Singing priests and the media: representations of the priestly identity

Abstract

The presence of priests in the media in Brazil became more intenseduring the years of 1990 and for some analysts, this presence has contributed forthe sprouting of new religious vocations. This article is part of a qualitative studywith young in Rio de Janeiro on the motivations to be priests and nuns. I try towork its opinions on the performance of the priests in the media. It is evident thatit has on the part of a this young critical one to the media exposition of the priests.On the other hand, while the youngsters are worried about the loss of doctrinalcontents or of the Christian message, the young women criticize the "search ofstatus" of the priests by means of the media. A tension in the young`s speech isverified on the relation that must be established between the Church Catholic andthe medias. The defense of the preservation of the tradition is pointed, mainly inthe masculine speech.