Video Meliora, proboque; Deteriora sequor

Received from My Brother-in-Law

My bro-in-law isn't Catholic and so it's interesting if painful to see the perspective of someone outside the St Blog's "Catholic ghetto":

On another note, what's up with the Pope? Has he lost his mind? 7 new 'deadly sins'. He figures people aren't confessing enough, so he's gonna put new spins on old sins (I like that, The Church should've used that in their press release) to help them remember they need to confess? Sounds like political-think to me.

Far be it from me to be able to tell the Pope how to do his job (well, not that far really, just a few paragraphs) his talking for god and all,but I'd like someone to explain to me how he's gonna get anyone to swallow these when they're as vague as:

"1) ruining the environment,
2) carrying out morally debatable scientific experiments
or allowing genetic manipulations which alter DNA or compromise embryos
3) taking or dealing in drugs,
4) social injustice which caused poverty
5) the excessive accumulation of wealth by a few
6) abortion, which offended “the dignity and rights of women”, and
7) paedophilia"

Oy vey...the media...not our best friend 'eh? I sent along the following:

...you know how ignorant the media is of economics - imagine how ignorant they are of religion (and then double it). The media relishes making Catholicism looks silly because the Church is against giving condoms to 2nd graders and allowing unfettered abortion.

First, this isn't the Pope - this was the statement of one archibishop: "When a second-tier Vatican official gives a newspaper interview, he is not proclaiming new Church doctrines. Archbishop Girotti was obviously trying to offer a new, provocative perspective on some enduring truths."

Here's what the Archbishop actually said.

My brother-in-law responded: "I think it's more an ignorance of language and translation than malice toward The Church -- most reporters and newsmen in this country barely have a grasp of English, let alone Italian. I searched for a while online but kept getting different translations of the story on different sites ..."