Who saves the pope from staff mistakes?
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/religion/post/2009/03/63602473/1 04:05 PM Bennyxblog200 Philip Lawler, editor of Catholic World News, has a fascinating essay on our opinion page today <http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2009/03/pr-and-the-pope.html>taking the Vatican PR staff to task. He says they totally muffed presentation of the decision by Pope Benedict XVI to lift ex-communication of four controversial bishops who were not properly ordained to their posts, according to church law. Lawlor writes that subsequent news stories made it look as though ... Pope Benedict, for no good reason, welcomed an anti-Semitic bishop back into the church's good graces. Only that's not what happened, and the Vatican's PR failures only made things worse ... ... Even among today's critics who have lashed out at the pope, some remain unaware that Benedict XVI had not known about (Bishop Richard) Williamson's appalling views, and when he was informed, the pope quickly issued a public statement to disassociate himself from Holocaust deniers. Others do not realize that Benedict XVI had not restored Williamson and the other (Society of St. Pius X) bishops to regular status. Those four bishops are still suspended from public ministry; the lifting of their excommunications was only one step in a process of reconciliation. Okay, so let's say the Vatican Press Office folks take Lawlor's advice to get with 21st century communications, talking points and advance texts (Me! Me! I want advance texts! I'm tired of leaning over Vatican-based reporters at papal events, trying to get the early read on a speech). That would all be nice -- but totally irrelevant to why the pope is still taking a pounding from media, Jews and many Catholics on this decision. It's that "for no good reason" part that Lawlor doesn't explain while chiding the media for pouncing on bits of the story out of context. What, exactly, is the "good reason" the Pope Benedict wants to welcome back bishops his predecessor cast out? These are bishops from a group that only now has scrubbed anti-Semitic ranting off their web site. Williamson has twice apologized to the pope for his remarks causing distress for His Holiness -- but never apologized to the pope or to Holocaust survivors, for the content of his remarks. Catholics, too, may want to know: What would be a "good reason" for opening the arms of the church to those who reject the reforms of Vatican II? But the question I'm most curious about: How, exactly, is it that Pope Benedict had no knowledge of the sustained ant-Semitic views of these bishops? I don't think the leader of 1.1 billion Catholics is hanging out on a computer with Google. So this is really a question for his senior staff. After a barrage of commentary, all asking, essentially, "What WAS he thinking?" it's not adequate to say, oops, no one was thinking. That what a staff is for. How did they not know? If they did know, why didn't they tell the boss? Or is the pope surrounded by people who know such things but don't see their importance? No public relations pizzazz will fix that. Photo by Vatican Pool/Getty Images: Pope Benedict XVI leads the Ash Wednesday service at the Santa Sabina Basilica in Rome, Italy. <*}}}>< <http://www.halfthekingdom.org/on+allposters+today.html>on AllPosters today <*}}}><<*}}}>< <http://astore.amazon.com/halthekin-20>Catholic on Amazon <*}}}>< + <*}}}>< <http://www.holypostage.com/>Holy Postage <*}}}>< <*}}}><<http://www.halfthekingdom.org/>Half the <http://www.halfthekingdom.org/>Kingdom!<*}}}>< + "The fruit of abortion is nuclear war" - Bl. Mother Teresa + <*}}}>< <http://www.halfthekingdom.org/on+allposters+today.html>on AllPosters today <*}}}><<*}}}>< <http://astore.amazon.com/halthekin-20>Catholic on Amazon <*}}}>< + <*}}}>< <http://www.holypostage.com/>Holy Postage <*}}}>< <*}}}><<http://www.halfthekingdom.org/>Half the <http://www.halfthekingdom.org/>Kingdom!<*}}}>< + "The fruit of abortion is nuclear war" - Bl. Mother Teresa + --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Please note that I do not send or open attachments sent to this list. You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Catholics on Fire" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Catholics-on-Fire May the blessing of Jesus and our Blessed Mother be with you -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
