Mollie Hemingway

B16: Pope calls for doctrinal faithfulness

Pope Benedict XVI may be in his 80s, but he keeps a schedule that is tiring just to observe. There have been so many appointments, so many meetings, so many worship services. One of the significant events was a prayer service with representatives from other Christian church bodies. And as dramatic as people may think his Regensburg speech was, his comments at St. Joseph’s in Yorkville gave the gathered much to chew on.


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B16: For the life of the world

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s ace religion reporter Ann Rodgers had an innovative angle on the pope’s address to U.S. bishops. Whereas most people focused on Pope Benedict XVI’s remarks about sexual abuse or immigration, Rodgers focused on his comments about the life of the church:


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B16: We the people

John Allen of the National Catholic Reporter provided a GetReligion-style service by performing, as he said, “rumor control,” in the hope that inaccurate or overblown material can be put in its proper context before it spins out of control.


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B16: Pope's pallium (and red shoes)

Major props to Michelle Boorstein of the Washington Post for a wonderful story on the front page of yesterday’s Style section analyzing the significance of Pope Benedict XVI’s papal garments.


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The line between news and opinion

A good newspaper editorial page will be staffed by reporters with a drive toward breaking news. Most, it seems, just write bland, predictable opinion pieces in response to the news of the day. So I’m not opposed to seeing a columnist break some news on her beat. I think it can promote some healthy competition with the regular newswriters.


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