Anti-Catholic Sports Reporting?
By Dr. Jeff Mirus ( bio - articles - email ) | Oct 04, 2011
Phil Lawler is right. When secular reporters cover Catholic issues, they frequently get things wrong. I refer, for example, to Phil’s new eBook, Misinterpreting Catholicism. But Phil’s examples pale into insignificance compared with this brief story from our own local paper in Manassas, Virginia, the News & Messenger:
On this date: After failing in seven previous attempts, da Bums from Brooklyn (a.k.a. the Dodgers) won their first World Series title in 1955. The Dodgers beat the New York Yankees 2-0 in the decisive Game 7, finally excising the demons of five losses in the Fall Classic to the Yanks.
A batch of Catholic reporters and copy editors would have known the difference between the word chosen here, excising, and the rich Catholic word that should have been used: exorcising. Nobody can cut evil spirits. This is not a simple roster move. But Catholics know how to drive them out.
The Brooklyn Dodgers knew what it really takes to win, but it seems even sports history is now being rewritten to obscure the vital contributions of Catholics….
Jeffrey Mirus holds a Ph.D. in intellectual history from Princeton University. A co-founder of Christendom College, he also pioneered Catholic Internet services. He is the founder of Trinity Communications and CatholicCulture.org. See full bio.
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Posted by: MWCooney -
Mar. 29, 2017 10:59 AM ET USA
Thank you for another excellent summation of where we are, and where we're headed. The distinction between charity and niceness explains much, and it applies to the culture in general as well as to the current condition of the Church.
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Posted by: brenda22890 -
Mar. 29, 2017 5:48 AM ET USA
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI said it plainly: "perhaps a smaller, but more faithful church".
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Posted by: james-w-anderson8230 -
Mar. 28, 2017 8:48 PM ET USA
Well said! Now if only our pastors and Bishops would read and heed your excellent article.
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Posted by: -
Oct. 05, 2011 12:31 PM ET USA
Now now, Dr. Jeff, You need to allow for the possibility that the reporter is a young Jewish man who had just returned from seeing his first bris and was so shaken by it, he temporarily messed up his vocabulary.
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Posted by: KathyD684684 -
Oct. 04, 2011 8:37 PM ET USA
Jeff, at least excising demons is better than "EXERCISING" them??? :-)
