Giving Pope Some Love on Anniversary: Italian Media Have Different Take Than U.S.
ROME -- From my perch in Italy this week, I've been wondering whether the New York Times and I were at the same celebration for Benedict XVI's fifth anniversary as leader of the Roman Catholic Church. The indictment of his pontificate printed in the Times would have us believe that the occasion was marked by scowls and howls, but from St. Peter's Square, things looked quite different. The festivities got a running start in Malta, where the Pope was greeted by throngs lining the streets to show their support and appreciation. Archbishop Paul Cremona of Valetta welcomed the pope with the ...
In Defense of the Catholic Clergy (Or Do We Want Another Reign of Terror?)
In 1790, most of the world was congratulating France for what seemed like a successfully completed revolution. The hated King had been brought to heel, and change had swept through an oppressed nation, offering hope for a brighter future under better government. Newspapers, then coming into their own, proclaimed the dawn of a new era of peace and prosperity while proto-pundits compared the change of rule to England's Glorious Revolution of 1688. One observer however, English statesman Edmund Burke, wasn't fooled by the triumphant images produced by revolutionary PR teams; he saw gathering ...
Night at the (Vatican) Museums
ROME -- One of the hazards for tourists hoping to enhance their experience as they visit the world's best known monuments, museums and other sites is the self-promoting tour guide. I was reminded of this peril by a recent New York Times article, "Alone (or Almost) with Michelangelo in the Vatican Museums," written for the "Cultured Traveler" column, which describes an after-hours visit to the Vatican Museums. As an art historian and professional tour guide in Rome for the last 12 years, I read the piece with great interest and expectation. The premise of the column was to "investigate" ...
At Pope's Trip to Rome Synagogue, Press Misses the Story
ROME -- Just as the massive TV trucks parked around Rome's synagogue obscured the sight of one of the city's most beautiful buildings, so too have news reports obscured the real importance of the pope's visit to the Jewish community here. Late Sunday afternoon, Pope Benedict XVI made the short trip across the Tiber River to the Great Synagogue of Rome, located on the site of the former Jewish ghetto. The weather was chilly, but the greetings just the opposite. ...
Nancy Pelosi, Catholic Without a Clue
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi seems to be planning a second career as a theologian. Unfortunately, she never gets one Catholic fact right. Interviewed by Eleanor Clift for Newsweek's year-end issue, Pelosi capped an 18-month succession of clamorously incorrect public statements about what Catholics believe with her own take on the meaning of freedom. Asked about her "brushes" with church hierarchy, Pelosi responded, "I have some concerns about the church's position respecting a woman's right to choose. I have some concerns about the church's position on gay rights. I am a practicing Catholic, ...
After Midnight Mass Papal Tackle, Should Barriers Go Up? Hint: This Is Italy
ROME -- As Christmas Eve Mass began in St. Peter's Basilica last night, an unidentified woman leapt over the security barrier, apparently in a wild attempt to embrace the Pope. Although the papal security guards intercepted her with a tackle that would do the NFL proud, the woman caught hold of the Pope's vestments and pulled Benedict down with her. Then the 82-year-old pontiff went right back to work. After a moment or two on the ground, Pope Benedict got up, to cheers of "Viva il Papa!" and continued his procession down the aisle. The Mass was celebrated without interruption and the ...
Exporting Expletives: America's Contribution to Global Culture
ROME -- It started like a scene from an E.M. Forster novel. In a quiet Tuscan retreat, a handsome, well-dressed young man played piano in an exquisitely arranged drawing room. What he lacked in artistry, he made up for with gusto, and soon enough a weary British father asked him to curtail his musical efforts for the evening as there was a small child sleeping upstairs. The young man rose, shrugged his elegant shoulders and drawled in lightly Spanish-flavored English, "I don't f**king see why I f**king should, I f**king paid for this place same as you f**king did." Saucer-eyed, the father ...
Italy Resolution Condemns Abortion for Population Control
ROME -- Italy has long been an acknowledged world leader in fashion and food, but rarely in its tri-millennial history has it stood as a beacon of political acumen. Yet last week, the same soil that gave us Machiavelli seemed to take the lead in showing the world how to seriously commit to reducing abortions. The Italian parliament, perhaps best known for plunking porn stars side-by-side with Mussolini's granddaughter and brawling like soccer hooligans, for once put differences aside earlier this month, and agreed on a resolution to be presented to the UN Assembly condemning abortion as a ...
Barry and Benedict Meet in the Land of Caesars and Martyrs
ROME -- In the land of Caesars and martyrs, the 44th President of the United States on Friday met the 264th successor of St. Peter. Much ado surrounded this historic meeting, particularly among American Catholics, some of whom perceive this encounter as a celebrity death match of epic proportions. The fact is that through the 2,000-year-old Christian presence in the Eternal City, there have been many more troubling meetings. St. Peter met Nero (ended badly) Gregory VII met the Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV (ended badly) and the list goes on. ...
Obama Is No Uncle Tom
Like many kids of my generation, I had a high school education that included Kurt Vonnegut, Voltaire and William Golding, but passed over true classics like Harriet Beecher Stowe's stirring 1851 novel Uncle Tom's Cabin. So I, like many others, grew up with the idea that an "Uncle Tom" was a black man who abjectly kowtowed to his white oppressors. What a surprise, when I finally read that history-changing novel, to learn that Stowe's Uncle Tom was exactly the opposite: a soft-spoken pillar of virtue who held fast to his simple moral convictions even to the point of martyrdom. His steadfast ...
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