objective news, seen through crystal ball

By Diogenes ( articles ) | May 07, 2010

There's a battle within the Catholic Church in England, with theological liberals and conservatives struggling to claim the mantle of Cardinal John Henry Newman, reports Ruth Gledhill of the London Times. As she explains the conflict, see if you can guess which side Ruth is on:

Next week, the Pope will be accused by the author John Cornwell of attempting to hijack the legacy of Cardinal Newman to prop up the conservative Catholic cause. Cornwell is a Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge, and a former seminarian who wrote Hitler’s Pope, a critique of the leadership of Pope Pius XII during the Nazi era, In a new book, Newman’s Unquiet Grave, Cornwell argues that the “Catholic pin-up boy” would have regarded his sainthood an “ossifying tragedy”.

Notice anything strange about that paragraph? If Cornwell is going to make that accusation "next week," how come Ruth Gledhill is reporting it this week? Guess she just can't wait.

Cornwell also accuses the Pope of “distorting” Newman.

Now she's slipped into the present tense.

Presumably Cornwell has scheduled a press conference next week, and Ruth Gledhill will be there. Carrying a reporter's notebook, not pom-poms.