An Italian journalist who beat the world\u2019s media on Pope Benedict XVI\u2019s decision to resign got the scoop on the utterly unexpected news thanks to her knowledge of Latin.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur Vatican expert, Giovanna Chirri, was listening to the Pope\u2019s speech,\u201d the ANSA news agency\u2019s head of information Luigi Contu told AFP.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt one point, the Pope stopped talking about the consistory. Chirri understood he was saying he was tired, that the pressure was too much, and that he was going to stop,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Chirri rushed to call Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi to confirm the news but got no reply.<\/p>\n
In a heated debate with her editor, the journalist insisted her Latin knowledge was sound and they could alert the news.<\/p>\n
At that point, Lombardi rang back and at 11.46am Rome time, ANSA\u2019s alert was picked up by news agencies around the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a strong argument for culture in training future journalists,\u201d Contu said with a chuckle.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
From AFP:\u00a0 An Italian journalist who beat the world\u2019s media on Pope Benedict XVI\u2019s decision to resign got the scoop on the utterly unexpected news thanks to her knowledge of Latin. \u201cOur Vatican expert, Giovanna Chirri, was listening to the Pope\u2019s speech,\u201d the ANSA news agency\u2019s head of information Luigi Contu told AFP. \u201cAt one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,39,45],"tags":[11178,11191],"class_list":["post-20711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-journalism","category-pope","category-ripped-from-the-headlines","tag-journalism","tag-pope"],"yoast_head":"\n
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