A firm grasp of the blatantly obvious

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Eucharisted

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The London Times, whose coverage of Catholic affairs is consistently flavored by bias and sensationalism, has cooked up a special treat for weekend readers. Religion correspondent Ruth Gledhill speculates about the appointment of a new Archbishop of Westminster, and the headline reads: “Pope may impose his man as English Catholic leader.”

That’s a provocative way of saying that the Pope might choose the next Archbishop of Westminster. Well, who else would make the choice?

Read the rest here
 
Perhaps she thinks she ought to have a say!

Seriously, though, there has been an awful lot of nonsense in the papers and in blogs about who going to be the next Archbishop, I have heard all sorts of strange rumours, and don’t believe any of them. Some of the Catholic bloggers seem to be the worst offenders, sadly. One of them cited a priest of my personal acquaintance, who was horrified when he heard about it! One expects the secular press, like the Times to get things wrong, but it’s a shame that Catholic writers do it too.
 
Now let’s be fair. Many journalists (or folks generally) don’t have any grasp of the blatantly obvious.

And who’s to say that the report is wrong? From what I’ve read in the Catholic blogosphere the English Church (or bishops at any rate) could use some imposing upon by His Holiness.
I’d be interested to hear from those of you in UK.
 
didymus said:
And who’s to say that the report is wrong? From what I’ve read in the Catholic blogosphere the English Church (or bishops at any rate) could use some imposing upon by His Holiness.
I’d be interested to hear from those of you in UK.
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I think you’ve pretty much hit the nail on the head there didymus. This will be an interesting and important change for the Church in England and Wales. The correct choice could see real rejuvenation. I wonder if the liberals have had their own way for too long here? The result has been an awful mess. I am waiting for the announcement with baited breath and mountains of prayer!
 
Eucharisted said:
The London Times, whose coverage of Catholic affairs is consistently flavored by bias and sensationalism, has cooked up a special treat for weekend readers. Religion correspondent Ruth Gledhill speculates about the appointment of a new Archbishop of Westminster, and the headline reads: “Pope may impose his man as English Catholic leader.”
Click to expand...
Other recent headlines you may have missed from the Times:

“In Hot Water with the the POPE?” - Ms Edna Swinton of Sussex reportedly was scalded badly over her lower left arm yesterday after invoking the name of the Catholic Pope. Ms Swinton said “I was boiling water for tea and heard a story on the radio about the Pope fellow. Well, I admit I swore a bit at the mention of him. Next thing you know I accidentally put my arm in the pot and burned my arm. I assure you that it takes over 30 minutes for water to boil on my stove except today. I cursed the Pope and it boiled in just over 27 minutes”

“Child in tears over the POPE” - Little Nigel Hawkins of Crouch End, London came home in tears yesterday over his paper on the American War of Rebellion. “I was writing about how those nasty Colonists tried their nasty rebellion in 1876 and how their government in Washington, BC wanted to leave England because all those Quakers wanted to join the Catholic Church. I wrote that only Benedict Arnold was brave enough to fight for mother England. I accidentally called him Benedict 16 Arnold and that is why that teacher failed me. I bet she’s a closet Catholic. I even knew that George W. was the leader of their Navy!”

[actual credence of above stories may be as bad as the Times normal reporting]
 
Eucharisted said:
The London Times, whose coverage of Catholic affairs is consistently flavored by bias and sensationalism, has cooked up a special treat for weekend readers. Religion correspondent Ruth Gledhill speculates about the appointment of a new Archbishop of Westminster, and the headline reads: “Pope may impose his man as English Catholic leader.”

That’s a provocative way of saying that the Pope might choose the next Archbishop of Westminster. Well, who else would make the choice?

Read the rest here
Click to expand...
Maybe she thinks the Queen should appoint bishops.

Wait, hasn’t that been tried before??? :rolleyes:
 
didymus said:
Now let’s be fair. Many journalists (or folks generally) don’t have any grasp of the blatantly obvious.

And who’s to say that the report is wrong? From what I’ve read in the Catholic blogosphere the English Church (or bishops at any rate) could use some imposing upon by His Holiness.
I’d be interested to hear from those of you in UK.
Click to expand...
Well, I am in the UK, and am pretty tired of bloggers, diarists, journalists - Catholic and others - speculating and embarassing good priests by mentioning their names in connection with the new appointment. It is up to the Holy Father and not a bunch of gossips. I wish people could just be patient and wait for the announcement.

Unfortunately, the Catholic blogosphere can be as bad as the secular press when it comes to putting the boot in. 😦
 
cthulhubryan said:
“Child in tears over the POPE” - Little Nigel Hawkins of Crouch End, London came home in tears yesterday over his paper on the American War of Rebellion."
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Oh, is THAT what they call it over there?

Still in denial, I see.
 
Don’t worry, we do call it the War of Independence! And I don’t know anyone who isn’t glad you won!
 
Since we are sidetracking, either phrase describes the truth accurately. It was indeed a rebellion - and not remotely the most justified one in history by a long shot, either. Not that I’m not happy with the way things turned out, mind you. But the facts on the ground at the time were by no means clear.

History is a tangled thing, never as tidy as we’d like.
 
Eucharisted said:
The London Times, whose coverage of Catholic affairs is consistently flavored by bias and sensationalism, has cooked up a special treat for weekend readers. Religion correspondent Ruth Gledhill speculates about the appointment of a new Archbishop of Westminster, and the headline reads: “Pope may impose his man as English Catholic leader.”

That’s a provocative way of saying that the Pope might choose the next Archbishop of Westminster. Well, who else would make the choice?
Click to expand...
The canons of the cathedral and/or the clergy and/or people of the diocese, in accord with the ancient custom of the Church.

But I agree that it is not the business of the London Times to call members of the Roman Communion back to a more authentic Catholic polity. The Times is indeed remarkably ham-fisted when talking about Christianity. Catholics are not the only victims–they once ran an article on the Plymouth Brethren which used the word “priest” for an elder in this most anti-clerical of Christian traditions! Their recent articles on the Pope have been one travesty after another. I occasionally post comments on these articles, but correcting their misconceptions is like trying to stem a flood with a thimble.

Edwin
 
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