CLEVELAND (AP) — Attorneys for the former finance chief of the Cleveland Catholic Diocese are asking that his trial be postponed on account of Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the U.S.
Joseph Smith is accused of taking $784,000 in kickbacks and has been charged with 23 counts, including making false personal income tax returns, money laundering, mail fraud and conspiracy.
Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday, the day after the pope celebrates Mass at Yankee Stadium and departs for home. Attorney Philip Kushner argues that all the publicity over Benedict’s U.S. tour could leave jury prospects feeling more favorable toward the church and government witnesses, including priests and former Bishop Anthony Pilla.
The motion is being considered by a federal judge.
Well considering how uneven the media coverage of the Pope’s visit has been this isn’t a slam dunk. Maybe they can ask jurors which news sources they are following to get an idea. For if example they watched Good Morning America and saw this.
Born in Germany, Benedict’s seminary studies were interrupted by World War II when, reluctantly, he says, he became a member of the Hitler youth and the Nazi army, before being taken as an American prisoner of war. Here in the U.S., Benedict is perhaps remembered as the cardinal in charge of dealing with the church sex abuse scandal, who seemed at times defending the priests accused of wrongdoing.
…
It’s interesting to hear "will win people over." It’s not believed that the Pope is coming here to charm anyone. You know, it’s interesting, for all of the talk about scandal here, the American church, the Catholic Church is actually growing. So, they see this as an opportunity for the Pope to come here and reinforce hard-line doctrine.
Or maybe saw this headline Ashamed’ Pope arrives
O perhaps Stephen Prothero the Chair of the Department of Religion for Jesuit-run Boston College.
Young American Catholics treated John Paul II like a rock star. Yes, he was socially and theologically conservative, but at least they could relate to the guy with the "Popemobile" and the smile and the energy to travel to some 130 countries during his 26 years at the Holy See. But can they relate to Benedict XVI? And can he relate to them? What can a pope who is an academic theologian first and foremost offer young Americans, save for dogmas they don’t believe in and rituals they do not understand? Is he coming to scold us? Or to hug us?
Or this whiny article about why the Pope doesn’t connect from Newsweek’s Lisa Miller.
Or Katie Couric wondering about "extremely conservative" and "very conservative" Pope Benedict and bringing up birth control and women’s ordination.
5 comments
Here’s a great, upbeat article by
Associated Press Writer JENNIFER LOVEN,
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080416/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_pope
A few notes on controversy and scandal are merely footnoted after a long well done piece on he hope and excitement he Holy Father is bringing.
Ok, let me understand this. A professor of a college complains that young people cannot relate to Benedict XVI because he’s an acadmenic theologian. This professor is an academic. So if people can’t relate to the pope because he’s an academic, what makes him think that he can relate to them? After all, he’s an academic. When my kids are ready to look for colleges, Boston College will NOT be on the list. Their professors don’t make any sense.
LORD! These people are so utterly clueless that my head hurts just looking at pics of them!
The most amusing element of the Mindless Media Montage of Morose Mewlings is that the idiots doing the mewling don’t get that they are mewling and that no one in the US Church gives a damn except the Professionally Aggrieved Suspect Classes who are going to mewl about the Pope’s visit no matter what he says.
I dare you media bigots to produce one positive story about the Pope that doesn’t include your private political agendas…double-dog dare you.
Fr. Philip, OP
The funny thing is that today saying the pope is “conservative” re. birth control is utterly meaningless. We are well into the second generation of young people raised and trained that the only way to have sexual intimacy is to use chemicals and latex. I bet there are at least thousands of 18 year olds who will listen to this and say – wow – sex without birth control – what a wild and radical way to rebel against my parents! Add the mysterious ritual of a marriage ceremony and the new idea that you should actually keep your promises and we are well on the way to having a sane society again….
may I add, for a professor and chair of the “religious” dept. to admit he, as an instructor-head of religion, failed in his mission is amazing! He has just written a reason why he should be asked to step down from this all important post & task.
“…dogmas they don’t believe in and rituals they do not understand?”
Lord, have mercy on us!
Comments are closed.