International Journal of Qualitative Research
Vol. 3 No. 1 (2023): July

Demystifying Powers and Ideologies via Illocutions in Pope Francis’ Pandemic Homilies: A Discourse Analysis

Henry E. Lemana II (Walailak University, Thailand)



Article Info

Publish Date
27 Jul 2023

Abstract

The Roman Catholic Church, just like other churches in the world, has seen an unprecedented influx of afflicted followers as fear of death looms around the globe with the spread of an unseeable enemy the Covid-19 pandemic. This study analyzed how the Church's supreme pontiff, Pope Francis, mirrors his intentions in his ten randomly selected homilies to project his powers and ideologies amid the pandemic. Grounded on the supposition of discourse that language reflects and shapes social order and individuals interact and react to the words of others to better themselves and the world, this study revealed that Pope Francis' intentions in delivering the pandemic homilies encompass asserting the theological teachings of the Church, directing the congregation to act, committing himself and his audience to respond as a community, and expressing a mixture of personal emotions, which were revealed through the scrutiny of illocutionary forces used to assert legitimate, expert, and referent powers and profess magisterial, covenantal, volitional, and revelational ideologies. Notably, it could be observed in the findings that there appears to be a unification of powers to mirror the overriding ideologies that emerge. Indeed, the findings imply that the pope's homilies serve multiple purposes, including asserting theological teachings, directing the congregation to act, fostering community response, and expressing personal emotions through illocutionary forces establishing a meaningful correspondence between preaching and communication.

Copyrights © 2023






Journal Info

Abbrev

ijqr

Publisher

Subject

Humanities Environmental Science Law, Crime, Criminology & Criminal Justice Social Sciences

Description

International Journal of Qualitative Research is an International Journal, Peer-Reviewed, and Open Access which is devoted to disseminating the results of qualitative research. IJQR does not accept a critical review manuscript. The scope of publication in the International Journal of Qualitative ...