... something about a pet peeve of mine for many years, when newscasters report about religion, especially Catholicism. Divine revelation is reduced to "policy." Administrative procedure is "dogma." Either one constitutes the Church's "rules." It's especially bad when the pundit or politician is Catholic and should know better.[I]f someone tells you, “The Vatican says,” then it probably doesn’t. And what do they mean, “The Vatican,” anyway? And what do they mean, “says?” ... What they usually mean by this is, “A retired cardinal had a little too much sangria at lunch, and told the bus driver . . .” or “The homeless guy who sleeps near St. Peter’s was heard to mumble . . . ” Or, “The Pope said something reasonable, so we’ll pretend he said something else, instead.”
This was also a common phenomenon in discussions at a certain Jesuit parish in Georgetown, with which I was once associated, and which shall go unnamed. Supposedly, by hanging around Jesuits long enough, some of that erudition will rub off. Eventually, something does rub off, but ...
Discuss.
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