This time last year, the posts on this thread were dominated by articles and commentaries in support of Pope Benedict XVI against a massive assault by the MSM. They not only blamed him, most unfairly and contrary to facts, for the pedophile priest scandal and its cover-up by some bishops that had re-erupted eight years after it peaked in 2002 with the US cases, but also sought to show that he himself had been personally involved in condoning one such offense when he was Archbishop of Munich.
This time, the attacks against the Pope are from Catholics in the United States and in Italy who have access to the media and who think they are more Catholic than the Pope, and who are criticizing him, less virulently but just as unfairly and fallaciously, for his interpretation of Vatican II, for the 'fast track' beatification of John Paul II, and for the Assisi meeting in October.
In his
www.chiesa entry today, Sandro Magister tackles the criticisms about Vatican II and Assisi
chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/1347420?eng=y
But I think Magister is giving too much 'weight' to the critics he cites - obvious from his title "High up, let down by Benedict XVI" (What makes them 'high up', anyway, and are they really preaching to anyone other than the choir they are singing with?) - whose views are argued with ideological frenzy rather than with objectivity.
Equally disturbing though for different reasons is an interview by Edward Pentin in the National Catholic Register
www.ncregister.com/site/article/vatican-pr-solutions/
with an Italian journalist, Massimo Franco, who has written a book describing what he calls a 'decline of the Vatican' under Benedict XVI in moral and strategic terms.
I do not question that Pentin gives Franco an outlet to express his views - even if I think these views are thoroughly muddled by Franco trying to shape facts according to some obviously preposterous and hopelessly biased theory that he puts forward.
But I do question the fact that someone like Pentin simply accepts Franco's statements
a-critically and
fails to challenge them at all even when they are so patently absurd or even false. This has become a deplorable habit in the Catholic media. Not to challenge and even respond to such views while helping to propagate them is a double disservice to the Church.
No matter how courteous one is to an interview-subject, freedom of expression does not mean allowing one side to have it say without responding to it immediately and responsibly when warranted!
I am not posting either article for now, because they do require a great deal of fisking! Not at all the kind of articles one can merely read and pass on without comment, much less without reacting vehemently...
P.S.
The following news item is very apropos, but I think that the professional journalists now working in the Catholic media should be invited as well, or should have a separate occasion to be convoked to call attention to counter-productive practices as cited above.
Vatican calls Catholic bloggers
to a conference after May 1 rites
April 8, 2011
A meeting for Catholic bloggers will take place in Rome on the afternoon of Monday, May 2, the day after the Beatification of Pope John Paul II in order to take advantage of the likely presence in Rome of many bloggers.
The invitation is open to all, but bloggers who wish to attend need to apply by emailing and sending a link to their blog.
The aim of the meeting, which is being organised by the Pontifical Councils for Culture and Social Communications, is to allow for a dialogue between bloggers and Church representatives, to listen to the experiences of those who are actively involved in this arena, and to achieve a greater understanding of the needs of that community.
The meeting will also allow for a presentation of some of the initiatives taken by the Church to engage with new media practitioners, in Rome and at the local level.
In two panels, speakers will open up some of the key issues in order to set up a more general discussion open to all participants. The first panel will involve 5 bloggers chosen to represent different language groups and each will address a specific theme of general relevance.
The second panel will draw on people involved in the Church’s communications outreach – they will speak of their experiences in working with new media and initiatives aimed at ensuring an effective engagement by the Church with bloggers.
Among those participating at the meeting will be Cardinal Ravasi of the Pontifical Council for Culture, Archbishop Celli of thePontifical Council for Social Communications and Father Lombardi of the Vatican’s Press Office and Vatican Radio.
An important dimension of the meeting is that it will allow an informal exchange and contact among the participants, with a view to opening further avenues of interaction.
As space is limited to 150 seats, and in order to represent the Catholic blogosphere appropriately, passes and further details will be distributed with a view to the diversity of language and geography, typology of blogs (institutional or private, multivoice or personal), subjects of blogs, and timeliness of request.
Simultaneous translation will be provided for Italian, English, French, Polish and Spanish.
The venue is the Palazzo San Pio X, on via della Conciliazione, 5.
Vatican invites Catholic bloggers to dialogue
by Cindy Wooden
VATICAN CITY, April 8 — The Vatican is opening a new avenue for dialogue, this time with Catholic bloggers.
The pontifical councils for culture and for social communications are inviting bloggers to the Vatican May 2 so the Vatican can “listen to the experiences of those who are actively involved in this arena” and “achieve a greater understanding of the needs of that community,” said a press release sent out this morning.
The meeting is pretty much open to any Catholic blogger, but the fact that there are only 150 seats in the conference hall and that the Vatican is looking for a mix of languages means the Vatican will be making some choices.
The press release said the Vatican also wants a geographical mix and diversity based on the kinds of blogs out there: institutional and private, multi-voice and personal.
Those who want to attend must apply by sending an email to blogmeet@pccs.it and including a link to their blog. The press release also said that those who apply first will be given priority.
The pontifical councils chose the day after Pope John Paul II’s beatification because they assume many of the bloggers will already be in Rome and wouldn’t have to make a special trip. Simultaneous translation will be provided in Italian, English, French, Polish and Spanish.
Obviously, not every blogger is equal. Even if you did nothing all day but surf the Web, it is also phyically impossible to keep track of everyone who blogs - even if you only limited yourself to reading Catholic blogs.
But if, as I do, you further narrow down the monitoring to those bloggers
- who have knowledge of the Church and the faith, as well as of what used to be called 'the humanities' (a fundamental acquaintance with philosophy, history, literature, art and music);
- who are orthodox in their faith and not cafeteria Catholics;
- who are willing to research independently and do not simply quote what the secular media say;
- who blog on the basis of objective fact and not merely out of personal whim and preference -
then that makes it far more manageable and practical bnecause it limits the field substantially!
Personally, and for purposes of picking up leads and ideas for this Forum, I add one more qualification to the blogs I follow regularly: they must themselves comment regularly on what is happening in the Church and in the Papacy, and not just spout off occasionally on these matters as a corollary to their more personal interests even if these are still spiritual or Church-centered.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 08/04/2011 21:43]