HABEMUS PAPAM: RECEPTION OF THE POPE JOHN PAUL II ARRIVAL IN UKRAINE IN THE MEDIA

Abstract

The article analyzes the main means at the micro and macro level, which were used by the media to cover the visit of Pope John Paul II to Ukraine in 2001. The study has been based on the daily broadsheet newspaper “Den’” [Eng. literally Day], the online newspaper “Ukrajins’ka Pravda” [Eng. literally Ukrainian Truth], and “Radio Svoboda” [Eng. Radio Liberty]. The methods of systematization and generalization, discourse analysis (van Dijk) as well as elements of content analysis have been applied.
The paper establishes that the clear authors position, which consisted in a positive image of the Pontiff arrival, can be traced both in explicit statements and in positively connoted epithets, metaphors, comparisons. On the other hand, the opinions of the Moscow Patriarchate representatives as well as the leader of the Communist Party Petro Symonenko, who were against Pope arrival, have been also presented for the objectivity. In addition, abstract and confessional vocabulary in the aforementioned media has been analyzed. Therefore, this paper opens a discussion about religious themes in modern media. In our further investigations, we would concentrate on how Tomos on the Autocephaly of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church have been presented in different discourses and genres (TV news, printed media, interviews, social media texts, etc.).