There were many moving and dramatic moments in Rome two days ago, but this is the one I think I'll remember: the sight of them running.

Journalists and pundits for whom the Catholic Church has long been an object of anthropological curiosity fringed with patronising ridicule have really let themselves go since the new pontiff emerged. Indeed most of the coverage I have seen or read could be neatly summarised as: Cardinals elect Catholic Pope. World in Shock.

As the media reflected and in many cases reflected quite movingly on the greatness of the Holy Father, on his immense accomplishments as a leader of intelligence, principle, and unwavering determination, as a man of remarkable moral courage and conviction, they managed to miss the most important truths about the life and witness that was Pope John Paul II.

By now, you've probably seen the tape of the fight between Ron Artest and the Detroit Pistons fans. Just kidding. You've seen it.

The enlightened class obviously does not understand Catholic teachings about many things, nor does it wish to, and it gives itself license to trash those teachings.

What we're seeing in the marketplace of ideas today is a disturbing growth of incivility that follows and confirms the broken windows theory. Alas, this breakdown of civil norms is not a failing of either the political left or right exclusively. It spreads across the political spectrum from one end to the other.

The following is an edited transcript of speeches given by: Rod Dreher Senior Writer, National Review J. Bottum Books and Arts Editor, The Weekly Standard Philip F. Lawler Editor, Catholic World Report and Robert Lockwood Director of Communications, Diocese of Pittsburg. These papers were given at a conference on Catholics and the Media held at the National Press Club on March 13-14, 2002.

The founder of Act One, a Christian scriptwriters group in Hollywood, gave an overview of the movie-and-television industry, and the hopes she sees for the Church in its mission of evangelization. Here is an excerpt of an address she gave at the Catholic University of Valencia in mid-May.

It is a commonplace that the mainstream media just doesn't "get it" when it comes to covering religion. Even so, every so often something so embarrassing makes it to air that one suspects it was made entirely without adult supervision.

It's a dispiriting sign of our times that the current mainstream liberal press would rather bungee jump off St. Peter's than allow a Christian into their pages. They claim to represent the faith by giving us folks who claim to be Catholic but only emphasize it when there's something negative to say.