he never said it

By Phil Lawler ( bio - articles - email ) | Aug 31, 2006

When is the news not news?

Yesterday we saw, floating around the internet, a report that a Colombian cardinal had announced the excommunication of everyone involved in Colombia's first legal abortion: a procedure performed, with the approval of the nation's highest court, on an 11-year-old girl who had reportedly been raped. The story was interesting, but something about it looked wrong.

The prelate being cited in the report was Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo-- who, although he is Colombian, is currently assigned to the Vatican. Why would he be making this comment? Shouldn't any announcement about excommunications come from one of Colombia's residential bishops?

We decided to hold off on the report, unless/until we could clarify things.

Well, things are now clear. The story was inaccurate.

Sometimes readers ask why a story that appeared in the secular papers didn't find its way onto the CWN site-- or, conversely, why a CWN story didn't reach the secular media. The answer is simple: We have different standards.