Pope Francis

Cardinal: Rush Doesn't Understand Pope On Environment
By Mark Finkelstein | June 21, 2015 | 10:50 AM EDT

The Cardinal couldn't have been more polite, but it didn't take much reading between the lines to get what he was asserting: that when it comes to the encyclical on the environment, Rush Limbaugh doesn't understand what the Pope was saying.

On today's Fox News Sunday, Chris Wallace played a clip of Rush saying that the encyclical "is suggesting is that everyone should vote for the Democrat party. How in the hell else do you interpret it when the Pope sounds like Al Gore on global warming and climate change?" Responded Cardinal Donald Wuerl: "one of the great blessings of America" is that "we're all allowed to speak our mind even if we don't have all the facts. Even if we don't have a clear view of what the other person is saying."  

Jonathan Alter Hints Jeb's a Bad Catholic Who Denies Papal Infallibility Because He Rejects Francis's Climate Change Pronouncement
By Ken Shepherd | June 19, 2015 | 5:40 PM EDT

Jeb Bush, a convert to the faith, is a bad Catholic who all but denies the dogma of papal infallibility. That's an argument put forward by that eminent Catholic scholar... Jonathan Alter?! Yup, Alter made that argument on the June 19 edition of Now with Alex Wagner as he reacted to the former Florida governor's dismissal of Pope Francis's views on climate change as promulgated in his latest encyclical.

NYT Eagerly Cites Pope on Climate Change, Cheers His 'Blistering Criticism of 21st-Century Capitalism'
By Clay Waters | June 19, 2015 | 4:24 PM EDT

Strange new religious respect: The formal release of Pope Francis's long-anticipated encyclical on global warming dominated Friday's New York Times, which avidly covered it from both environmental and religious angles -- quite unlike the paper's hostile treatment of the Vatican's stands on abortion and birth control. Laurie Goodstein, the paper's chief religion reporter, seemed to thoroughly enjoy seeing political conservatives "fuming" about the document's hard critiques of capitalism, while breathing not a word about the encyclical's condemnation of abortion.

WashPost, NBC Tout How Pope's Paper 'Puts GOP Candidates on the Spot'
By Matthew Balan | June 18, 2015 | 5:31 PM EDT

In a Thursday item on NBC News's web site, Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Andrew Rafferty asserted that "just like the issue of gay marriage, the Pope and the Catholic Church have gone from being wedge issues that benefitted the GOP in 2004 to ones that now favor Democrats." The three journalists cited Associated Press's reporting on Pope Francis's new encyclical on the environment, and concluded that "what this news does is guarantee that climate change is a conversation in GOP presidential debates, especially since several of the candidates...are Catholic."

NBC, ABC Skip Abortion, Gender Ideology in Pope Francis Encyclical
By Katie Yoder | June 18, 2015 | 4:25 PM EDT

The broadcast news shows have hyped climate change in Pope Francis’s new encyclical – but did they hint at his arguments on abortion and gender identity? Short answer: No.

The Vatican released the pope’s media-hyped encyclical, Laudato Si’, on June 18. Out of the three broadcast networks, only NBC and ABC commented on the “climate change” publication from the “popular pope.” They also emphasized the church’s “moral call to action” on climate, skipping other moral calls to action networks ordinarily disdain – from prolife to traditional views on gender.

 Neither story mentioned the encyclical’s repeated recognition of the human embryo as a human being – or Pope Francis deeming “valuing one’s own body in its femininity or masculinity” as “necessary.”

Bloomberg, MSNBC Bash Jeb Bush, Rick Santorum for Going Against Pope on Climate Change
By Curtis Houck | June 17, 2015 | 8:37 PM EDT

The media’s tendency to use the Pope to criticize Republican candidates and officials was on display Wednesday afternoon as MSNBC’s Live with Thomas Roberts and Bloomberg’s With All Due Respect took shots at the 2016 GOP presidential field and, specifically, Catholics Jeb Bush and Rick Santorum (in the case of the latter show) for opposing Pope Francis’s upcoming encyclical on global warming.

