St. Marshall, mass and the media: Catholicism, media theory and Marshall McLuhan

This study sets out to establish the links between Marshall McLuhan's Catholicism and his media theory. It explains how the medium is the message and the user is the content in both sacred and secular realms, demonstrating how, in order to be relevant, each must ensure continued participation from the ‘user’. Drawing on examples from pop culture and the Catholic Church, this paper also demonstrates how the latter, by means of its resistance to new technology, is increasingly unable to resonate with Catholics and is subsequently becoming obsolete. The crux of the paper is how McLuhan himself exemplifies his own theory, suggesting that his importance today lies in the ability of his work to resonate with people twenty-three years after his death. Even posthumously, McLuhan, by means of the inherent perceptual value of his work, transcends boundaries and exists, among many things, as an academic and pop culture guru. Truly understanding McLuhan means understanding him as homo Catholicus —a universal being whose life was the content of his understanding of the world.