Since he became pontiff, the biased secular media have relished using harsh, loaded language like "ruthless" and "medieval" to describe Pope Benedict XVI. Blogger Mark Shea noticed those words appearing 126- and 169,000 times, respectively in a Google search.
But even worse, Shea argues, is how the media betray their utter lack of understanding of religious subjects when reporters start prattling on about how Benedict is "growing" during his papacy (h/t The Anchoress), when in reality they're just now discovering the clarity of what he's preached and taught all along:
Thus fully informed on the mind and life of Benedict XVI, the press is as prepared as a pea shooter against field artillery for what happens whenever Benedict actually, you know, says something. So, for instance, when he released his first encyclical Deus Caritas Est, the bafflement was palpable. The press was filled with speculation about whether the old stick insect was "softening" (Google: "Benedict XVI" softening -- 36,000). This childlike surprise has been a more or less perpetual feature of the MSM, which is constantly astounded to find that their caricature of him is not true and, with truly childlike reasoning, concludes that Benedict must have "grown."This constant habit of discovering the bleedin' obvious about Benedict has led me to formulate Shea's Iron Law of Media-Reported Benedictine Growth which states:Whenever the MSM declares that Pope Benedict has grown, undergone a dramatic change of course, or gone a long way toward accepting positions he once rejected, this invariably means the reporter or pundit who has discovered Benedictine "growth" has no clue whatsoever what Benedict (and often, the Catholic Faith) teaches and is only now discovering it.
It may be preaching to the choir to note this here, but I'll give that a hearty Amen.
