On the eve of Pope Benedict XVI’s trip to his homeland, he’s unable to find any friendly press. The worldwide media is eager to seize on any tension to undermine the trip before it has even begun.
Let’s take a tour around the world, to see how the Pope’s trip is being reported, or should that be distorted? Here’s a look at the pre-trip headlines.
From Radio Netherlands, it’s one part joy, two parts negativity as: “Joy, protests and apathy await pope in native Germany.”
Al Jazeera says that the Pope faces an “uncertain welcome.”
Canada’s National Post says that the trip will be “fraught with divisiveness.”
The U.K.’s Guardian is highlighting the Bundestag boycott of the Pope.
It was difficult finding anything hopeful about the trip from the American press.
The Associated Press and CBS say the Pope is “visiting homeland with mixed views on church.”
Reuters described it as his “toughest visit yet to skeptical German homeland.”
The Wall Street Journal says the visit comes “amid turmoil,” and the New York Times reports the trip not as a pastoral visit, but as a boxing match between the Holy Father and “a Combative Germany.”
MSNBC’s headline focuses on the protests that are expected, and USA Today, while at least avoiding the party line in their headline, says in the story’s first line that there will be “large protests, and even larger crowds of Catholic faithful.” At least they made that distinction. One is almost led to think from all of the stories that the only folks greeting the Pope will be those who are either protesting or boycotting his appearance.
Perhaps the most egregious example of bias is from AFP, who just couldn’t resist using the words “Pope” and “Hitler” in the same headline, “Pope to Hold Mass in Berlin’s ‘Hitler’s Stadium.” Clearly, we’re supposed to think, “The Pope who was a member of the Nazi youth is celebrating the Mass in Hitler’s Stadium. OH, the outrage. The outrage!” You can be sure that when U2 or The Rolling Stones played there, AFP didn’t use the title: U2 Holds Concert in Hitler’s Stadium.
Even the press in his homeland isn’t welcoming. Der Spiegel’s lengthy piece, “Disillusioned German Catholics: The Pope’s Difficult Visit to His Homeland,” focuses on the protesters and boycotters. Bundestag member, Alexander Süssmair of the far-left Left Party, says that he “cannot even imagine what the democratic Federal Republic of Germany could learn from the representative of an absolute monarchy.”
So begins the news coverage prior to the Pope’s trip. I don’t have a problem with journalists reporting facts, but when they’re reporting (or rather predicting) facts before anything has even happened, I do take issue with the reporting. Isn’t it interesting how you can have so many seemingly diverse publications all singing the same note?
When the Holy Father visited the U.S. in 2008, he was described as “The Pope of Hope.” May he bring some of that same hope to his kinsmen and women back home in Germany.
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THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IS BIGGER THAN THE GERMAN OR EUROPEAN CHURCH.
IF THEY CAN TREAT THEIR OWN SON THIS WAY, YOU CAN IMAGINE THE AMOUNT OF HOSTILITY AND INTOLERANCE NON GERMANS AND NON EUROPEANS FACE ON TRYING TO DEFEND THE CASTHOLIC FAITH. THE WORST PART OF THE MATTER IS THAT SOME CLERGY NO LONGER DEFEND THE CATHOLIC FAITH. SOME NO LONGER MAKE DISTICTIONS BETWEEN WHAT THE CATHOLIC TEACHES AND WHAT SEPARATES US FROM OUR PROTESTANT BRETHREN. HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF. I WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED IF THERE IS ANOTHER PROTESTANT GROUP SPRINGING UP FROM THE CATHOLIC CHURCH: CALL IT NEW REFORMED MODERN CATHOLIC CHURCH. ONE CANNOT CLAIM TO BE A MEMBER OF A FOOTBALL TEAM AND STILL WORKS AGAINST THE SUCCESS OF THE TEAM. MAY GOD SAVE THE CHURCH FROM EUROPEAN NEO-COLONIALISM. THE NUMBER OF CATHOLICS WHO ATTEND REGULAR SUNDAY MASSES IN CHINA IS GREATER THAN THE TOTAL NUMBER OF CATHOLICS IN EUROPE WHO ATTEND SUNDAY MASSES. WHY DO EUROPEANS ARROGATE THEMSELVES THE MISCONCEIVED IDEA THAT WITHOUT EUROPE THE CATHOLIC CHURCH WOULD COLLAPSE? CHRIST WILL BE WITH HIS CHURCH TILL THE END OF TIME. THE STONE REJECTED BY THE BUILDERS WILL DEFINITELY BECOME THE CORNER STONE, COME WHAT MAY.
