TOW #3 - "Pope Francis Meets America"

Nancy Gibbs, the managing editor of TIME and best-selling co-author, teams up with Elizabeth Dias to write a magazine article about the pontiff's first visit in the States. As a major event in Catholic history, as well as American, the two write to not only the over 65 Roman Catholics residing in the States but also to those looking to read about the momentous visit of the pontiff. In their article, "Pope Francis Meets America" Gibbs and Dias utilize metaphors, imagery, and juxtaposition to encapsulate the historic visit of the Pope in order to explain his role as a strategic player on the global stage. To begin the article, America is described as the love child of faith and power, a metaphor for the separation of church and state, due to its welcoming people of all faiths after it grew rich and mighty. Their metaphor for the US sets the tone as they discusses this particular genealogy in the next paragraph. The metaphor not only effectively provides background, but also establishes the authors' viewpoint on the US as a superpower of hubris and materialism. Imagery is plenty throughout the article, from the description of the Pope's facial features that "dissolved into a look of distant contemplation" to the line "he came as a shepherd and was everywhere tending his flock." The authors' use of imagery creates a vision of Francis as a sturdy 78 who is intensely focused and a shrewd operator, who has come to the American shores at just the right time and it works through its conflicts of faith and politics. It seems as if the authors' description of Francis as a shepherd is not far off, as he is driven to stand alongside the leaders of the world for his agenda about the poor and climate change. He demonstrates the strengths and limits of moral leadership, that the authors hint the US lacks in the modern age. The juxtaposition of Paul VI and John Paul II's visits to the US back before Francis' visits in the age of social media, serves to create the very different extenuating circumstances of papal visits over the past 50 years. Quite a lot has happened over the past 50 years, as the authors are sure to point out the effect of social media in Francis' papacy, allowing the Pope's message to be more intimate and give way to the age of persuasion. The pairing very effectively cause the readers to understand the very different situations of popes over the years, and how the modern age of Instagram gives Francis the ability to be more personal. Pope Francis, famous for his humble ways and going off script, is defined as a strategic player in this TIME article as Gibbs and Dias successfully utilize rhetorics to encapsulate the historic visit of Pope Francis.