From our December edition: “Media got story wrong about Pope Benedict and condoms.” An excerpt:
The Toronto Star dutifully quoted liberal Catholics and African homosexuals applauding the seeming shift in the Church’s moral teaching. Christian Weisner of the dissident We Are Church in Germany said, “one can be happy about the pope’s ability to learn.” David Kamau of the Kenya Treatment Access Movement said, “it’s accepting the reality on the ground … if the Church has failed to get people to follow its moral values and practice abstinence, they should take the next best step and encourage condom use.”
But as [George] Weigel noted, the Pope has done no such thing. Weigel said that the media was guilty of two false assumptions. The first is that all papal utterances are of equal weight. Pope Benedict’s comments came in a series of interviews over many hours and he waxed philosophical, commented on daily routines, and made observations about the world. None of these are ex cathedra statements. Weigel mocked the suggestion that the Catholic Church would announce a change in moral teaching through an interview to be published in book form by a third party. This is simply not how the Church clarifies its authoritative positions.
Read the whole thing here.
