By Teresa Tomeo

Don't be fooled

Armed with Catholic media coverage, you can set your neighbors straight on Church news

The papal trip to the United States is no doubt going to be THE story in both the religious and secular media. We can expect live, gavel-to-gavel coverage, as we say in the news business, as Pope Benedict XVI travels to Washington, D.C., and then New York City.

I am looking forward to covering the pope's visit and watching the coverage as well, but if some recent events are any indication, I hope believers turn to good Christian -- namely, Catholic -- sources to get the full story of the pope's visit and the messages he delivers while here in our country.

It's not that the secular media are inherently evil or that all the reporters in the secular press strongly dislike the Church and its teachings. But research going back more than 20 years does show that the majority of those who work in the secular media are not churchgoers, and do support abortion, so-called same-sex relationships and other practices that go against key tenets of our Catholic faith.

In a perfect world, that research shouldn't matter. In a perfect world, reporters would try their very best to put personal opinions or agendas aside and cover their stories in a fair and balanced manner. But I am sure by now you are well aware that we don't exactly live in a perfect world. Unfortunately, that often means those personal opinions combined with a lack of even a general understanding of how the Church operates add up to disaster in terms of news stories pertaining to the pope and the Church.

Recall the recent interview conducted by L'Osservatore Romano, the semi-official Vatican newspaper, of Archbishop Gianfranco Girotti, the regent of the Apostolic Penitentiary. The archbishop thought he was doing an interview about the importance of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. He discussed how in this modern day and age certain sins can be manifested much differently than they were just a few years ago through such things as embryonic stem-cell research or genetic manipulation. Well, the secular media got a hold of the interview and actually claimed that the Vatican officials had invented a brand new list of "deadly sins."

Another example was the story about the pope addressing a group of young people in Italy last summer. The pope briefly mentioned the importance of taking care of the environment. His visit with the youth, along with the Mass he celebrated, occurred during Ordinary Time, which is why, of course, his vestments were green.

That was news to the secular press who covered the story. Some of the headlines went so far as to claim "Pope Goes Green," and, no, they were not exactly referring to the liturgical calendar. They claimed the pope was vested in green to stress his concerns about global warming and other environmental issues.

And who can forget the way the media misinterpreted and misrepresented Mother Teresa's dark night of the soul after the release last September of the book "Come Be My Light." One of my listeners who contacted me was very upset and wondered why the Church didn't inform us that Mother Teresa was an atheist. He was basing his response on secular media reports.

While there is nothing wrong with watching, listening to or reading the secular media's coverage of the papal visit, please also consider the source. Then turn to the Catholic press, including such news organizations as Our Sunday Visitor, EWTN Catholic television and radio, for, as they say, "the full story."

Teresa Tomeo is the host of Catholic Connection, produced by Ave Maria Radio and heard daily on EWTN Global Catholic Radio and Sirius Channel 160.