Press roundup of papal trip

September 26, 2011

Media coverage of Pope Benedict’s 4-day visit to Germany ranged from supportive to caustic, with the most favorable reports focused on the Pope’s addresses, while the most hostile were dominated by the Pontiff’s critics.

Vatican Radio reminded its audience of the general theme for the papal visit: “Where God is, there is the future.” The Vatican radio report called particular attention to the Pope’s speech to the Bundestag in Berlin, noting that one German newspaper, Bild characterized it as a “great” speech, while another, Frankfurther Algemaine Zeitung went further, describing it as “the speech of the century.”

A Reuters roundup by Tom Heneghan went to the opposite extreme, with a thoroughly negative view that was summarize by the headline: “Pope disappoints hopes of Catholics and Protestants.” The Reuters story let the Pope’s outspoken critics define the terms of the discussion. AP and Agence France Presse provided more balanced offerings.

Among Catholic commentators, Robert Royal and Father James Schall teamed up for an in-depth analysis on The Catholic Thing. In the National Catholic Reporter, Vatican-watcher John Allen picked out three vignettes that he found particularly noteworthy.

 

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Further information:

• Pope Benedict XVI returns from 4-day Apostolic visit to Germany (Vatican Radio)
• Pope in Germany Urges Spiritual Renewal (AP)
• Pope disappoints hopes of Catholics and Protestants (Reuters)
• Pope Benedict XVI fails to satisfy critics in homeland (AFP)
• Benedict at the Bundestag: two views (The Catholic Thing)
• Three nuggets from pope's Germany trip (National Catholic Reporter)