Manga Hero, a California company that produces Japanese-style comics
with Catholic themes, will offer World Youth Day attendees a special
comic about the life and papacy of Pope Benedict XVI, called “Habemus
Papam!”
“The point of 'Habemus Papam!' is to introduce Pope Benedict XVI to
those who may not know much about him,” said Jonathan Lin, a producer
and editor at Manga Hero.
Lin told World Youth Day organizers that the story shows the Pope's
time as a cardinal working with Pope John Paul II, leading up to his
papal election in 2005.
“The story also shows how he grows into his role
as pope,” said Lin.
“We want to use manga as a tool to show the youth and the world that
the Church is not afraid of modernity and evolving culture,” Lin
explained.
“It is not afraid to use, in this case, new and compelling
forms of media to meet young people where they are.”
Manga Hero has
already published two previous comic series, on St. Paul and the
Biblical figure Judith.
Lin said his company was working with a Spanish publisher to
distribute over 300,000 English and Spanish-language editions of
“Habemus Papam!” to World Youth Day participants and the general public.
“We are aiming to distribute the manga throughout Madrid,” he said,
“at locations such as churches, schools, hotels or hostels, metro
stations, the airport, information kiosks, tourist attractions, and
other event locations.”
The comic, written by Gabrielle Gniewek with illustration by Sean
Lam, takes its name from the traditional announcement that follows a
papal election.
Gniewek is a graduate of San Diego's John Paul the Great
Catholic University, a school that focuses on business, technology, and
media in the service of the Church.
Lin's own desire to make a positive impact in the business world drew
him to the manga format, where he found that Catholic stories and
themes could be presented in a new and dynamic way.
“With media playing such an influential role in our culture,
especially on the youth,” he said, “I felt this was an area that I could
make a difference.”
Lin also believes that the soon-to-be-beatified Pope John Paul II –
the founder of World Youth Day, and the patron of this year's event –
would approve of the manga tribute to his successor Pope Benedict XVI.
“Pope John Paul II called for the use of new and different forms of
media, to reach young people where they are in order to build a culture
of love and dignity,” Lin observed.
“Manga is one such medium.”