Pope Francis: smoke and mirrors

[adamgreer]

Posted: 6/23/14 at 7:21am

A really, really, interesting (but long) piece that provides some balance to the collective orgasm many in the media are having over this man.
Pope Francis: all smoke and mirrors

[Roscoe]

Posted: 6/23/14 at 9:21am

The saddest and most infuriating thing about all this is the way everyone was so eager to believe Pope Sunshine's bullsh*t.

[Addison D.]

Posted: 6/23/14 at 10:48am

Believing that a new figurehead will instantly change deeply-entrenched, fundamentally systemic problems seems to be one of our most powerful urges.

After watching the 'fairy-tale' of Prince Charles and Diana turn into a grotesque train-wreck in which the fundamentally Machiavellian nature of 'The Firm'--as members of the royal family allegedly refer to the monarchy--were laid bare, the crowds still turned out in droves, starry-eyed at the 'fairy-tale' romance of Prince William & Kate. Apparently, the (alleged) abuse and neglect of their beloved People's Princess was washed from their memories by a careful P.R. campaign.

After suffering through the traumatic misery of Bush 43, we embraced all the symbolism, graphic design, social-media and campaign rhetoric of Barack Obama, believing he could somehow--fundamentally--change the US government and the world. They gave him a freaking Nobel Prize, essentially in advance of achieving anything, so great was our collective belief that NOW everything will be better.

So it's hardly surprising that a smooth P.R. campaign, combined with some highly suggestive "populist" rhetoric and a few flashy gestures ("He didn't buy new plates for the Vatican Dining Room--he MUST be the Messiah!!") would trigger our collective, optimistic response.

Updated On: 6/23/14 at 10:48 AM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/23/14 at 11:57am

I wish that article was less strident. As a non-Catholic-but-fascinated observer of the Catholic church, I assume that the church's homophobia will disappear gradually, as the church's anti-Semitism has: slowly, over centuries, with shocking lapses into hypocrisy.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 6/23/14 at 12:40pm

That article is pretty much everything I've been saying since day one, but this really stuck out and tells you everything you need to know - There is an enormous disconnect between who the pope really is in terms of his policies and his public relations image, as crafted by the Vatican’s PR man, previously with Fox News.

[HorseTears]

Posted: 6/23/14 at 12:45pm

I miss Hitch.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/23/14 at 12:51pm

Hitch would have ripped him to shreds.

[HorseTears]

Posted: 6/23/14 at 1:07pm

I've always enjoyed this debate between, on one side, Stephen Fry and Hitch, and on the other side conservative British political figure Ann Widdecombe and Archbishop John Onaiyekan. Debate topic: Is the Catholic Church a force for good in the world.