Sunday, March 6, 2005

post-live blogging the Pope's Blessing

For a protestant, I'm blogging a lot about John Paul... :)

I just watched the networks' coverage of John Paul giving a blessing after his Sunday Angelus message. Fox News had a low-rent satellite link with about a 3 second lag, so the poor early-Sunday anchor couldn't even talk with the reporter without them talking over each other, and then having to sit say nothing for seconds at a time. CNN/CNNI was technically better since the CNNI reporters were in Rome, but I was astonished that they had to ask whether the Pope's windowside blessing "counted". I suppose my Protestant background came out, but it's hard for me to imagine that something isn't valid because the script wasn't followed....

It is clear that John Paul takes strength from the prayers and adulation of the people. When he is filmed in a non-public area, he is listless and tired, but when he is facing the public, he really gets some strength. I hope John Paul can confound his critics even more and be a producti ve member of the Christian community for years to come.

No comments: