Kultura-Media-Teologia, 2025, nr 63

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John Paul II’s Nonverbal Communication Rituals During His Pilgrimage to Bolivia in 1988
Flader-Rzeszowska, Katarzyna (Wydział Teologiczny UKSW w Warszawie, 2025)
The article is dedicated to the communication rituals (secular, sacred, everyday, and occasional) of John Paul II during his pilgrimage to Bolivia in 1988. It focuses particularly on nonverbal communication. The main research question is whether nonverbal communication helped establish relationships with the faithful, and whether the Pope conveyed Christian values and reinforced the message of his pastoral visit through gestural and facial codes. The sources of analysis are media reports that accompanied the pastoral visit, especially press photographs and video materials posted on the YouTube channel documenting the pilgrimage. The method of content analysis and a contextual method were used, interpreting the Pope's nonverbal communication in the context of the social and political changes taking place in Bolivia in the 1980s. As has been demonstrated, John Paul II developed his own style of communication within nonverbal communication; in interactions with the faithful, he was characterized by an affiliative tendency based on close distance, touch, and eye contact. Through clear interpersonal communication, the Pope built community and developed the personal potential of both sides of the communicative exchange. Cultural differences did not pose a barrier to interpersonal communication for him.