Judging by some of the reactions to the September 19th America interview with Pope Francis, which was originally conducted over three days in August, you might be tempted to think a pontiff had never given an interview before. How quickly some forget, if they ever knew at all.
The first papal text I ever read, as a young Evangelical Protestant with a growing curiosity about the Catholic Church, was John Paul II's 1994 book, Crossing the Threshold of Hope (available online in PDF format), which was an interview conducted by Italian journalist Vittorio Messori. And, of course, Pope Benedict XVI was interviewed in 2010 by German journalist Peter Seewald, resulting in Light of the World: The Pope, the Church, and the Sign of the Times (Ignatius Press, 2010). That book certainly garnered widespread attention, especially for comments that Benedict made about contraception.
In fact, if you read only accounts from many mainstream news sources, you may have concluded that the entire book was about condoms. The obsession with the “condom comments” became so ridiculous that the president of Ignatius Press, Mark Brumley,penned an interview with himself which satirized the nonsense:
Mainstream Media: So the Pope has written a book about condoms!
Mark Brumley: Well, actually, it’s an interview book. And journalist Peter Seewald interviewed Benedict about a wide-range of topics, not just about condoms.
MM: Yes, but condoms must be a major theme of the book. Look at all the coverage that has focused on condoms!
Mark: Actually, the Pope’s comments about condoms cover only about two pages out of about 200 pages of Q & As.
MM: Well, what did the Pope say about condoms?
Mark: You can go here and read for yourself what he said.
What does this have to do with the interview with Pope Francis? Quite a bit. Consider some of the headlines that a Google search turns up for “Pope Francis” and “interview” (all from the first page ):
• Pope Bluntly Faults Church's Focus on Gays and Abortion (New York Times)
• Pope Francis: Church cannot be 'obsessed' with gays, other bans (Chicago Tribune)
• Pope Francis says church cannot focus only on abortion and gay (NBCNews.com)
• Pope Francis: Church can't 'interfere' with gays (CNN)
• Pope Francis Tells Church to Stop 'Obsessing' Over Gay Marriage (Mediaite)
• Pope Francis takes issue with church focus on gays, abortion (Los Angeles Times)
• Pope Francis says church cannot focus only on abortion and gay marriage (NBCNews.com)
• Pope Francis: Gays, Abortion Too Much Of Catholic Church's Obsession (Huffington Post)
• Pope Francis: The Church needs to mellow out on abortion and gay issues (San Francisco Chronicle)
Yes, indeed—Catholics surely must not obsess over “gay marriage” and abortion, otherwise they might start looking and sounding like the reporters and editors of The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, NBC News, CNN, and all the rest! Why, if I didn't know better, I'd think that the only reason many reporters skim through papal writings and interviews is to find mention of “sex”, “abortion”, “condoms”, and the like.
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