just followed in previous Papal footsteps and visited the president or presided over a mass, but this would have been ignoring the obvious problem. Although the idea that refusing to address the problem would draw less attention to the scandal, the firestorm over the abuse was so well known that ignoring it would just raise more questions.  Either way the pervasive scandal would have made its way into the media. Providing the public with an honest, direct response made Pope Benedict seem candid, which inspired confidence in his leadership.

He could have tried to address the issue on his own turf before coming to America. He previously had attempted to remain silent on the issue, but once he made it to the US he decided to confront the scandal. If however, he had attempted to give his opinion and express his remorse in Italy, then the media might have already covered the information thoroughly and wouldn’t have given the story as much attention on his arrival.

The downside of using his trip to address the pedophile scandal is that it draws more attention to the situation. It could cause the public to concentrate on the scandal rather than the positive issues that he was offering. But completely ignoring it would raise suspicion and leave devotees wanting answers to their questions.