Smith is the anchor of CBC Radio’s The World at Six and a former White House correspondent. Her career has also seen her cover the funeral of Pope John Paul II and the election last March of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio to the papacy. She told an audience at Assumption University Feb. 9 that the media is attracted to figures who are charismatic and have the power to be transformative. This can be seen with this Pope being chosen Time magazine’s Person of the Year. Pope Francis also recently adorned the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.

“What is it about Francis’s message and the way he tells it that is so effective?” she asked. Smith said “for any news story to have impact” it needs to be “honest and true,” clearly understandable, and speak “to something that your audiences care about,” and Francis embodies this. Smith said that “from the moment Fr. Bergoglio stood on the balcony as Pope Francis” he presented himself as “genuine” and as a “priest as Pope, he’s believable, he’s true to himself.” She said the Pope comes across as “open to the conversation” and he sets examples, whether it be washing the feet of a Muslim woman, his choice of simple living or waiving protocol and picking up the phone himself. “The symbolism of those acts is clear and easily understood not only by Catholics but those outside the Church,” she said. Smith said that as the head of an institution “which most often is seen in terms of harsh judgment,” Francis is changing the emphasis that the conversation “can become less about strict doctrine and the things we may disagree about like abortion and contraception and homosexuality, and more about how we live together.” The journalist said Francis has resonated because so many Catholics live in poor countries and even in the First World “there is a growing inequality between rich and poor.” And therefore the Pope has been described “not as a reflection of Rome but as a mirror of the poor” who “speaks to our neighbourhoods, our communities and even our politics.” Smith said Francis’ “most remarkable and powerful” message was perhaps his five words “Who am I to judge?” a reference to gay people. “Even the use of the word gay by a Pope in public is astonishing,” she said. Smith, who did not grow up Catholic, said that as an outsider Francis’ plain talk “should be the core values of any Church — compassion, inclusion, generosity, shared humanity — values that can be shared beyond church walls.” She said it’s still early days and remains to be seen whether his message will “go beyond the symbolism” to devolving power and influencing Church leaders to “change their perspective” and realize the “power and accountability of the Church rests close to the people it serves.” (Stang is a freelance writer in Windsor, Ont.)