Surprise, surprise: Pope Francis and the Catholic Church are still wholly against abortion, in all instances.
Huh. Who knew?
Well, apart from everyone other than the liberal MSM wishful-thinkers and their dwindling number of readers.
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For months now Pope Francis has had various statements “soundbited” by the press into saying things which he simply didn’t say. He was even named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year largely based on such “wishcasting”.
This Pope may possess a softer voice than his predecessors, but he is far from the liberal/socialist revolutionary which the Media is trying to paint him. But journalists have already spent quite a bit of effort in creating their template of ‘Francis, the Leftist Warrior’ and they won’t be dissuaded easily.
Which partially explains this Reuters’ headline, and story:
This may be the stupidest headline and premise of a story ever. Way to go Reuters. http://t.co/Is43j2Uzli
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) January 13, 2014
(via Reuters) – Pope Francis, whom conservatives in the Roman Catholic Church have accused of not speaking out forcefully enough against abortion, on Monday called the practice “horrific“.
The pope made his toughest remarks to date on abortion in his yearly address to diplomats accredited to the Vatican, a speech known as his “State of the World” address.
“It is horrific even to think that there are children, victims of abortion, who will never see the light of day,” he said in a section of the speech about the rights of children around the world.
Abortion, he said, was part of a “throwaway culture“ that had enveloped many parts of the world.
“Unfortunately, what is thrown away is not only food and dispensable objects, but often human beings themselves, who are discarded as unnecessary,” he said.
Sounds pretty straight forward, right? But look at that headline again: “…in Nod to Conservatives“.
Ridiculous. The article in essence tries to show Francis as knuckling under to Conservatives’ criticism, which is beyond laughable: it’s just patently untrue.
Guaranteed: no one at Reuters bothered to read all of Francis’ Evangelii Gaudium from last November. In it, he also called for the Church to stand against the modern-day “throw away culture”, …abortion included.
As Ed over at HotAir commented at the time, virtually all of the media’s coverage of the Pope has not merely missed the proverbial forest for the trees, “…it misses the forest for just a couple of trees“.
Eventually, the press will figure out that the liberal, pro-socialism, gay-activist Pope that they’ve created in their hive mind doesn’t actually exist. Even better, they then might figure out that hundreds of millions of people love him dearly, “despite” him not being the progressive culture warrior that the press wanted him to be.
Accordingly, I’m guessing that when that day comes (and it’s already starting), the media’s coverage of him will …change.
And I’m further guessing that, as a result, Time Magazine won’t even consider him for their “Person of the Year” again. Ever.
Two Heads are Better Than One 
Great post. I never would have imagined even the most uneducated liberal would be surprised the Pope is against abortion.
I understand your surprise, James.
But as I was raised in an environment like this (in hyper-liberal New England), I’m intimately aware how these folks have a tendency to view the papacy as interchangeable with the American presidency.
To wit: that the next pope will implement his own “administration”, rather than uphold the teachings of the Church.
These ‘reporters’ can’t honestly cover the Catholic church, because they honestly don’t understand it. And further: they don’t want to.
They simply want the Church to validate their personal/professional worldview. If and when it does (or when they THINK it does, at least) it then becomes “enlightened” or newly relevant.
And when it doesn’t, it is simply an old, patriarchal hate group to be insulted, maligned and impugned.
Oh well, and media will be right on that pronouncement…
soon I tell ya, look for it….
This has been a honeymoon of sorts for Francis and the media.
And yes, BR, it’ll change.
That says far more about the media, and less than nothing about the Pope himself.
Even the Vatican is not big enough to house the 2 different Popes.
As usual, the media needs/wants to portray the Pope in a manner that suggests liberal progressivism, and seeks to “soften” the Church’s message. Attacking the Left’s sacrament of abortion will permanently cancel the Pope’s “favorable” status with them…
Right-o, Pgh.
Oh, well: it’s not as if he was trying to say things to appease them, …or anyone else, for that matter.
OK, so perhaps I’m a little slow or myself uninformed. Is this new pope good for the Catholic church or not? I’ve heard varied responses from both sides. I’m a Baptist so I’m not as educated in the Catholic faith as others so perhaps you can answer.
And FWI, you’d have to be an idiot to think that the Pope wouldn’t be against abortion. 😀 <==that much I do know.
No problem, Slayer.
First, you may wish to look at my response to James up above.
But to answer your question: yes, this Pope is good for the Church. He’s an exceedingly good man, as has every pope been in my lifetime.
The Western Media is desperate to have the Church validate their own views. Thus, some media pundits (on BOTH sides of the ideological aisle) have taken the Pope’s words out of context, and/or read far more into them then is there or was intended.
Ultimately, Francis’ legacy will be written by his own actions. But one thing is for certain: he has not, nor will he in days to come, change Church doctrine one iota. He just expresses/demonstrates his Catholicism differently than others have.
And the media might just be figuring that last part out for themselves.
I’m more than satisfied with that answer. Thanks JTR for the response. 🙂
Most people I hear buy the media’s narrative. (so far) But when I looked into his bio it didn’t align with their super-duper x-ray vision. (I’m not RC ) One has to be from Mars tho not to be skeptical of their picture. Like when have they lied?
You ARE, of course, being rhetorical.
😉
I’m a cradle Catholic, but if any Pope was using the papacy to change basic Church doctrine, I’d be one of the first to scream about it. Loud.
Francis isn’t, not even a smidge.
And yes, being skeptical of the MSM is the basic requirement these days of reading/watching them in the first place.
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