'So Anticipated:' CNN Hypes Pope's Document on the Environment
By Matthew Balan | June 17, 2015 | 4:47 PM EDT

Delia Gallagher touted Pope Francis's upcoming encyclical on the environment on Wednesday's Wolf program on CNN by claiming how "Church leaders say that this is the first time the release of a papal encyclical has been so anticipated." Gallagher spotlighted an "epic theatrical trailer for the Pope's words" from an environmentalist group in Brazil," and hyped that "with the Pope's popularity, this encyclical will be a milestone that places the Roman Catholic Church at the forefront of one of the major scientific and moral issues of our times."

Washington Post Praises Pope Francis on Leaked Climate Change Encyclical
By Joseph Rossell | June 16, 2015 | 4:33 PM EDT

Liberal media outlets have attacked Pope Francis for being “tone-deaf” when they disagreed with his views, but now that he’s hawking climate alarmism they’ve begun fawning.

The Washington Post front-page praised the Pope on June 15, and suggested he could impact environmental policy through his “highly anticipated” letter to Catholic bishops about global warming, called an encyclical.The story, co-written by Michelle Boorstein, Anthony Faiola and Chris Mooney, spoke positively of his “enormous popularity.”

Pope’s Climate Encyclical To Land On Original Date of Al Gore Eco-Concert
By Joseph Rossell | June 15, 2015 | 10:48 AM EDT

Pope Francis “has echoed the sense of crisis” from some scientists about the environment, and on June 18 will tackle the subject of climate change in an encyclical, a letter to Catholic bishops. That was the same day as former Vice President Al Gore’s Live Earth concert was scheduled to take place. Will anyone in the media note the coincidence?

The Vatican announced June 18 as the release date for the pope’s encyclical in a June 4 press release, the Catholic News Service said. On May 23, less than two weeks earlier, Gore’s group said that it would delay its Live Earth concert until the fall, according to newswire Agence France-Presse (AFP).

MSNBC's Wagner Slams Santorum's Rebuke of Pope on Climate Change
By Matthew Balan | June 3, 2015 | 7:00 PM EDT

Alex Wagner took the unusual step of running to the defense of Pope Francis on her MSNBC program on Wednesday. Wagner blasted Rick Santorum for asserting that the Catholic Church  was "probably...better off leaving science to the scientists," especially on the controversial issue of climate change. She pointed out that the Pope "has a master's degree in chemistry," and therefore, has more "cred" to speak on the climate issue than Santorum, who only has a political science degree.

HBO's Oliver Slams Catholic Church; Likens Pope to 'Breaking Bad' Thug
By Matthew Balan | June 1, 2015 | 4:19 PM EDT

On Sunday, HBO's John Oliver gave the latest evidence that the last acceptable prejudice is bigotry against Christianity, especially anti-Catholicism. Oliver blasted the Vatican secretary of state's "defeat for humanity" condemnation of Ireland's vote that legalized same-sex marriage: "Okay, settle down a little, Catholic Church. Remember, you're an organization whose victories for humanity include the Crusades, forced adoptions, and running a widely-successful international pedophile exchange program."

World and U.S. Press Completely Botch Pope's 'Angel of Peace' Statement to Abbas
By Tom Blumer | May 18, 2015 | 10:49 AM EDT

The competition is fierce, but perhaps the most consistent area of outright and arguably deliberate U.S. and worldwide press distortion is found in their coverage of the Catholic Church and its pontiff.

Last week, the major international wires and several U.S. outlets once again demonstrated that readers, listeners and viewers can never trust that they will get an accurate story relating to these matters without also consulting other publications and online outlets. Numerous stories claimed that Pope Francis called Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas (aka Abu Mazen) an "angel of peace." As Stephen Kruiser at PJ Media and Ellen Carmichael at National Review have noted, he did no such thing.