Fazian Evasion Tactics 101. Spin, distortion, call it what you like, so long as you try to change the meaning of what has been said or written to what was not said or written.
It was never a matter of shock/horror that the Pope dines with sinners. The essential objection is that the Pope continues to allow this journalist, (to use the term quite loosely) to continue his false reporting despite the number of times he has been caught out at it. That is what these two early paragraphs in the article are declaring.Scalfari, an avowed atheist, has nonetheless received privileged access to the pope on numerous occasions. He has then written of the encounters in his newspaper, quoting Francis liberally, while admitting that he neither records the pope’s words nor takes notes during their conversations. He merely questions, listens, responds and transmits – indulging, to be sure, a certain creative freedom.
The result of these idiosyncratic, if not irresponsible, procedures is that on several occasions the Vatican Press Office has been forced to issue vague retractions of the rather extreme views attributed to Pope Francis, such as calling into question the divinity of Jesus of Nazareth. Scalfari reported just last fall that “Pope Francis conceives Christ as Jesus of Nazareth, man, not God incarnate.” This last claim eventually evoked a more robust disclaimer from Paolo Ruffini, the layman who heads the Vatican Dicastery for Communications.
As for contempt dripping off the page, get a grip, Faz. Imbelli’s reporting is a whole lot more factual than Scalfari’s. You don’t seem to notice the latter’s contempt for the Church dripping off his pages as he delights in presenting, as quotes, statements that, according to the Vatican, were never made by the Pope.
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