A Word on Papal Interviews

After every MSM kerfuffle on some amazing and innovative thing the Pope is rumored to have said, there are a sub-population of "faithful" Catholics who decide to critique (i.e., denigrate) either the papal delivery or the papal message or both.

"Why didn't he say X??!?" 
"How could he have been stupid enough to have said Y?!?"
"If he would only provide full context, explain more, stop being so opaque!"

Let me put this as simply as possible: the people who raise these objections are idiots.

I have done numerous TV, radio and newspaper interviews. The problem is not in the papal delivery, the problem is in the secular editor's hack job on the response.

I have personally had 10 and 20 minute interviews mangled down to a 15-second soundbite that even I barely recognized. When they don't like what you are saying, they abuse camera angles, set up ambush interviews, condense, cut and misrepresent you. If it's a newspaper, they literally make up stuff, put it in quotes and put it in your mouth.

And if you think the Vatican needs to offer clarifications, why do you think that would help? If the press is deliberately misrepresenting the first set of remarks, why would they suddenly stop the misrepresentations in reporting on subsequent remarks?

It is the editorial equivalent of being scourged and crucified. You started out fine, but after the editorial beating, you are barely recognizable as a living being. But that's the price of trying to get in front of a lot of people to preach the Gospel - you have to be willing to have your words crucified.

The Pope is willing to do that because he's the Vicar of Christ. It is our job to trust him and help put his message into the context of the larger Gospel message, of which it forms a part. It is NOT our job to critique his content or delivery. We need to concentrate on doing OUR job and stop critiquing how he does his. 

Stop talking like a bunch of Protestants and trust the Pope. Unlike you and me, he actually knows the Gospel and he preaches it better than either one of us ever will. He gets enough scourging every day from the jackels in the press, he doesn't need you and me piling on.