Posted on 10/05/2013 5:56:39 PM PDT by Mrs. Don-o
This morning, I read Dolan confirms error in Scalfari interview in the National Catholic Reporter....Dolan said, the sequence put on the pope’s lips by Scalfari is out of order.
"Francis did not hesitate before accepting his election, Dolan said, although there was a moment later when he paused in prayer before stepping out onto the balcony for the “Habemus Papam” announcement."
Okay, not such a big deal, right? We’re still weathering this huge FRANCIS CRISIS, which is going to spell DOOM AND DISASTER for everybody and everything, and the SEA LEVELS WILL RISE and there will be GIRL CARDINALS, and puppy dog cardinals, and Benedict’s name will be chiseled off all the walls, and the speaking of Latin will be punished with excommunication, and there will be dogs and cats living together, and so on.
Then there’s this:
"Respected French Vatican writer Jean-Marie Guénois confirmed with Scalfari that he didn’t tape the interview, nor did he take notes, so the text was an after-the-fact reconstruction."
....He didn’t tape the interview. He didn’t take notes.
....He didn’t tape the interview. He didn’t take notes.
....He didn’t tape the interview. He didn’t take notes.
I’m just a teeny, two-bit, part-time writer on the very outer fringes of what could possibly be considered journalism, and even I know that this is outrageous. Insanely irresponsible. Something that should make people lose their jobs and all credibility forever. Holy shit. As my sister Devra Torres said, “So we’re commenting on a bad translation of a hazy memory in the mind of a presumably heavily biased source.” One more thing? Scalfari is 88 years old. But I’m sure his memory is completely accurate.
So, I know this is a big deal. But not for one second do I think that the Francis haters will so much as bat an eye. We’ll get a shrug and a grimace, and they’ll continue with their self-congratulatory dirge celebrating mourning this tragic decline of the papacy.
Why? Because Francis haters are like the prophets of climate change. No matter what happens, it’s just more evidence for what they’ve been telling us all along. Got a hurricane? Expect to see more and more of this kind of thing, because climate change! One of the calmest hurricane seasons in the last 62 years/? Continue to panic! Because climate change! Polar ice caps melting? You see, that’s climate change! Polar ice caps growing and getting icier? Have you not been listening???? This is classic climate change.
When you’re completely wedded to the idea of anthropogenic climate change, bad news is bad news, and good news is bad news, too.
Same with the Francis haters. Absolutely anything you say about the man — and about the demonstrable, incontrovertable good effects of his papacy — it’s all just more evidence of bad news. They don’t like what he says, and then they hear that he didn’t actually say it, and the response is, “I’m tired of the excuses!” Okay. So you’re tired of the truth? Yeah, I thought so.
Even things that have nothing to do with him are magically attributed to his malign influence. And when we hear about — oh, people becoming interested in the Church again . . . people asking their Catholic friends questions, because they’ve heard there’s something interesting going on in Rome . . . people considering joining RCIA, or getting their marriages regularized, or going to confession in droves . . . well, there you have it. Proof that Francisogenic Papal Change is ruining the Church. Because they are not the right kind of people, you see. Their hearts aren’t having the right kind of conversion. Their experience of the love and mercy of Christ isn’t authentic enough. How can you be so blind? THIS IS A CRISIS, PEOPLE.
Because if it’s not a crisis, we might have to change how we look at the world.
Well, we shall see, won’t we. If the climate really is changing, there’s not a hell of a lot we can do about it. If Francis really is ushering in a new era, he is the Pope, and he calls the shots. So we’ll see what’s changing, and why, and how it all shakes out. I’m putting my faith in the Holy Spirit. If you’ve been paying any attention at all, you’ll know that
"The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going."
The wind is blowing, and so far, it feels good.
I am getting Papal fatigue. The Fog of Words has taken over. I am drifting.
Pope Francis needs to have his own secretary present with a tape recorder, for his own defence later, from scandalous falsehoods that are being created by those opposed to him specifically and Christianity in general.
I think Simcha is missing the point. What kind of knucklehead pope lets himself get used this way? Why does he so desperately need to go it alone that he disdains resources at his disposal whose express purpose is to prevent screwups like this?
For a second there I though that was YOUR rant - no linkage.
Good post.
Francis needs to get Lombardi out of there and get an intelligent, savvy person in that position. Even some of the problems experienced by the very careful BXVI were the fault of Lombardi’s incompetence.
I don’t know why BXVI and Francis were/are both so devoted to Lombardi.
Pope Francis needs to stop giving interviews.
His resources are not good. The Vatican has fallen down on the press office position time and again.
Navarro Valls was the last good one, and he probably kept JPII from being charged with heresy for things like kissing the Koran and making very ambiguous statements on a lot of things.
Francis is actually, IMHO, much more orthodox than JPII, but as long as the ham-fisted, not-savvy Lombardi is there, he’s going to have problems.
I for one am going to pretty much ignore anything coming out of Rome for the foreseeable future.
No responsible person sits down for an “interview” with a “journalist” where there is no tape recorder or even a note pad.
I thought Greg Burke was supposed to be the new communications expert. The guy who understands how to handle the media. What does he do for his pay check?
Is Francis just letting him hang out to dry? If Francis won’t let him do his job, he needs to resign. It’s a shame.
Honestly I am wondering if the man is mentally ill. Could he really be this far out of his depth? Are the cardinals negligent for having chosen him, or is he suffering some sort of spiritual oppression? We have not seen anything this disturbing since maybe Julius III.
Extraordinary.
In any case, I expect this kind of thing—although a reporter who gets an extraordinary opportunity of an interview with a new Pope and neglects to record or take notes is even beyond what I was expecting. Lies, distortions, and the rest, yes. But this is pretty unbelievable.
In any case, I’m still suspending judgment on Pope Francis. For me, the main thing is to give him and his chosen group of Cardinals time to broom out the Vatican—which I hope he does! I was very impressed with Pope Benedict as a theologian. I read most of what he wrote, both before and after becoming Pope. But he seemed unable to broom out all those guys in the hierarchy who were undermining him at every opportunity.
Even things that have nothing to do with him are magically attributed to his malign influence. And when we hear about — oh, people becoming interested in the Church again . . . people asking their Catholic friends questions, because they’ve heard there’s something interesting going on in Rome . . . people considering joining RCIA, or getting their marriages regularized, or going to confession in droves . . . well, there you have it. Proof that Francisogenic Papal Change is ruining the Church. Because they are not the right kind of people, you see. Their hearts aren’t having the right kind of conversion. Their experience of the love and mercy of Christ isn’t authentic enough. How can you be so blind? THIS IS A CRISIS, PEOPLE.
This is a malign attack on those with very legitimate and serious concerns with the papacy of Francis.
That’s what we need! A good press guy to hold Francis’ hand and to bail him out of heresy trials when he starts tongue kissing Korans or singing “we are the world” like JPII!
He’s like one of those pictures you have to stare blankly into in order to “see” the picture. He’s a 3-D Pope. No wonder people look dumbfounded when they’re around him. They are STARING into him, trying to SEE the picture.
Maybe he needs a teleprompter, too.
I’ve become a Pope Francis agnostic. I don’t know if he is a great saintly pope, or a very bad pope. Only time will tell.
Until that time comes, for some of us peace of mind and personal sanity demand we ignore this Jesuit and all the spin on all sides.
Link? Link? Link?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.