A Word with The Bird: Newman Lecture Speaker David Gibson Reflects on Global Catholicism

The Saint John Henry Newman Lecture Series, hosted each spring by Loyola’s Center for Catholic Intellectual Heritage, invites scholars to reflect on their own discovery — or rediscovery — of Catholic intellectual life in the context of contemporary questions and modern challenges.

This year’s Newman Lecture, held Feb. 12, featured David Gibson, director of Fordham University’s Center on Religion and Culture and a veteran journalist who has covered the Vatican and the Catholic Church.

Ahead of the lecture, Gibson spoke with The Phoenix about conversion, authority, digital faith and what Catholic universities can offer students navigating their faith and concerns about the Catholic Church. Questions and answers have been edited for clarity.

After graduating from Furman University with a European history degree, Gibson said he felt disoriented about his future. He moved to Washington, D.C. and worked on Capitol Hill as an intern, but eventually left, describing the period as unstable. Wanting perspective — and drawn by a desire to see the places he’d studied — he traveled abroad for the first time, spending time in Europe and the Middle East before returning home.

Not long after, he returned to Rome on a one-way ticket, intending to stay briefly, learn a foreign language and keep searching for direction. Instead, he stayed for five years and began working as a journalist for the Vatican.

How did traveling with the pope and going around the world shape your idea of spiritual authority?

Gibson: It was ordinary and human. That’s what surprised me so much. The challenge for so many American Catholics is that we have this idealized version, still, of the Pope. There’s either an idealized version, or we have a completely cynical view of the Church and of the priests. We think they’re all bad, all good or all bad. It’s a mix and it’s a very human institution, and a very self consciously human institution. There’s a wonderful humanity that you find there in Rome, even in the Pope, believe it or not. 

When you think about your younger self, as you described “the Billy Graham evangelical heading to Rome,” what do you wish he’d known?

Gibson: What evangelicalism has become since Billy Graham with his Franklin Graham, and with the support for Trump, is shocking, and I think Billy Graham would be shocked. I converted from evangelicalism, with no rancor for evangelicalism, no resentment or anything. But to see what evangelicalism has become, it would have driven me out if I hadn’t left of my own accord.

How do you think online platforms affect how faith develops when students are building a persona online?

Gibson: Faith is more visible and authentic when it’s in person. The problem with online is that there is no mercy. If we have a relationship, if we know each other, there’s a chance for forgiveness. In the dehumanized digital world, if I say something stupid, if I say something bad, if I make a mistake, there is no forgiveness. In a way, it’s a puritanical kind of world, even as it celebrates freedom. It’s also very puritanical if you step over a line. 

How would you approach coming to speak to students whose idea of the Church is different than yours?

Gibson: There’s no cure, no single cure for the problems in American Catholicism. We are polarized, we’re divided, we argue, it’s very tough. There’s no single cure. But if I were to say one thing, it would be to get out of America. Go see the church in other areas of the world. It’s the most inspiring and awesome experience that you can have, and educational. To pack up and leave. Do it. Come on. Why not?