Sunday, June 01, 2008

How to interpret MSM stories about the Catholic Church

The Daily Mail had an interesting headline today:

Vatican denounces group's claim of seeing the Virgin Mary more than 40,000 times as 'work of the devil'

That certainly got my attention.

The condemnation was directed against the visionaries of Medjugorje.

But the person doing the condemning was not a representative of the Vatican.

But now one of the most respected voices in the Roman Catholic church has accused the visionaries of perpetuating a 'diabolical deceit'.

Andrea Gemma, 77, a bishop and once the Vatican's top exorcist, told a magazine in Italy: 'In Medjugorje everything happens in function of money: Pilgrimages, lodging houses, sale of trinkets.


I've never even heard of Andrea Gemma.

He's not a Vatican official. He's a bishop and FORMER exorcist.

Whenever you read a MSM story with the word "Vatican" in the headline, be very, very skeptical. Check first of all if the source in question is actually a Vatican official.

Second, check out who this Vatican official is.

Third, never assume that a Vatican official's statement is the position of the Church. Because it's been known to happen that a Vatican official and the pope disagree.

Fourth, just don't trust the MSM in general about the Catholic Church. They don't have a clue. The journalists are usually ignorant of its theology, structure, history and mindset.

As for the issue of Medjugorje: I stopped following those visionaries a long time ago when I realized that they were disobeying their local bishop. Obedience to lawful church authority is the most prominent virtue of any person of true holiness in our faith.




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