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So you’re a reporter assigned to write a story about a new book coming out by the pope, his holiness, the Vicar of Christ, current occupant of the chair of St. Peter, that prince among princes of the church John Paul II. You comb through it for material and find that there is a lot there.
John L. Allen Jr., the National Catholic Reporter‘s Vatican correspondent, makes a four-point case for why Pope John Paul II should not resign.
The New York Times‘ coverage of Patty Bouvier’s coming out party on The Simpsons follows a familiar script — the religious right is the sole aggressor in the culture wars — and, in a breathless search for Ultimate Meaning, manages to drain the episode of every moment of humor.
The Toledo Blade is digging into a story that has national hypernews potential — if other journalists can believe what they are reading. This isn’t another case of sexual abuse involving Catholic priests. It’s a case involving a murdered nun, stab wounds in the shape of a cross, memories of ritual abuse and fiends in robes. Summary: “Investigators have talked to numerous priests and former students at local Catholic grade schools to determine if they knew anything about children being molested in bizarre ceremonies involving a small ring of clerics, according to several people interviewed by police. Four women told detectives about being abused between the late 1960s and 1986 during cult-like ceremonies involving altars and men dressed in robes, the accusers told The Blade.” Stay tuned.
Think of it as the mirror image of the choices director Ron Howard has to make in creating a red-zip-code hit with The Da Vinci Code. Think of it, in the words of the ever-witty Amy Welborn, as The Chronicles of Marketing.
Charlotte Observer scribe Ken Garfield recently put out a thoughtful commentary for those in churches — think Anglican — with flexible Lents. The basic idea: Why not give up hypocrisy? This would, of course, be easier said than done. He picks on cultural conservatives, which is totally fair game in light of facts collected by the noted evangelical writer Ronald J. Sider. For example, 6 percent of adults who call themselves born-again Christians tithe and 25 percent of born-again Christians have lived out of wedlock with a member of the opposite sex. And so forth and so on. Nevertheless, I’m curious. Anyone have data on the religious left? Could add to a good story.
David Kirkpatrick of The New York Times is doing yeoman’s work on the conservative beat, especially in observing conservatives saying and doing the darndest things.
I realize that the tornado surrounding The Da Vinci Code (the book) has eased up a bit and that we are just starting to see the first media feeder bands come ashore from the category-five hurricane that will accompany the release of the movie in May 2006.
I take this piece, by the Canadian LifeSite, to be a reproduction from The Interim, the Toronto-based “pro-life, pro-family newspaper.” That would account for the odd dateline (“CYBERSPACE”) and for the author’s feeling it necessary to explain the terms blogs, bloggers and blogrolls.
