Pope-Spinning
‘Papal Meeting with LGBT Activist in Paraguay’ headlined the news this weekend, a new low for media spinning of Pope Francis’ ‘gay-affirming’ tendencies.
The pontiff ended a profound and complicated tour of three nations in South America last week, which was reduced by some news outlets to the Pope’s ‘gay’ conversion.
Internet Headlines: ‘Pope Francis to Meet Gay Activist’, ‘Gay Activist Pleased with Papal Message’, ‘Historic Papal Meeting Changes Minds in Paraguay’, ‘Invitation Spurs Hope’, etc.
Facts: Unbeknownst to the Pope and Vatican, officials in Paraguay invited a ‘gay’ activist along with 2,600 other representatives of Paraguay’s civil society who had impacted the nation to listen to the Pope. The activist had no face-to-face encounter with Francis.
Incredulously, the US press hailed the event as groundbreaking for ‘gay’ Catholic rights. CNN and MSNBC must know something that the Pope does not.
The agenda-driven media skewed the essence of the Pope’s trip. Francis bypassed gender-bending for a prophetic focus on the poorest of the poor and the systems that perpetuate poverty. He broke bread with the indigenous people of Ecuador in their native language and sought forgiveness for sins of the historic church; he visited the most violent offenders in a Bolivian prison.
Pope Francis revealed Jesus’ heart to a continent in need of the One who sets captives free. That includes a Paraguayan with disordered desire who was granted the privilege of hearing Francis speak.
As we approach Francis’ first visit to the USA for the Synod on the Family in October, a gathering nearly framed as a ‘the Church and the homosexual,’ might we discern the spin and refuse to contribute to it? Only then can we listen from the heart and hear what God is saying to us.
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