Pews, Press, Prostitutes…whatever

The two big stories of the last 48 hours have been the Spitzer fiasco and the “new sins from the Vatican” nonsense. Priests and Prostitutes? No, mostly prostitutes and the press.

Yesterday I got an email from a reader which read in part:

Has liberal cretinism permeated their minds? I mean, at a time when Christianity is under attack from Islam and secularism, is this a way to unify Christians and save Western Civilization? Am I nuts; aren’t all the saints in heaven shaking their heads over this move?

She was writing about the boneheaded coverage of the Vatican thinking outloud about sin. I referred her to Rule 27: If the news story is from the British press and involves the Pope….DON’T BELIEVE IT.

I suggested to the reader that there would be clarification of all of this coming down the pike, but that she’d probably have hard time finding it in the press.

Today, both Deacon Greg Kandra and Fr. James Martin did a better job explaining what was actually going on:

Greg, who works over at CBS when he’s not deaconing, writes on this from a veteran newsman’s position:

I was assigned to write that story for last night’s CBS Evening News, and the more I read about it, the more it sounded like something else that pollutes the environment: horse manure.

Every story on the wires told a different version. There were seven. No, there were six. It included abortion. No, one of them was stem cell experiments. It mentioned pedophilia. The guy who issued the decree was a monsignor. No, he was a bishop. He was the pope’s right hand guy. No, he was a Vatican spokesman. And on and on and on. It made my head hurt.

Finally, in the afternoon, I spoke with the CBS News religion consultant at the Vatican, Fr. Thomas Williams. He confirmed what I expected: there’s nothing new in the “new” deadly sins — and they aren’t necessarily deadly, and they don’t number seven, and it’s all one person’s interpretation of moral failings that are as old as time itself. The pope had nothing to do with it. It doesn’t change doctrine or dogma one iota. There was no there there.

Fr. Martin talked on NPR about the non-story, and also write an editorial over at America Magazine:

The Vatican’s intent seemed to be less about adding to the traditional “deadly” sins (lust, anger, sloth, pride, avarice, gluttony, envy) than reminding the world that sin has a social dimension, and that participation in institutions that themselves sin is an important point upon which believers needed to reflect.

In other words, if you work for a company that pollutes the environment, you have something more important to consider for Lent than whether or not to give up chocolate.

Fr. Martin takes pains to say he doesn’t think the press’ bizarre reporting comes from a place of malice, but of ignorance. Okay. Maybe. But I am willing to bet when the stories broke as they did, many non-Catholics shook their head with a “there go those damn Catholics again,” and plenty of Catholics had a response similar to one here:

Once again I have to tell my Church to f*** off. I’m really getting tired of that.

How many of those folks will ever see any sort of correction following the sensational headline? And if that’s not a malicious intent, it is certainly sloppiness that serves something other than truth. The press knows full well the power of a headline – what’s that old saying, “a lie makes its way around the world while the truth is still getting its pants on,” . The press knows full well that if it blares a sensational headline, that headline becomes part of the collective subconscious, and the inevitably buried corrections mean nothing. I think we saw such an example in the recent Rudy Giuliani campaign.

And these sorts of things always seem to happen as we approach Holy Week – a little distraction from what we’re supposed to be doing, a little discrediting before the Vatican actually proclaims the Risen Christ. Never fails.

Interestingly, Inside Catholic has a huge symposium on the subject of a recent Pew report on the state of religion in US public life, a report that had lots of Catholics talking and wondering “why do people leave the church?” As we see in this very interesting and provocative symposium, there are a million valid reasons which may be lain at the door of the church itself (and not just the Catholic church), but I do wonder if some of those exits are not helped along by a media eager to court sensationalism over sensibility. I urge you to take the time to read all of the gathered voices over there – Inside Catholic has collected opinions from a wide array of current Catholic writers and many churchmen and churchwomen, too. It is worth your time.

Also worth your time : Bookworm links to a heartugger from Gaza and Israel, whereby we meet an Arab family being helped by Jews:

Dr. Shmuel Zangen, the director of the hospital’s neonatal unit, doesn’t care who he treats. “As a doctor, I enjoy the privilege of not having to think about it,” he says. “It certainly is odd that we take care of Palestinian children while they shoot at us. It’s the sort of thing that only happens in the Middle East.”
[…]
The father is holding the first photos of his newborn twins in his hands. He is worried about the rockets being fired at Ashkelon. He says that he would never have believed it possible that he could be indebted to the Israelis for anything. “What a confusing situation,” he says.

What was it Golda Meir said, “Peace will come to the Middle East when the Arabs love their children more than they hate us.” Maybe that can only happen one family at a time?

Back in Catholicworld, Julie at Happy Catholic gives some timely help for confession and does a nice little Catholic round-up to boot.

And in the rest of the news:

Hillary Clinton is still making excuses about releasing her tax return. Her husband the ex-president won’t cant release their White House papers to demonstrate all that experience she touts, and she won’t release her taxes, but as Mr. Garfield used to say, “what, you can’t trust a little?” Meanwhile her peeps are playing the sly race card and she is disavowing them, but a few Hillarians are growing weary of her game.

Meanwhile those Euro leaders who hate Bush? Some of them are appalled at Clinton and Obama‘s talk.

Don Surber looks at a report that says no recession, after all. I still figure we’ll talk ourselves into one.

On the Spitzer front: Gateway Pundit notes that if Spitzer resigns it will be a rare thing for a Democrat to do, and he counts the ways.

Surber notes Spitzer’s repellent narcissism.

Ed Morrissey notes that 25% of our teenage girls have STD’s, which is not related to the Spitzer story except as a comment on the times, themselves.

And Heck, yes says Romney, he’d be McCain’s veep. Naga happen, I don’t think.

Finally, the press’ reluctance to identify political parties when the scandal is about a Democrat continues apace, this time in Detroit.

Amy Welborn has more.