Didn’t they do the same to Jesus!Maybe not the media,but the local Jewish leaders at the time,especially those in charge of the synagogues
Yeah, the coverage of the papal visit is as fair and balanced as ever. I really love this relatively new species : the anti-religion religious correspondent : a guy paid to rehash the same lame complaints about every religion (and the Catholic church in particular, Catholicism being the true religion and, therefore, the most formidable opponent to the spirit of the world) in each of his articles : “Pope brushes his teeth. Pope Benedict is a former Nazi youth reactionary who unforgivably refuses to allow women priests to marry horses” and so on. I would like to see this concept adapted in other fields : for example, the anti-sport sport correspondent : “Some team or another wins some kind of Superbowl thingy… Who cares ? This is just a waste of time and money !” ; or the anti-cinema movie critic : “Some Avatar movie is making a lot of money right, but I didn’t watch it, ‘cause I got better things to do ! Movies are for simpletons !” and so on.
Remember, the Holy Father is the Vicar of Christ on earth.
Thanks for the reminder to keep praying for the Holy Father. He is under incredible persecution.
And all bore him witness and marvelled at the words of grace that came from his mouth. And they said, “Is this not Joseph’s son? (Luke 4:22). But he said to them, “Amen I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his own country. (Luke 4:24)
Yoi. Evil must be afraid of something wonderful happening with this trip to be mongering such an attitude ahead of time. I say let’s bump up the prayers and fasting for the Pope’s trip and invoke the Holy Spirit to reign down during the trip.
The press is in the business of inciting anti-Catholic hatred. It is like that everywhere.
I do believe it is just another sign of the emerging antichrist. The persecution is not only outside of the Church.
I just finished reading an article of an elder priest in Canada banned from saying Mass for preaching against homosexuality. And look at Austria’s priest rebellion against the Holy See…
the gates of hell will not prevail. Come Lord Jesus!
God bless you, Pope Benedict.
For Jesus’ trial was much the same - He was unfairly judged by His own people, they lied to condemn Him.
Let us continue to pray for the Holy Father. We can expect more intolerance as he continues to speak the truth.
Remember that Christ promised us He’d be with us until the end of the world.
Aren’t these reports almost verbatim what was said before the Pope’s trip to Britain?
I expect the accuracy of these to be about the same as were the ones for the British trip.
God Bless the Pope.
*Yawn* - they did the same before the Holy Father’s trip to Great Britain. We saw how that turned out.
What does all this so called media have in common? They are all freemason’s and they have been doing this to the Popes since their “glorious” french revolution. The only thing that would satisfy the enemies of Christ is for his vicar to be beheaded.
Viva Christo Rey
The western world thinks that they can humiliate, tease and tear and murder the Catholic Church. This thought springs up from affluence, haughtiness and the resultant godlessnes. They want a church which should permit all sorts of satiation of carnal desires and a church which should not lay down any rules on sexual morality. Let them know that that Catholic Church is not simple brick and mortar but an institution built by the creator. There will be plenty of oppositions and attacks , but nothing will prevail against her. Individuals may go wrong or sinful and the Church is a hospital treating such patients with compassion.
The press hates Pope Benedict XVI and fawns adoringly at Obama. What does that tell us? It tells us that the Press is made up of Marxist morons who love sexual license and hate sexual limits. It tells us that they love socialism and hate freedom. It tells you they are afraid of making Muslims angry, and could care less about making Catholics angry. The Press, along with Hollywood and Madison Avenue, make up the unholy trinity of American society. May God have mercy on us all.
St. John Bosco’s dream summed up where we are now.
May God continue to bless our Pope and our Priests that follow the true Doctrine.
It’s sad to see that so many Catholics are now only Catholic by name.
I just heard one of Mother Angelica’s classic talks. She said when she read bad articles about her, she would give praise to God for being persecuted. Pope Benedict XVI probably does the same thing. Let us all pray for our Pope (what Mother Angelica would call “a white martyr”).
Thanks be to God! I would hesitate to describe the reporting as being “distorted.” To deny that problems exists is unhealthy. Similarly, to suppose that everything is idyllic is similarly unrealistic, perhaps even distorted. Somewhere in the middle the truth may be found. Amidst it all, there is hope. Pray for papa, and for those with whom he shall meet.
