How to spread the news

I’ve been talking with a number of people lately about events in the news – you know, global issues, politics, Supreme Court and the culture – and thinking about the way we shape what we know. Or more specifically, the way we receive information, who controls it, and how they shape what we learn and…consequently…think.

Which comes up today in yet another way, an important one for perspective.

Today is the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul. Bear with me, I’ll explain…

At the Vatican, Pope Benedict took the opportunity to teach or remind everyone what Peter’s role has always been, singled out as he was by Christ to take the keys.

“People think that Jesus is a prophet”, but that is inadequate.  “Great scholars – continued Benedict XVI – recognise his spiritual and moral stature and his influence on the history of humanity, comparing him to Buddha, Confucius, Socrates and other great thinkers and figures in history” but they “fail to grasp …

who he really, uniquely, was. Peter did, and said so.

According to Mark’s Gospel he says:  ‘You are the Messiah’ (8, 29); in Luke the affirmation is ‘The Messiah of God’ (9, 20); in Mathew: ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God’ (16, 16); and finally in John: ‘you are the Holy One of God’ (6, 69). They were all the right answers, also valid for us”.

Leaders. We need leaders unafraid to speak the truth or the consequences of doing so.

Like St. Paul….one of my very favorites. I love his passion for the truth, his zeal in telling it, his energy in getting the news out to the known world, for goodness sake. We have some great art of Peter and Paul, I have a favorite photo of Paul from Rome next to my computer in fact. So I was thrilled to hear Benedict announce yesterday a year dedicated to Paul and his writings and teachings.

Inspired by the example of the Apostle to the Nations, the Pauline Year will show “that the action of Church is credible and effective only to the extent that its members are willing to personally pay for their fidelity to Christ in every situation.”

That’s a radical concept, in this culture. But Paul was radical. And when he wasn’t speaking, he was writing.

This event stresses the mission of spreading the truth.

In the Roman basilica dedicated to the Apostle to the Nations, the Pope stressed this afternoon the witness, which united Paul and Peter up to their martyrdom, during the first vespers for the Solemnity of Sts Peter and Paul.

My son, Andrew, was there. He’s doing a course on ecumenism right now in Rome, and the timing of this event was perfect. He called afterward and talked about the atmosphere charged with the sense of importance to this mission the pope is on, of bringing people together in mutual understanding. He noticed that one of the works of art in the program booklet was from the cathedral at Regensburg.

Which gets back to the point of telling people what they need to know (if you understand Regensburg), with the courage to face the truth of things. In morning reading today (before hitting the news lineup), the passage from Romans 10:14-15 came up, which essentially asks ‘how can people believe the truth unless they hear it, and how can they hear it unless someone speaks it, and how can someone speak it unless they’re called and inspired and given the opportunity?’

So…there. It works as an analogy for spreading information today. Works for me, anyway.