In a World-Youth-Day themed week, why would the Wankley Award veer from the flock?
On Monday, Crikey’s Canberra Correspondent Bernard Keane gave The Australian some lashings for its overly rosy approach to the festivities. And fair enough too.
But really, the Wankley Award must go to WYD coordinator Bishop Anthony Fisher who was upset at the media — Lateline specifically — for re-hashing “old” stories of Catholic s-xual abuse and killing the party vibe.
“I think most of Australia was enjoying, delighting in the beauty and goodness of these young people … rather than dwelling crankily, as few people are doing, on old wounds,” he told reporters.
Bishop Fisher’s cranky comments caused a ruckus — understandably — so WYD organisers clarified. Fisher was aiming his comments at the media, not the abused.
Hm. The media is not actually a PR vehicle, even if it is doing a damn fine job of it right now.
Let’s do a deal. We’re willing to deal with special state police powers, rerouted traffic, a mostly maimed media, Ray Martin and listening to Christian music on Sky News so you can have your merry festival — if you wouldn’t mind letting us take a few of the acres of newsprint being devoted to WYD hagiography to defend those beautiful and good young people you like so much.
It’s what Hetty Johnston would want.
Ah yairs Hetty, where exactly has she been this last week. All over Henson fracas like a rash down from Banana land in a wink. But now it’s a big ALP do here no Hetty. She has a whiff of the preselections about her, like Garrett pulled his punches on forests while for the ACF. Hope I’m wrong, only Hetty herself will know the truth of her own ambitions.
A Wankley please, to the televised re-enactment of Jesus’ crucifixion. A Sunday school production against a backdrop of breathtaking Sydney landmarks wasn’t awesome, just awful. The spectre of a stumbling, bullied ‘Christ’ dragging a cross through city streets, traversing the Harbour on a barge and eventually getting ‘nailed’ to his croix was somewhere between a Monty Python, Dave Allen and Boris Karloff block buster. For innocent children, all grim stuff seeing a bloodied, bullied young man with his face contorted in agony being tortured. More confusing was ‘Christ’ collapsing as guards physically forced an Aboriginal man wearing a kangaroo skin to take up the cross to the strains of didgeridoos? Then the vision of a bloodied body, cold and swaying in the evening breeze was the finale on Catholicism for two families in this lounge room. And pardon the pun, but to rub salt into the wounds there was Cardinal Pell draped in metres of silk looking like an utter fool having just days before been quizzed about a sex abuse cover-up. When the ad breaks went to the Catholic Church Insurance Company it sealed the cynical!!! Christian principles are one thing, Christian corruption is another.
A complete bastard, this bishop.
What I also felt was completely and utterly vulgar was the WYD merchandising tent situated across the street from St. Mary’s. As I walked past it, I thought, didn’t some guy 2000 years ago smash up some money lenders operating in and around a church? Would he do the same today to the so called christians? I’m sorry, but the catholic shurch is a disgusting organisation. Led by a power hungry dickhead in Australia, it seriously needs to look at what it is doing to this world.
Crikey as usual has an axe to grind, I couls find no recording of the “crankily” comment but any of the newspaper reports on line seemed clearly, in my view, to show that the comment was indeed directed at commentators rather than the media.
As an example from the Herald Sun:
“Bishop Fisher told 2UE radio today he had not seen the broadcast due to WYD celebrations, and could only speak based on the newspaper reports he had seen this morning.
“Happily, I think most of Australia was enjoying and delighting in the beauty and goodness of these young people,” said Bishop Fisher, “and the hope for us doing these sorts of things better in the future, as we saw last night, rather than dwelling crankily, as a few people are doing, on old wounds.
“(Cardinal Pell) has led, in the church and this country, in trying to put in better and better processes to deal with these things so that we get it right.
“I am convinced that (Cardinal Pell) has done all he can and will continue to receive, as I hear today that was suggested on Lateline, some ways that we might improve processes for the future.
“We are happy to hear any constructive advice on how we can do this better in the future and in the meantime to do all we can to prevent this happening again and to bring healing and justice to the victims of these terrible cases.”
So tell me how exactly “Bishop Fisher’s comments, clearly made on behalf of the church and not simply his own opinion, reveal a great deal about the reality of the church’s response to this issue”.”
The Wankley might better be served on this prejudiced article from Crikey itself.
Pell and Fisher….now which one is the “power hungry dickhead” and which is the “complete bastard”. Or do both adjectives apply just to one and not the other? Or wait maybe both restrained intelligent descriptions apply to both? What about yourself Angus? I bet you’re a card! Am I right? Intellectually bereft but a card!