"WOCHA" Sighting

The interview questions in this interview, from the Boston Globe, reads like every tired cliche that's ever been written about Pope Benedict and the Church. In its title, it describes Pope Benedict as a "more complex pope." It uses language- specifically "liberal" and "conservative" - which is not correct in explaining the Church. Not surprisingly, it also engages in the "WOCHA mantra." Thankfully, it's salvaged by the intelligent responses of Francesco Cesareo, president of Assumption College.

Here's a sample question and response:

Q. Do you expect anything of lasting significance to come out of the pope's visit, or is this more a show-the-flag tour?

A. A pope's visit is not simply for rallying the troops. [It's] meant to encourage the faithful living out the Gospel, making a connection between the faithful and the pope in terms of the unity of the church throughout the world. It always has an important impact

Here's where the Globe tries to stress the cliche that there's a disconnect between the Church and American Catholics, and the "WOCHA mantra" rears its ugly head.

Q. In his book "The Faithful," Boston College's James O'Toole predicts that American Catholics will "continue their ambivalent relationship to the papacy," loyal to it, yet often disregarding its teachings.

A. That's where the value of a visit of the pope comes into play. It allows at least for the faithful to think about their commitment, how they want to live out their faith, to think about the church in more an international scope than national or individualistic. I wouldn't necessarily agree that American Catholics overall are ambivalent. We have a vibrant church that strives to be faithful.

Q. You would not disagree that American Catholics are going to still practice artificial contraception and divorce and disagree with the pope on various matters in large numbers?

A. No, I wouldn't say that.

Peter Steinfels offers his take on the cliched-media coverage in this article at the New York Times.

Comments

[Christopher]

Here's another WOCHA sighting (from US News):

http://benedictinamerica.blogspot.com/2008/03/how-do-you-tell-good-article-on.html