Seriously, don't these folks ever get tired of writing the same ol' stuff? In order to save them time, here's the template (which can be tweaked here and there, of course, depending on your level of laziness and bias) to be used in writing about Pope Benedict XVI:
• Prominently mention that young Ratzinger served in the Nazi army. Don't provide any context—just let the association be made. After all, it's pretty hard to dig out of that hole!
• Immediately follow up with mention of the sex scandals. Imply that it is somehow the Pope's fault that certain priests are perverts and certain bishops are pathetic, or worse. Make it sound as though molestations and abuse are happening right now, rather than pointing out that vast majority took place over thirty years ago.
• Have plenty of quotes from those openly opposed to the Pope, as well as unnamed Catholics who question, doubt, or dislike the Pope and "his" positions. Anonymous priests, bishops, and nuns are best.
• Be certain to mention that as prefect of the CDF, Cardinal Ratzinger was the head of an office that is "the successor to the Inquisition." Let it hang out there, knowing it's a wonderfully negative (and misleading) buzzword.
• Be sure to have a sentence containing something along these lines: "As Pope he has taken a strong line against women priests, contraception and homosexuality." Don't bother to note that in taking this "strong line", he is simply upholding 2,000 years of Church doctrine.
• And: "He has had his controversies like when he quoted a Byzantine Emperor who characterised some of the teachings of the Prophet Mohammed as 'evil and inhuman'. He later apologised." Don't bother to note that the Pope actually said, "At this time, I wish also to add that I am deeply sorry for the reactions in some countries to a few passages of my address at the University of Regensburg, which were considered offensive to the sensibility of Muslims." In other words, the Pope apologized for the violent reactions of people who were destructive and murderous because a medieval text pondered whether or not Islam was destructive and murderous. Don't even touch the irony there, no matter how thick.
• Misrepresent what Ratzinger/Benedict has done to address the sex scandals. Throw in something gratuitous such as, "He remains very protective of the Church's power." Presume that most readers won't notice that such swipes are aimed at protecting both your bias and power as an opinion-influencing journalist. Be sure to make it sound as though the Pope's stances are not about faith, belief, and truth, but about raw, nasty, selfish power.
• Quote Hans Küng. At length. Don't blink at all when Küng, in talking about the sex scandals, says, "The Pope could change overnight the rule of celibacy and it would be changed." Don't bother to ask Küng obvious follow-up questions, such as: "Why would being married help men who are obviously intent on having sex with boys and young men?" And: "Why are you pathologically obsessed with the Papacy? Do you think you should be Pope? And, if so, what about the fact that you have essentially renounced every major bit of Catholic doctrine?"
• Throw in some vague and sloppy remarks, such as: "There are women priests in the US. He raises the possibility that the Church may even split." Don't mention how extremely small and fringe is the priestette movement, nor that the average age of its adherents appears to be 73 years old. Don't bother mentioning that groups have been splitting off of the Church for, oh, about 2,000 years or so. Nothing new here, but make it sound ominous.
• Conclude with something silly and sloppy: "In the early autumn sunshine it is tempting to believe that the Church - with its long view of history - could emerge from this scandal unchanged. But then I recalled the Pope's Bavarian friend who said to me: 'We can't find the priests. There are dioceses here that have no new candidates for priesthood. The churches are empty.'" Avoid mentioning that there is an obvious connection (not just anecdotal, but statistical) between orthodox belief/practice and vocations. Don't refer to the growing number of vocations in Africa and other parts of the non-Western world. Certainly avoid any discussion of the so-called "John Paul II priests".
Finally, a quick note about the piece's title: "An embattled pope". Quick, name me one pope of the past, say, two hundred years (or much longer) who couldn't be rightly described as "embattled" in one way or another. John Paul II was "embattled" by many of the same issues confronting Benedict, in addition to Communism. Paul VI was taken to the cleaners in the MSM because of "Humanae Vitae" and never really recovered from it. John XXIII might seem the exception, but for all of his supposedly liberal ways, he was remarkably traditional—something that "progressives" have spent much time and effort trying to hide. (And you could argue that toward the end of his life, as the Council got underway, John realized how contentious things would be among the Council fathers, a fact that grieved him.) And Pius XII? Well, that's pretty obvious, isn't it? And so forth and so on. Hey, guess what? Being "embattled" is part and parcel with being a pope, in part due to the human condition, in part due to the supernatural character of the office and the spiritual warfare that surrounds it. But, hey, I've gone on long enough; isn't it time for another pope-bashing quote from Hans Küng?
• Prominently mention that young Ratzinger served in the Nazi army. Don't provide any context—just let the association be made. After all, it's pretty hard to dig out of that hole!
• Immediately follow up with mention of the sex scandals. Imply that it is somehow the Pope's fault that certain priests are perverts and certain bishops are pathetic, or worse. Make it sound as though molestations and abuse are happening right now, rather than pointing out that vast majority took place over thirty years ago.
• Have plenty of quotes from those openly opposed to the Pope, as well as unnamed Catholics who question, doubt, or dislike the Pope and "his" positions. Anonymous priests, bishops, and nuns are best.
• Be certain to mention that as prefect of the CDF, Cardinal Ratzinger was the head of an office that is "the successor to the Inquisition." Let it hang out there, knowing it's a wonderfully negative (and misleading) buzzword.
