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| Vatican Gardens (Photo by Marek69) |
L’Osservatore Romano, the 150-year-old official Vatican newspaper, has come a long way since its traditional emphasis upon that which the average person knows nothing about. Miracle of miracles – the once treatise-laden pages have now been zapped
into the 21st century by the editorial imagination of Giovanni Maria Vian.
Appointed to the editorial position in 2007, Vian comes from a family with long-established Vatican ties. He is greatly trusted by Pope Benedict, who specifically asked Vian to do the following three things with the publication: feature the Eastern and Orthodox Churches to a greater extent, put more emphasis upon female perspectives, and increase the amount of global material.
According to the Associated Press, Pope Benedict also requested that L’Osservatore Romano become
“relevant to contemporary readers” in order to “show that there can be ‘an opening to God’ even in secular, contemporary culture.” Vian was then quoted as saying that it’s equally important to write about the Beatles and the Blues Brothers as it is to write about Shakespeare and Gregorian chants.
Somewhat astonishingly, Vian admits to having “sexed up” the news a bit when featuring Homer and Bart as Catholics. This attention-grabbing article harkened back to the 2005 Simpsons episode entitled “The Father, the Son, and the Holy Guest Star.” According to Wikipedia, this final show of the Simpsons’ sixteenth
season emphasizes religious tolerance. Homer and Bart investigate Catholicism, Lisa looks into Buddhism, and Marge remains staunchly committed to her “one true faith” of “American Reform Presbylutheranism.”
A new day is surely dawning when the Pope and Vatican not only see “an opening to God” in such efforts, but also openly support them.
Resources
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1321969/Vatican-reveal-Homer-Bart-Simpson-Catholic-Popes-blessing.html
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110223/ap_on_re/rel_religion_today
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Father,_the_Son,_and_the_Holy_Guest_Star
Copyright February 27, 2011 by Linda Van Slyke All Rights Reserved
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