The Pope’s Visit to Australia
May 19, 2008 · Filed Under Religion
As part of World Youth Day 2008, Pope Benedict XVI is scheduled to visit Australia. The visit will undoubtedly attract media attention and I am going to speculate on what to expect from their coverage.
We can expect:
- The standard fanfare that accompanies any world leaders visit. This will include the mention of the number of Catholics worldwide and the age of the religion.
- The expense of the visit and whether it’s justified for the taxpayer.
- A number of individuals who have been sexually abused by priests will be interviewed for their opinions. No doubt a number of claims of cover-up will be made and uncritically accepted by the media.
- A comparison of Catholicism with ‘pop Christianity’ variants such as Hillsong Church and commentary on the appeal of one versus the other.
- Comment of the Church’s views on contraception and whether they may be causing harm in combating HIV.
I don’t really have any problem with the above (except for the ‘cover-up’ bit), but I suspect that elements of the media will also engage in the following:
- Repetition of the Crimen sollicitationis conspiracy theory. There are elements of the media that are truly dumb and when you’re biased against an organisation you become even dumber when assessing negative claims made against it. Any organisation that publicises these views is beneath contempt, more so if they were to broadcast the discredited ‘Sex Crimes and the Vatican‘ documentary.
- Contrived secular/atheist counterpoints in stories. There is no reason to include, as the BBC often does, responses of members of secular advocacy groups unless the subject of the story is religion itself. If they’re simply given a platform to take pot-shots as those of opposing beliefs then that’s unjustified.
- Mention of “the Inquisition” or “the Crusades.” This is a good indication that the author/producer of a story is attempting to persuade others that Catholicism is ‘bad’ without relying upon reason.1
Even though I’m not a Catholic, I am very sceptical that the Australian media will be fair and accurate when covering Catholic issues. I hope they prove me wrong, but I will (probably) blog on the situation come July.
- This assumes that they are not attempting a balanced, scholarly discussion of Catholic history. That may of course occur. [↩]
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Comments
6 Responses to “The Pope’s Visit to Australia”
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Hi, I came here via the Currency Lad.
I am very sceptical that the Australian media will be fair and accurate when covering Catholic issues.
You have good reason for that scepticism!
Did you say you are an ex-Catholic who still respects the Church? You are a rare breed!!
Louise
Yes, it’s true, I still respect the Church. I’m an agnostic in the truest sense when it comes to God/god. I’m just trying my best to understand the way the world works.
Tysen
I have never felt so angry in my life with the new jackboot laws to protect the so called pilgrims and their Pope. It is surely a call for civil disobedience to all those who value freedom, as our most fundamental civil rights of peaceful protest are under direct attack. As a conservative and old fashioned Australian I never thought I would say it but I would totally support anyone who decided to break the law and demonstrate against the Pope or the Roman Catholic Church. A massive demonstration in which demonstrators refuse to give their names would mean they would be imprisoned. That would send a strong message as to what most Australians think of World Youth Day and the Pope’s visit. Mr Iemma has gone too far in foisting Catholicism upon us and he must go. It’s time.
Thanks for your comment Ray.
I don’t support the laws against protesting, but I find it hard to determine how onerous they are. Some people are saying they’re severe whereas others are saying that they’re not that different from the laws in place for most large events. I’m surprised that they appear to be so severe. I don’t think that Catholics need protection from Fundamentalists handing out Jack Chick pamphlets, nor homosexual activists handing out condoms. I tend to ignore protesters, no matter what their cause. I’d prefer the protesters stay home, though, but not because of any laws, rather, just because they rarely achieve much more than giving themselves a nice self-righteous glow.
I’m not sure that you should get so worked up about it though. There are plenty of avenues to protest against the Pope and the Catholic Church in other ways. And World Youth Day will be over within a week or too. Those sympathetic to the Church will just have to put up with some anti-Catholic media stories and those opposed will just have to put up with some pro-Catholic stuff.
Does anyone know just which Christian leaders met with the Pope in Sydney yesterday? Was Brian Houston present? I can’t find out any information on this matter - which is strange?
Thanks for any information!
Deb
I could not find any evidence that he met with Brian Houston. I tried a variety of Google searches and I found nothing. Here is the most detailed report I could find of the meeting: Religious differences can’t stop dialogue, pope tells Australians