With every word and gesture under scrutiny
Pope Benedict is on a fascinating journey in the Holy Land. Big media don’t know how to cover it well, so they go for the usual sound bites and spin on political tension. Don’t go there.
Go here. Loved this piece by Michael Cook. This Pope is far more complex and simple (yes, both), brilliant teacher and humble shepherd, than just about anyone in mainstream media either knows or reveals.
Sandro Magister is a top Vatican journalist, whose writing has depth and insight, and he’s analyzing this visit as well.
Asia News reports on the pope’s renewed call for peace and notes the sadness he felt at the wall that separates Palestinians from Jerusalem.Â
Alejandro Bermudez has full coverage with links at CNA.
Catholic Culture points to the pope’s focus on the family as the essential building block of civilization, a message he brought to the U.S. one year ago, and repeats often.
Speaking of family…..I’m with mine, gathered in another state for the graduation of my son from his university. That’s a great focus, and I’m both proud and humbled. Proud of my children’s accomplishments and who they have become in character, and humbled at the gift of family.
0 Comment
Cook’s piece is good as far as it goes. But when he compares B16 to Obama he forgets that each has a different agenda. The Pope speaks as an ambassador of Christ. Obama speaks as an ambassador of America. There is a difference. The common ground Obama seeks to show is that the U.S. is not the enemy, and that we don’t come to instruct the Middle East but to listen to the words they speak. The Vatican is not faced with two wars in two Muslim countries. Al Qaida is not recruiting trainees to fight the Vatican. Indeed the Vatican has no torture pictures. Oddly, Obama and the Pope are working together separately to help bring peace to the Middle East. Cook may wish that in the “common ground” game the Vatican is the only game in town, but I don’t think the Vatican can be or should be.