The liberal hate anything that attempts to profess truth, the meaning, purpose, and goal of life as God intends it. If you put masks on these purveyors of hate, division, and ridicule (sound like devils in hell don’t they) you would see no difference in behavior from thugs who hate order, law, and enforcement. Most of these people who put two words of hate together tend to have lower IQ it has been proven and are of the Looney left leftovers of society, of which almost 100 percent of them live disgusting lives of promiscuity, sexuality, adultery, and wouldn’t go to a church if an appearance of God happened. If we are mindful that most of these ego pleasure seekers are cum bags and live scum bag lives it is easier to understand why they hate. They really hate themselves and their pathetic little nothing existence with no meaning to it save advancing their own ego in the mist of good people who believe they are such losers. After all, as Sacred Scripture says, you shall know them by their fruits. And these quacks are well known for their loose lips and sordid quackery. Long Live the Pope!
Yes, pray for Pope Benedict as he enters Germany among biased headlines, and among unthinking opponents of his visit.
May he bring strength to the faithful and illumination to the ignorant.
Here’s a headline from the Jerusalem Post: “German Jews praise pope but warn on Pius XII, Holocaust”, and then the first line reads: “Germany’s small Jewish community praised Pope Benedict on Thursday for stressing the common roots of Christianity and Judaism but warned him it would be hurt if he honors wartime Pope Pius XII, who it said was silent during the Holocaust.” Thats even better then what the enlightened ones in the West are reporting.
This is typical of the “world press” and the liberal journalists that can never see anything good, beautiful or inspiring. While they castigate the few number of persons who abused children and bankrupted our church they ignore the fact that just about every country in the world is butchering their own people through abortion, openly living together in sexual sin of all kinds, suffering from a pandemio of STDs, wallowing in on=line pornography etc. etc. As modern as mankind has gotten, we still are living in sin comparable to 2000 years ago. Thank God we have a Savior who gets us out of this mess we call the “world”.
How’s this for a world “wrap-up”:
0001 AD - world lies in wickedness - Apostle John
2011 AD - “same wickedness - different wrappers” -anon
“PRAY HARD, PRAY OFTEN - OUR LIVES ARE VERY SHORT”
Long live the Pope!!!
How to cover a Papal visit - A guide for the MSM :
Step 1 : during the days preceding the Papal visit : Pope Benedict (a reactionary ultra-conservative former Nazi youth member) is expected in the country of X. Millions of citizens of X are expected to protest agains the cost of the visit/the welcoming of a criminal against humanity/the continuing existence of such silly superstitions/other/ all of the above. The rest of the population of X is completely apathetic towards the visit.
Step 2 : during the Papal visit : Pope Benedict has been welcomed in X by enthusiastic and joyous crowds of Catholics of all races, ages and social class. He addressed the political authorities in a profound and fascinating speech that has lead to a standing ovation. He met with representatives of other religions who expressed their admiration for him, while he, without renouncing in any way the Gospel of Christ, urged all the people of good will to work together for peace and the common good. He celebrated a beautiful, prayerful mass in a giant stadium. Meanwhile, dozens of grumpy senior citizens marched in the streets, calling for the execution of the Pope and insulting the faith of billions of Christians with lame jokes that were old 200 years ago. They quickly gave up, because their favorite soap opera was about to air. The visit was a complete success.
Seriously, replace X with the name of a country and you can cover every single visit of Pope Benedict. We don’t deserve such a great Pope.
GOD HELP US ALL, the ground will open up and swallow some soon…. but we will fear such a short time and then repeat the same just feel HIM, He gazes upon us. Lord Father of all HELP US NOW….
Mary Mother Guide those who are in authority open their eyes ....
Is, could it be, I hope it’s not…Weimar all over again?
I love the pope’s visits to all these countries. Chances are very good that I will never visit, so it gives me a chance to see and hear a totally different language than English.
The rural German country side is gorgeous, if I didn’t know better it could easily pass for Iowa.
I weep to see so many vile negative posting comments in the secular media against the Catholic Church. The hatred for Mother Church and the Vicar of Christ is overwhelming. It can almost be described as our Lord still proceeding towards his passion with the mob like wolves attacking him with so much malice. Through my tears I sadly recalled the Words of my Master, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me. Weep for yourselves and your children”. God forgive us.
No need to fret. The Pope never travels alone. He’s always got powerful friends with him .
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