From William A. Donohue’s Catalyst Magazine piece “Pope’s Visit Ripe For Propaganda”

From William A. Donohue’s Catalyst Magazine piece “Pope’s Visit Ripe For Propaganda”

“… The way the media exploit Pope Francis is varied, but there are some common features.  Their four favorite propaganda tricks are to (a) take part of what he has said and present it as if it were accurate (b) attribute to him positions he has not taken (c) press Catholic leaders to agree with these misrepresented views, and (d) give legitimacy to groups that claim to be Catholic but are not …”

By example, Donohue explains the famous “who am I to judge” “quote” (yes, I put quote in quotes).

“… The pope said that a preliminary probe of the [homosexual] priest [who had been alleged of breaking a vow of celibacy] turned up nothing.  He then said that there was a difference between being gay, which was not a problem, and belonging to a gay lobby, which was.

The exchange with the reporter ended with the pope’s famous quote:  ‘If someone is gay and is searching for the Lord and has good will, then who am I to judge him?’  Notice the last word [‘him’] …”

Pope Francis articulated nothing new, nothing that his predecessors would have found amazing.  Donohue continues – “… no pope has ever condemned someone for being a homosexual, and the Catholic Catechism has never said otherwise …

… The first propaganda weapon in the media arsenal is to shorten the pope’s remark to, ‘Whom am I to judge?’  They conveniently leave out his two conditions: (a) that the person search for the Lord and (b) that he be of good will.  By taking his remarks out of context, they intentionally mislead the public.  Leaving out the last word, ‘him,’ allows them to play their second trick.

The second propaganda ploy is to say that the pope’s words were invoked to justify homosexuality.  That is a lie.  The pope was speaking about sexual orientation, not sodomy.  But how is the reader to know this when the deliberately delete ‘him’?  Doing so deflects attention from a person, thus enabling them to argue that the pope was speaking about conduct.

The third propaganda tool is to pressure Catholic leaders into falling in line with what the pope allegedly said.  This is their ‘Catch 22’ game:  either agree with the pope that it is wrong to be judgmental about homosexuality, or explain why the Holy Father is wrong …

The fourth propaganda technique is to take groups that are no more Catholic than the Catholic League is Buddhist, and then pass them off as though they were authentically Catholic.  …

Watch out for surveys that report dissatisfaction with Church teachings on a variety of subjects.  If non-Catholics are included in the poll, why should we care?  If Catholics who do not practice the faith are included, why should we care?  Would these same pollsters ask Catholics what they think about the way Orthodox Jews, or Muslims, treat [Jewish or Muslim] women?  Would Jews or Muslims who do not practice their religion be included in a survey on religious members of their community?”