Were they watching the same thing I was?

Written on 10:33 PM by Jack B.

So this Sunday I watched the EWTN replay of Pope Benedict's first mass at the Basilica of St. John Lateran as Bishop of Rome on TV. The homily was deeply moving and like much of Joseph Ratzinger's writing both well-thought out and spanned both the readings of the Mass and the history of the Church. From my point of view, it was a pretty lengthy homily. It lasted several minutes. Yet according to the media what was the homily about?

Well, the "hard-line" stances of Abortion and Euthansia, of course. Yes, there were all of two lines (that recieved lengthy applause from those in the basilica)that touched on the subject (with the words abortion and euthansia never even being mentioned if my memory is correct) but that was not the point of the homily. Too bad the Vatican doesn't have the English translation of it up at their website or you can read it for themselves...or better yet how about the reporters who wrote articles on the event reading it, based on the following headlines they certainly weren't paying attention:

Pope opposes altering church

With a sub-headline that reads:

Benedict sticks with John Paul's stands against abortion, euthanasia.

Pope vows to uphold tough stance

Which begins:

Pope Benedict XVI says he will follow his predecessor's tough line on abortion and euthanasia.
He said that, like Pope John Paul II, he would remain "unequivocal" about the "inviolability of human life from conception to natural death".

Pope Outlines His Vision of the Papacy
Which begins:

Pope Benedict XVI indicated Saturday he will stick to Pope John Paul II's unwavering stands against abortion and euthanasia, saying pontiffs must resist attempts to "water down" Roman Catholic teaching.

Pope vows to defend Catholic church's 'pro-life' doctrine
With the unintentionally funnny beginning:

Pope Benedict XVI sent a clear message at the weekend that he intends to stick rigidly to the "pro-life" stance of his predecessor.

Get that - "rigidly"? As opposed to what exactly? How is this news? Last time I checked this wasn't the "stance" of just John Paul II but the stance of the Catholic Church for 2,000 years - a point Pope Benedict pointed out just after he uttered the line that began all of these stories jumped on, but apparently the reporters covering had their own talking points and what the Holy Father said in full didn't really matter. He probably could have said nothing and they still would have run with the same story.