[siunevada]

Benedict's predecessor, John Paul II, was an outgoing former actor with a natural talent for gauging the effect of his words. The new pope is a shy ex-professor. Yet he has not so far seen fit to equip himself with an adviser to guide him through the minefield of making public declarations on sensitive, complex issues in a media age.

A savvy confidant, like the previous papal spokesman, Joaquin Navarro-Valls, who came from a national daily newspaper, Spain's ABC, might well have prevented the crisis that enveloped the Vatican this week. He would have spotted immediately the danger in the pope quoting someone describing the teachings of Mohammad as 'evil and inhuman' and tried to persuade the pontiff to express his ideas in a rather more tactful fashion.

I think this is a misjudgement. The shy professor who isn't media-savvy.

He's not a man without experience with the media in his previous position and he may have had some notion that the media who live for 'conflict' would lift ideas out of context from his speech.

[sageb1]

"he may have had some notion that the media who live for 'conflict' would lift ideas out of context from his speech."

Ya think? ;)