I was surprised to hear the news in the last hour that Pope Benedict is resigning in a few weeks. Here are some resources to help as you cover this story today:
- List of Jesuit colleges and Roman Catholic seminaries in the U.S., to help you find sources
- A Religion Facts article on how the pope is elected
- Vatican website
- Official biography of the pope
- National Catholic Reporter, and independent U.S. publication
- U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the administrative arm of the Roman Catholic Church in the U.S.
- List of Jesuit colleges and Roman Catholic seminaries in the U.S., to help you find sources
- Religion Newswriters, the organization for reporters who cover religion, has many helpful resources as does its sister site, ReligionLink
And I’ve notice over the years that many journalists aren’t familiar with religious terms, so this Religion Stylebook will help. Two quickies:
- Remember “catholic” means the universal church (even Protestants recite a creed acknowledging the catholic church, meaning all Christians), but this denomination is the Roman Catholic Church.
- When referring to clergy the proper title is “the Rev.” The term “Reverend” is not a noun so don’t write “the Reverend said…” use the last name.