A dead Pope
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
The Pope died while we were skiing. I don't think there was any connection and his death had little effect on the quality of the snow, the weather, or the enjoyment of any of the people we met on holiday.
Judging by the 24 hour coverage of BBC World TV, however, this meant we were living in some remote part of the world callously ignoring the tragic demise of a paragon of virtue. From his last hours, through to the masses (crowds and ceremonies) 'celebrating' his funeral, the BBC assumed the role of mourner-general. Whenever we switched on the TV we were assured the Pope was still dead. By the end of the week I was starting to believe I had got it wrong about his attacks on liberation theology in Latin America and his obdurate refusal to give way on abortion, contraception, and women priests.
At one point the BBC aired an episode of their 'Hard Talk' programme. I expected that here we might hear at least a slight murmer of dissent from the fawning line ("the people's Pope", "the destroyer of Communism" etc ad nauseam) but all the guests were devout Catholics close to the Vatican. Hard talk? Hard to stomach, more like.
Sanity has been restored, however. The latest issue of the New Statesman has two articles touching directly on the unease I felt at the BBC's coverage. The first, by Michela Wrong, lends the magazine its cover headline:
The New Statesman articles are only available on subscription, unfortunately, so I'll have to continue with the quotations rather than linking directly. (Are you listening, New Statesman? That means people can't go to the site and read something and return when they see something good. Wrong business model!) Another brief sentence from Michela:
John Pilger focuses his wrath on the media representations of the man as much as the hypocrisy of the papacy itself. In a wonderfully angry piece that ranges from the BBC's apology to the Israeli regime and the continued silence over the US atrocities in Fallujah, he suggests 'reversing the river of drivel about [the Pope]:
Rest in peace, John Paul. Which is more than can be said for many of your victims.
Judging by the 24 hour coverage of BBC World TV, however, this meant we were living in some remote part of the world callously ignoring the tragic demise of a paragon of virtue. From his last hours, through to the masses (crowds and ceremonies) 'celebrating' his funeral, the BBC assumed the role of mourner-general. Whenever we switched on the TV we were assured the Pope was still dead. By the end of the week I was starting to believe I had got it wrong about his attacks on liberation theology in Latin America and his obdurate refusal to give way on abortion, contraception, and women priests.
At one point the BBC aired an episode of their 'Hard Talk' programme. I expected that here we might hear at least a slight murmer of dissent from the fawning line ("the people's Pope", "the destroyer of Communism" etc ad nauseam) but all the guests were devout Catholics close to the Vatican. Hard talk? Hard to stomach, more like.
Sanity has been restored, however. The latest issue of the New Statesman has two articles touching directly on the unease I felt at the BBC's coverage. The first, by Michela Wrong, lends the magazine its cover headline:
He did more to spread Aids in Africa than prostitution and the trucking industry combined.
The New Statesman articles are only available on subscription, unfortunately, so I'll have to continue with the quotations rather than linking directly. (Are you listening, New Statesman? That means people can't go to the site and read something and return when they see something good. Wrong business model!) Another brief sentence from Michela:
His papacy deserves to be remembered as one that helped keep Africa disease-ridden, famished, and disastrously underdeveloped.
John Paul II has the blood of innocents on his hands.
John Pilger focuses his wrath on the media representations of the man as much as the hypocrisy of the papacy itself. In a wonderfully angry piece that ranges from the BBC's apology to the Israeli regime and the continued silence over the US atrocities in Fallujah, he suggests 'reversing the river of drivel about [the Pope]:
This deeply reactionary man held back history and destroyed lives all over the world with his fanatical opposition to basic decencies such as birth control. He called this 'abominable', spitting the word out, and so condemned millions, from starving infants to babies born with Aids. In Latin America, he publicly humiliated courageous priests whose 'preference for the poor' dared to cross the medieval hierarchy he upheld. The claim that he 'brought down Communism' is also the opposite of the truth. As I learned when I reported his papal return to his native Poland in 1979, the Catholic Church in that country, whose conservatism he embodied, was a scheming bedfellow of the Stalinist regime until the wind changed.
Rest in peace, John Paul. Which is more than can be said for many of your victims.
