Yes, I really am trying to drive myself insane...

...but I cannot help it. Help what? you kindly ask. I cannot help playing the "MSM Papal Word Assocation Game." It's simple: just highlight the words and phrases that have been used over 264,000 times by other journalists to describe the Pope, creating a "story" that is simply a regurgitation of some 74,527 other stories. Today's carefully selected example comes from USA Today:

When Shepherd One lands outside Washington, D.C., on April 15, the jet carrying Pope Benedict XVI to a six-day visit in the USA will deliver a complex and surprising man.

His image is cast in a stern adherence to orthodoxy. He has been true to that, but his first three years as leader of the Roman Catholic Church also suggest he is not exactly the harsh disciplinarian some fans had hoped for — or many critics had feared.

One thing hasn't been a surprise: Benedict, shy and scholarly, has not shown the public relations acumen of his predecessor, John Paul II, who radiated such charisma that not everyone saw his steely inflexibility on theology and traditions. <snip>

He has made clear he wants to continue the strict doctrines of John Paul, who muzzled theologians he thought blurred the lines between Catholicism and politics, opposed the use of condoms to fight AIDS, refused to reconsider the tradition of priestly celibacy and dismissed out of hand the notion that women be allowed to become priests.

But those who have watched the new pope closely say he probably has been a surprise to Catholics who expected him to appoint more conservative bishops and crack down swiftly on Catholic universities that conservatives see as having allowed students and faculty members to stray from Catholic teachings and values.

Now, consider how this paragraph of "reporting"...

He has made clear he wants to continue the strict doctrines of John Paul, who muzzled theologians he thought blurred the lines between Catholicism and politics, opposed the use of condoms to fight AIDS, refused to reconsider the tradition of priestly celibacy and dismissed out of hand the notion that women be allowed to become priests.

... might sound if written in a different way:

He has made it clear that he will continue to uphold and teach Catholic doctrine, as did Pope John Paul II, who corrected theologians who dissented from established Church teaching, insisted that fidelity and chastity were the best way to combat AIDS, upheld the Church's perennial teaching, based in the example of Jesus, that only certain men are called to be priests (contrary to popular belief, some priests are married, as in the Eastern Catholic churches), while encouraging the laity to live out the universal vocation to holiness as articulated by the Second Vatican Council.

Oh, sure, I'm a dreamer. But, really, it's so pathetic. And, of course, there has to be an obligatory complaint issued by Fr. Thomas Reese, S.J.:

But Benedict, however "charming," is still stifling theologians who challenge ideas about Catholicism, says Thomas Reese, a Jesuit priest and former editor of the Jesuit-owned magazine America. Reese lost that job just after Ratzinger was elected pope; conservative Catholics had long complained that America gave too much voice to dissenting views on sensitive issues from sexuality to salvation.

Reese, now a senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University, says Catholic theologians are concerned that "the Vatican insists we continue to explain the gospel in the language of the 13th century."

No, not at all, Fr. Reese: the Vatican simply asks that you proclaim the gospel in keeping with the clear teaching of the Church. And the comment about the 13th century is nonsense, as Fr. Reese has to know (and if he doesn't, well...). Has he read anything by the Holy Father? For example, Pope Benedict wrote the following in Spe Salvi:

A self-critique of modernity is needed in dialogue with Christianity and its concept of hope. In this dialogue Christians too, in the context of their knowledge and experience, must learn anew in what their hope truly consists, what they have to offer to the world and what they cannot offer. Flowing into this self-critique of the modern age there also has to be a self-critique of modern Christianity, which must constantly renew its self-understanding setting out from its roots. (par 22)

The difference, I suspect, is that while Benedict XVI seeks to carefully and critically dialogue with modern thought, folks such as Fr. Reese just want to be quoted by USA Today. Finally:

John Paul could enchant a crowd without words. Benedict cannot. If he veers into lecturing or his German accent is harsh, he'll lose the vast American TV audience, says Lance Strate, a Fordham University professor of communication and media studies.

Please know, Papa Benedict, that not all Americans are simpletons who need you to juggle, crack jokes, and speak in clipped, empty sound bites about hugging our inner child. As long as you continue to be complex and surprising, everything will be just fine.

Comments

[Lauren]

Meh. The last one was really terrible. I'm not suprised that they don't mention that Benedict has a larger # of people coming to the audiences than John Paul did.

[rd]

ahh, yes, the vast american tv audience. no thanks, let the obamas and the budweisers keep their media strategies.

it's also good to hear a professor from an american university validating the stereotype of the "dumb american." then again, jay leno does that from time to time as well. how true is the stereotype? i dunno.

but when you think about it, though, who really has the greatest interest in ensuring that the vast american tv audience be simpletons? isn't it the mainstream media?

[Augustine II]

The occasions for repeating this never end:

"O shame, where is thy blush?"

-Shakespeare, Hamlet

[joe]

"John Paul could enchant a crowd without words."

Maybe if he was impersonating a mute, but otherwise what the heck does that mean? Words are a typically necessary.