PENNSYLVANIA
Bucks County Courier Times
By JOSEPH TEVINGTON
Like many local newspapers, the Courier Times relies on large news organizations for national and international news. In the area of religious news, those organizations have a small pool of writers who may or who may not be well-equipped for their specialized work.
With marriage being a hot news topic, large news organizations were quick to pick up on the Vatican’s June 26 release of a working paper, “The Pastoral Challenges of the Family in the Age of Evangelism.” It is a preparatory document for an upcoming international meeting of bishops exploring “The Pastoral Challenges of the Family in the Context of Evangelization.” We can undoubtedly expect to be seeing that document and the bishops’ meeting discussed on the pages of the Courier Times.
Where the document has already received coverage, much focus has been on how the Church might supposedly change its teaching to accommodate adults who disagree:
* “The Vatican conceded that most Catholics reject its teachings on sex and contraception as intrusive and irrelevant and officials pledged not to ‘close our eyes to anything’ when it opens a two-year debate on some of the thorniest issues facing the Church.”
* “The bishops will discuss the paper in October and could make recommendations on changes to Church teachings, on which the pope would decide.”
* “Called an instrumentum laboris, or ‘working paper,’ the document sets the table for a summit of Catholic bishops from around the world in Rome Oct. 5-19, summoned by Pope Francis to discuss the family. It should be great theater, since there’s almost no hot-button issue that isn’t germane. The text is designed to synthesize the input the Vatican has received, including responses to a questionnaire requested by Francis to seek the views of the Church’s grass roots. In early reporting, much was made of the document’s acknowledgment that many Catholics do not follow church teaching on contraception. That’s hardly a thunderclap, however, since it’s been blindingly obvious for decades.”
Whether one agrees with what the Catholic Church teaches, it strikes me that anyone seeking information would want, and be entitled to, accurate reporting. Whether it is intentional or not, the reports from the AP, Reuters and Boston Globe seem misleading.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.