Pope Francis Invites Oprah, Ari Emanuel to the Vatican

[Hazen_Pingree]

The Pope works in mysterious ways. We may not understand or agree but he is our Pope and we must support him in his efforts to “bridge” the Catholic Church with the secular!

That was part sarcasm.

What part was sarcastic?

Look, I’m not without a sense of humor, but I think that this is a very serious issue. In the 21st century, image is very important. It must be carefully maintained and protected. The pope is a man entrusted with heavy responsibilities – the heaviest. He is the Vicar of Christ; he is the Keeper of the Keys. He must not be seen as a fool. To dilly-dally with the likes of Oprah is a matter that must be avoided at all costs for the sake of the Faithful. If he tries to evangelize her or to discuss issues with her on her terms, her 1st instinct will be to re-position his authority and his personality to conform to her own image and likeness. His (ultimate) failure to comply with this design, would cause her to not only reject him, but to use her considerable (though waning) influence to have other gullible souls reject him as well. This action must not be encouraged.

 

[808Catholic]

Its weird that the Pope is involved in a discussion on western media or even media in general. Its weird that hes inviting Oprah, a talk show host. Its weird because Pope Francis made the claim that he hasnt watched tv since 1990, so how is it that hes up to date on how the Church is portrayed in western media?

I believe the Pope also listens to others and reads the news. This is not a bad thing. Remember the Bible passage where Jesus asks His Apostles who they think He is? They reply “Some say…” but drilling down, Jesus asks pointedly, “Who do YOU think I am?” and Peter is the one who proclaims His Lordship and Godhead.

I also don’t believe the Pope is worried about the church’s image so much as how the world perceives us. We won’t change but we may use different methods to get our message out more accurately in the future.

 

[808Catholic]

Very long overdue.

For many people, their primary (and perhaps sole) exposure to the institution of the Catholic Church is through movies and television. That depiction is almost universally awful and has serious consequences for any evangelism effort. Why would anyone want to join the Catholic Church if the only thing you knew about it was that it was bad news? Or, taking it one step removed, why would you want to listen to anyone asking you to consider joining an organization which you think is so many bad news? Is it no wonder that a not inconsiderable amount of young people seem to feel that the Church is responsible for nothing but war, violence and human misery. That is, of course, a complete misrepresentation of the Catholic Church and Catholic history, but people can only know what they know. Getting a fair depiction of the Church in the media would be a great boon to Catholics everywhere.

If you want to know why its important to have a positive Catholic Presence, look no further than the wild success of the LGBT movement. They’ve been very, very, very good at having the media adopt their narrative while their opponents have been just awful. And so the opposition was crushed. Interestingly enough the pro-abortion lobby has been surprisingly listless when it comes to advancing their narrative in the media, and as a result they stall and continue to sputter in the US.

I understand your point but would like to offer the message is just as important as the messenger. Hitler was a very good messenger but his message was evil. The proponents of SSM have NOT won the media battle; their “messenger” happens to be attractive but their message is flawed. Give it a few years and see how SSM is viewed when more and more get beyond the fluff and shiny exterior; they’ll see the truth of SSM and it won’t be pretty.