Catholics and Contempt: How Catholic Media Fuel Today's Fights and What to Do About It

The culture of contempt—the lust to wound perceived opponents who are seen not just as wrong but as evil—has become global in scope. Fed by the rise of “cheap speech” in media, seismic shifts in digital technology, and a boom industry based on selling outrage, people are increasingly unable to understand, much less dialogue with, their ideological rivals.

The Catholic Church understands itself as the evangelizer of culture; yet this culture of contempt has evangelized much of the Church. A distressing range of Catholic media platforms and commentators have introduced the poison of contempt into the heart of Catholic life—and with exacting fidelity.

In this timely and important new book, Vatican journalist and Crux Editor John L. Allen Jr. offers a bracing analysis of our fractured Catholic media landscape. Examining six case studies of the culture of contempt wounding the Church—four from around the globe, and two from the United States—Allen offers not only a sobering look at the direction Catholic media has headed, but an urgent call for it to change course.

John L. Allen Jr. is the St. Francis de Sales Fellow of Communication and Media at the Word on Fire Institute and the President and Editor of Crux, an independent online news site specializing in coverage of the Vatican and the Catholic Church. Allen is also the Senior Vatican Analyst for CNN, the author of eleven books on Catholic affairs, and a popular speaker both in the US and abroad. He lives in Rome with his wife, Elise Ann Allen, who is a Senior Correspondent at Crux.