Those Dirty-Minded Prelates

Whispers in the Loggia notes Vatican Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone's complaints that

"The church's messages are subject to a type of manipulation and falsification by some western media....I see a fixation by some journalists on moral topics, such as abortion and homosexual unions, which are certainly important issues but absolutely do not constitute the thinking and work of the church."

Some would beg to differ. Only recently, as far as I can tell, did the pope condemn the Iraq war and issues like poverty and nuclear disarmament are not commonly addressed by the Vatican. In contrast, birth control and abortion have been core issues of doctrine, dissent, and discourse since Paul VI's Humanae Vitae (1968).


It doesn't help Bertone's argument that Archbishop of Genoa Angelo Bagnasco recently compared "a bill that would grant rights to same-sex couples to allowing incest and paedophilia." Resulting public backlash, protesting graffiti, and (most of all) death threats convinced Italian police to provide the archbishop with bodyguards.

And Bertone wonders why so much attention is given in the media to the Church's stance on reproductive and sexual issues!