Innacuracy In Media Award - 22 July 2007

Reuters had the following headline for an article on what Papa Benedetto said at his Sunday Angelus address this week:

Pope calls for peace to make "heaven" on earth

OK, are you ready for the real quote:

"If men lived in peace with God and with each other, the earth would truly resemble a 'paradise.'"

Wait a minute, that doesn't sound like the same thing to me, does it to you?

But, it gets better, in the selective quotes in the article you would get the impression that the Pope was calling on mankind to build a "New Age" paradise on Earth out of the goodness found in all & to do it only by man (& woman)'s own power & strength.

Yes the Pope did criticize war, just like his predecessors did, just like I do, as something to be avoided if possible. But he said so much more that the media intentionally left out. Why? Good question! I'll share some of the omitted quotes & let you decide for yourself.

1st the line right before the above quote (which, amazingly, Reuters did actually have in the article as well as this next quote, without the Scripture reference):

"The beauty of nature reminds us that we have been placed here by God to "cultivate and keep" this "garden" that is the earth (cf. Genesis 2:8-17)."

Ok they actually allowed a mention of God, but go on to ignore what Papa Benedetto had to say about what our relationship to God is v what it should be. Here is what follows the 1st quote I shared:

"Unfortunately, sin ruined this divine project, generating divisions and bringing death into the world. This is why men cede to the temptations of the evil one and make war against each other. The result is that in this stupendous "garden" that is the world, there open up circles of hell.

War, with the mourning and destruction it brings, has always been rightly considered a calamity that contrasts with God's plan. He created everything for existence and, in particular, wants to make a family of the human race."

In these few sentences the Pope clearly explains the real cause for war & its solution. War is a result of mankind's sin, mankind's willful rebellion against the plan of God, substituting man's plans & desires for God's.

The solution, living at peace with God & each other. How do we do that. The Pope asks us "to reject in general the temptation to face new situations with old systems." In traditional Catholic teaching we do by repenting of our sins & seeking God's grace to empower us to avoid temptation. It means dying to self. Papa Benedetto doesn't go into detail because his basic assumption of what the Church teaches is what underlies what he says. That without Jesus as King & Lord it is impossible to have real peace.

In the talk the Pope makes reference to a letter written by his predecessor Benedict XV, Nota Alle Potenze Belligeranti (Note to the Warring Powers). In part the letter "indicated, at a juridical level, the ways to construct an equitable and durable peace." In other words, it was a teaching on how to build peace with Jesus Christ as the foundation. (I wish I could find the entire letter, but it is currently not available anywhere on the internet.) What I find interesting in the Pope's description of the letter's contents is that if it had been followed WW II might of been avoided. The peace conference did the exact opposite as what Pope Benedict XV called for in it & other letters. (see Quod Iam Diu & Pacem, Dei Munus Pulcherrimum for example)

& even when it talked about the Pope's prayer for peace it left out 1 very important fact, how the Pope started the prayer: "With these thoughts and wishes in our heart we now offer up a special prayer for peace in the world, entrusting it to Mary Most Holy, Queen of Peace."

Does it surprize me that the heart of the message, turning away from sin & following Jesus, was left out? No! not really. After all, the media is part of the world system & it rejects the Gospel message. It won't acknowledge its sin & need for a Savior. But, is this news? No!

The Church has taught for 2000 yrs what Jesus taught, that there will be wars. It also taught that we are to proclaim that there was a way to peace, not as the world wants to give, & it is found exclusively in Jesus. We help proclaim this peace by living out the Christian message to act rightly & justly. But we also call people to a radical change of repentance from sin & following Jesus as Lord. & without this radical change from the kingdom of Satan, of the world, the flesh & the devil to the Kingdom of God, there will never be true peace.

Angelus 22 July 2007 (Zenit)

(Added: 23 July 2007, 11:35 pm) The difference between the MSM & the true Catholic media that is seeing to accurately report this is amazing. The report on Catholic.net as well as Zenit's article mention the section on sin being the cause. I'll bet the liberal Catholic (as it sees itself but isn't really Catholic) media like the NCReporter follows the MSM's lead. After all, talking about sin is so old fashioned & a part of the pre-Vatican II Church that their (so-called but really false) spirit of Vatican II did away with.