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Eric Wilkins
Editor-in-Chief
Meditor@theotherpress.ca

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Lettitor

In focus

i like to believe that karma
is actually a thing. What goes
around comes around. He who
lives by the sword, dies by the
sword. Pick your cliché. Some
of my favourite instances come
by way of publicity and how
stories are perceived. In this age
of the Internet, news spreads
almost instantaneously. Due to
this, everyone who missed the
first scoop essentially rehashes
the initial release and blasts it
across cyberspace with their
own branding. Asa result of the
hurried nature of it all, key points
can be lost in the jumble. Stories
can be corrected, but sometimes
whether it’s due to the parties
involved or the news outlet
responsible, they aren't.

To illustrate the point are
two closely related stories; stay
with me. Recently, the Catholic

: sensational headlines such as : When it comes to talking abo
: “Vatican fires priest after he
: announces he’s gay,” and “Vatican : his predecessor, Benedict, mo
: priest comes out, says he has : say that it’s because Francis
: boyfriend, is promptly fired,”
: were quick to catch people’s
: attention. Strong criticism of the
: action was quick to follow.
: What the headlines don’t
: say, however, and what most : “When I meet a gay person, |
: stories—if they include the fact at : have to distinguish between
: all—hide in a line or two is that
: this was no knee-jerk reaction.
: This wasn't the Vatican making
: a sudden ruling on a brand new
: situation. This was something
: Charamsa knew would happen.
: It was also something that had
: absolutely nothing to do with
: him being gay.
: Catholic priests are celibate.
: They are forbidden from having
: a romantic partner. This is
: information that every priest is
Church once again found itself: well aware of, and it’s something
under fire. The latest scandal to! most have known their whole life. :
break from the Vatican? Stripping : Though the fact that Charamsa
a priest of his duties following his : is gay undoubtedly raised the
announcement that he is gay and _: profile of the situation, he still
has a male partner. : would be out of a job even if he

Krzysztof Charamsa, an : were straight.
official in the doctrine office of —: But don’t feel too badly for
the Vatican, came out publicly : the Catholic Church and how
to several papers, including the —_: that important nugget of info has
Italian publication Corriere della: so easily been overlooked. It is
Sera: “I want the Church and my: a two-way street after all. What
community toknowwholam: — : perhaps mitigates Charamsa’s
a gay priest who is happy, and : story ever so slightly, even to
proud of his identity. I’m prepared : those who are unaware of a
to pay the consequences, but it’s: priest’s vows, is that Pope Francis’
time the Church opened its eyes, : popularity has been riding fairly
and realized that offering gay : high ever since he assumed the
believers total abstinence from a : position, which leads us into
life of love is inhuman.” : story number two. He’s often

To no one’s surprise, i seen asa progressive pope.

: homosexuality.

: came just over two years ago

: marginalized. The tendency
: [to homosexuality] is not the

: the fact that homosexuals are
“If they accept the Lord and

specifically to those who are

The point of it all is that

: up to clarify his statements.

: Yes, he routinely talks about

: how marriage should be a

: heterosexual union, but it’s

: never explicitly noted that a

: homosexual one is sinful and
: wrong according to the Catho

: omission that seems to have

© Get foknowus!

© The Other Press has been Douglas College’s student newspaper since 1976. Since 1978 we have
been an autonomous publication, independent of the student union. We area registered society
under the Society Act of British Columbia, governed by an eight-person board of directors
appointed by our staff. Our head office is located in the New Westminster campus.

The Other Press is published weekly during the fall and winter semesters, and monthly during
the summer. We receive our funding from a student levy collected through tutition fees every
semester at registration, and from local and national advertising revenue. The Other Press is a
member ofthe Canadian University Press (CUP), a syndicate of student newspapers that includes
papers from all across Canada.

The Other Pressreservesthe right to choose what we will publish, and we will not publish material
that is hateful, obscene, or condones or promotes illegal activities. Submissions may be edited
for clarity and brevity if necessary. All images used are copyright to their respective owners.

: why exactly he’s so superior to

: has a better stance in regard to
His “progressive” moment

: when he was quoted as saying:

: their being gay and being part
: of a lobby. If they accept the Lord
: and have goodwill, who am I to
: judge them? They shouldn't be

: problem...they’re our brothers.”
That was it. He didn’t say he

: supports gay marriage. He didn’t

: say homosexual intercourse is

: acceptable. If you really break it

: down, he merely acknowledged

: people. One could take his words,
: have goodwill,” as him referring

Christian and already understand :
: that they’re to be celibate for life.

: But that’s even more semantics.

: no time has Pope Francis spoken

: Church. It’s a convenient lie of

: the Vatican out of the surge of
: unpopularity Benedict lead them
: on. It’s social suicide to be against :

  

ut
: acceptance of homosexuality,
st: and Francis and his PR team

: have managed to finagle

: themselves into a position of

: safety without having to actually

: say anything. In fact, according
: to a survey by the Public
: Religion Research Institute, 38
: per cent of US Catholics believe
: the Francis supports gay and
: lesbian marriage. How better to
: hoodwink the world when your
: own flock is fooled?

And all of this somehow
: comes back to my initial point.
: Neither of these stories have
: any information that is new
: or shocking. Catholicism has
: always said that priests must be
: celibate; Charamsa knew what
: the consequences of his actions

: being? For anyone, let alone a
: Christian, isn’t that simply a

: given?

Stories can be made

: fantastic and eye-catching by
: leaving out a few key points or
at: putting the focus on something
: else. In everything we do, we

: must be vigilant to step back and

: see the whole picture, lest we

: become just another of the angry

: mob yelling about an issue we
: know nothing about.

lic

e  Wilhi

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: an issue so blatantly clear as the

: would be. As for Francis, how is it
: groundbreaking that he said he’d
: treat a homosexual like a human

Danke danke,

Editor-in-Chief