#  Student Profile: Phillip Picardi, MRPL '22 

 





November 03, 2022

 

 

     ![Phillip Picardi, MRPL '22](/sites/g/files/omnuum5526/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/hds2/files/picardi_900.jpg?itok=7qj_gSbo) 

Phillip Picardi, MRPL '22.

 



 

 "When you're reading our nation's leading newspapers, you'd think that white Christian evangelicalism is the most dominant religious force, and that is simply not true; we are a country of vastly different religious traditions. When publications only cover religion through a certain perspective, we allow them to own the narrative of what God is, or what religion is, writ large."

 Phillip Picardi, MRPL '22, was not a stranger to the notion of religious literacy when he joined the inaugural cohort of master of religion and public life (MRPL) degree candidates in the fall of 2021. During his tenure as the chief content officer at Teen Vogue, he repositioned the magazine to cover not just fashion but also issues of social justice. "A lot of journalists don't believe that journalism should be advocacy," Picardi says. "I think they're wrong. Journalists should be speaking truth to power."

 Matters of faith have also held a central place in Picardi's personal life. Growing up gay and Catholic, he heard the same message time and again from his church, school, and family: that homosexuality was a sin. To be true to himself meant to "walk away from God." Picardi went on to build an impressive, award-winning career in journalism. Yet, despite his success, he felt "spiritually adrift." When a friend told him about Harvard Divinity School, he applied to the new degree program. What better place than HDS, he reasoned, to rekindle his relationship with religion and "give God back" to himself?

 Led by Professor Diane Moore, Picardi's cohort learned to contest certain normative assumptions about religion. One of RPL's key tenets, Picardi explains, is that "avoiding flat or binary theological assertions and leaving room for complexities enables us to harness religion as a power that can be leveraged in the service of achieving justice and peace in the world." Along with his cohort, Picardi learned how to apply this framework to his profession—observing how major publications often lack nuance or complexity when covering matters of religion. The MRPL program challenged Picardi to "see the world through a completely different lens," an experience that gave him a new perspective on religion's role in journalism.

 The framework that taught Picardi to recognize the problems and opportunities within journalism also enabled him to reclaim Catholicism and, indeed, to "give God back" to himself. "I have not identified as a person of faith since I was a teenager who was afraid to come out of the closet. And now, for the first time in my life, I'm comfortable saying that I am," he shares. In addition to Professor Moore, he credits Professors Amy Hollywood and Stephanie Paulsell for helping him to expand his understanding of Catholicism through their courses, "Mystical Theology" and "Teresa of Avila," respectively. "To understand and hold space for the complexity and internal diversity of religion allowed me to acknowledge that, although my Catholic upbringing may have taught me things about self-loathing, sin, and Satan, being raised Catholic also gave me a profound sense of what justice should look like," he says, "which is why I view journalism from a vocational prism. Catholicism informed what my place is in the world, in seeking justice for others."

 *—by Sarah Rubin*



 

 

 



 

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