• Be sure to have a sentence containing something along these lines: "As Pope he has taken a strong line against women priests, contraception and homosexuality." Don't bother to note that in taking this "strong line", he is simply upholding 2,000 years of Church doctrine.
• And: "He has had his controversies like when he quoted a Byzantine Emperor who characterised some of the teachings of the Prophet Mohammed as 'evil and inhuman'. He later apologised." Don't bother to note that the Pope actually said, "At this time, I wish also to add that I am deeply sorry for the reactions in some countries to a few passages of my address at the University of Regensburg, which were considered offensive to the sensibility of Muslims." In other words, the Pope apologized for the violent reactions of people who were destructive and murderous because a medieval text pondered whether or not Islam was destructive and murderous. Don't even touch the irony there, no matter how thick.
• Misrepresent what Ratzinger/Benedict has done to address the sex scandals. Throw in something gratuitous such as, "He remains very protective of the Church's power." Presume that most readers won't notice that such swipes are aimed at protecting both your bias and power as an opinion-influencing journalist. Be sure to make it sound as though the Pope's stances are not about faith, belief, and truth, but about raw, nasty, selfish power.
• Quote Hans Küng. At length. Don't blink at all when Küng, in talking about the sex scandals, says, "The Pope could change overnight the rule of celibacy and it would be changed." Don't bother to ask Küng obvious follow-up questions, such as: "Why would being married help men who are obviously intent on having sex with boys and young men?" And: "Why are you pathologically obsessed with the Papacy? Do you think you should be Pope? And, if so, what about the fact that you have essentially renounced every major bit of Catholic doctrine?"
• Throw in some vague and sloppy remarks, such as: "There are women priests in the US. He raises the possibility that the Church may even split." Don't mention how extremely small and fringe is the priestette movement, nor that the average age of its adherents appears to be 73 years old. Don't bother mentioning that groups have been splitting off of the Church for, oh, about 2,000 years or so. Nothing new here, but make it sound ominous.
• Conclude with something silly and sloppy: "In the early autumn sunshine it is tempting to believe that the Church - with its long view of history - could emerge from this scandal unchanged. But then I recalled the Pope's Bavarian friend who said to me: 'We can't find the priests. There are dioceses here that have no new candidates for priesthood. The churches are empty.'" Avoid mentioning that there is an obvious connection (not just anecdotal, but statistical) between orthodox belief/practice and vocations. Don't refer to the growing number of vocations in Africa and other parts of the non-Western world. Certainly avoid any discussion of the so-called "John Paul II priests".
Finally, a quick note about the piece's title: "An embattled pope". Quick, name me one pope of the past, say, two hundred years (or much longer) who couldn't be rightly described as "embattled" in one way or another. John Paul II was "embattled" by many of the same issues confronting Benedict, in addition to Communism. Paul VI was taken to the cleaners in the MSM because of "Humanae Vitae" and never really recovered from it. John XXIII might seem the exception, but for all of his supposedly liberal ways, he was remarkably traditional—something that "progressives" have spent much time and effort trying to hide. (And you could argue that toward the end of his life, as the Council got underway, John realized how contentious things would be among the Council fathers, a fact that grieved him.) And Pius XII? Well, that's pretty obvious, isn't it? And so forth and so on. Hey, guess what? Being "embattled" is part and parcel with being a pope, in part due to the human condition, in part due to the supernatural character of the office and the spiritual warfare that surrounds it. But, hey, I've gone on long enough; isn't it time for another pope-bashing quote from Hans Küng?
And let us not forget the ubiquitous word used upon this Pope's election: transitional. No, not traditional but "this election is that of a transitional papacy". MSM trying to assure everyone that he won't be in long- then we'll get a real reformer who'll make the Church all relevant and modern.
Posted by: matteo | Monday, September 13, 2010 at 04:42 AM
When ideologues take over an instituion such as a major news organ (like the BBC) or academe (like Catholic univeristies in the 1970s), they exploit the reputation of the institution for trustworthieness without regard for the future credibility of the institution. The BBC will never be trusted again in our lifetimes.
Posted by: Ed Peters | Monday, September 13, 2010 at 09:50 AM
Carl, I missed it if you mentioned that the writer should include a prediction about the imminent demise of Christianity. They seem to like to mention that, too.
Posted by: Gregory Williams | Monday, September 13, 2010 at 10:57 AM
Gregory: Yes, good point. I think the last paragraph of the piece implies the demise of the Catholic Church. Surprised it wasn't more blatant. Of course, it's hard to push it very far considering the Catholic Church continues to grow!
Posted by: Carl E. Olson | Monday, September 13, 2010 at 03:03 PM
BBC - Better Bash Catholics
Posted by: Todd Newbold | Tuesday, September 14, 2010 at 01:44 AM
You also forgot to mention that he was the son a police-man and that he is German. Both of these can just hang as well. After-all being the son a police-man shows he is totalitarian and power-mad, and being German is well... GERMAN!!!!!!
Posted by: Will Peaden | Tuesday, September 14, 2010 at 06:01 AM
How about a statement like, "As head of CDF, he was commonly referred to as "God's Rottweiler." That has been toned down since his election, but it still pops up every now and then when nothing else will do.
Posted by: Jeff Pustka | Friday, September 17, 2010 at 05:44 AM