Diocese Should Tell Truth, Without PR Spin

By Dick Ryan
Long Island (NY) Newsday
May 15, 2002

As far as I know, Mother Teresa never hired a public relations guru. Neither did Dorothy Day or Thomas Merton, superstars of the Catholic Church. And I don't remember any place in the gospels where Christ brought in some flack to write his material or put a spin on the Ten Commandments.

So why did Bishop William Murphy of the Diocese of Rockville Centre recently hire Howard J. Rubenstein Associates, one of the most high-powered (and high-priced) spin doctors in the world, whose clients include some of the glitziest names in entertainment and politics and whose standard fee could help feed Long Island's homeless for years? The diocese already has a public relations director and a full staff, so why the need? Is it for some high-octane damage control in light of the current scandal in the church? Or perhaps the bishop wants to spruce up his image in the wake of his own role in the crisis while he worked under Cardinal Bernard Law in Boston a few years ago. In any case, like a lot of other things in the scandal, the hiring seems to be a big secret. During the 35 years in which I handled public relations in the Catholic Church for organizations that included child care, hospitals, charitable agencies, religious congregations and even the Knights of Malta, the idea was simply to tell the story. Just shine a light on some outstanding foster child, some unusual health-care program for cancer patients, some heroic nun working with the homeless, some Park Avenue mover and shaker quietly sending money to a missionary group in Tibet. Just tell the story and get out of the way.

Experienced public relations staffs are necessary in every diocese in order to promote the work of Catholic Charities, schools, hospitals and other organizations, provide information to the media and simply tell the story about the large number of dedicated priests, nuns and lay people in the diocese. But Bishop Murphy has shunted his public relations staff aside and gone for the glamour name. So it is obvious that he is trying to manipulate, instead of communicate, in fixing the enormous credibility gap that now exists in the church because of the tidal wave of cover-ups, corruption and deceit of a few cardinals and bishops. The problem facing Murphy is the loss of trust among countless Catholics and the challenge of restoring it honestly, candidly, completely and without any flim-flam.

But this won't be accomplished with mirrors or magic. Staging special events and scheduling a thousand news conferences isn't going to change anything. Having Bishop Murphy appear on television with Tim Russert or Oprah isn't going to achieve a thing outside of toning and buffing up the bishop's comfort zone around a camera. And the very last thing that any jazzed-up public relations campaign should try is re-inventing the church. Nothing will turn off Catholics more quickly, or more angrily, because Catholics won't buy a spin job on their faith.

Right now, the best person, the only person to handle public relations for the diocese and Bishop Murphy is Bishop Murphy himself. Catholics want him simply to "tell the story." They want to hear the truth directly from him and not some high-priced public relations guru with a hundred other accounts. It is his responsibility not only as the head of the diocese but also as a pastor. Christ never sent Peter ahead to warm up the crowd or hand out copies of his talk.

The bishop could begin by visiting every parish, listening to the people, answering their questions and not simply delivering a ghost-written, feel- good sermon and then ducking out after turning the meeting over to some flack. He could also promise to provide an annual detailed financial account to every parishioner indicating how and where the money from the collection basket is being spent, including public relations. He could also promise to expand and revise the diocesan newspaper so that every possible segment of the church is represented. He could encourage every parishioner and every unofficial lay group to knock on the chancery door, sit down with him and thrash out the things that trouble them about today's climate in the church, the things that concern them. It is the purest, most powerful public relations in the world, and the only kind that works. Telling the story. Telling the truth.

It's not Madison Avenue, but it worked for someone else, once upon a time, in the streets of Jerusalem.