The 2019 visit of Pope Francis in Csíksomlyó: reflections on the press articles

Abstract

THE AIMS OF THE PAPER

Our study is part of a larger, more complex research, which aimed to describe and analyze the events of the historical visit of Pope Francis in Transylvania, at Csíksomlyó (Sumuleu-Ciuc). The present study’s main objective is to outline how the international and the (local) national press actors presented the event. It is an important issue, how much space was allocated for the presentation of the Csík or Szeklerland region, or for the religious and national-historical importance of the Csíksomlyó pilgrimage site. It is also interesting how the different national press treats the problem. Another goal of our research is to check the communication activities within the region, before and after the event, from the main actors (organizers) of the pope’s visit.

METHODOLOGY

Our methods will be the quantitative and qualitative content analysis of a more than a hundred collected articles.

MOST IMPORTANT RESULTS

Although there are printed and online contents that function as region marketing, those rarely reach the target groups in time. Comprehensive marketing concepts and communication goals were not set based on the characteristics of the region, on the life and traditions of the local society or any other subject. The media covered the papal visit to Csíksomlyó in detail, however the reports focused mainly on the message of the pope or maybe on current politics but the Szekler region was rarely mentioned. In the Romanian press there were particularly few remarks on the ethnic-religious nature of the subject, since the current political climate is not quite favourable to minorities and cannot be considered Hungarian-friendly.

RECOMMENDATIONS

It is important that events of this nature are recognized as opportunities when it comes to marketing and communication. These events are great opportunities to promote the many possibilities this region has to offer and to attract tourists not just to the respective event itself but to the region too.