teamwork?

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Aug 19, 2005

NCR's John Allen on WYD:

"As Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, he was like the church's bulldog," said Pedro Russell, a 21-year-old from Bitteroot Valley, Montana, who cuts quite a figure -- tall, with bright green hair, and a rosary around his neck.

"He was puttin' the smack-down on heresy," Russell said. "Personally, I'm looking forward to that. There was a lot of slightly misguided teachings that I grew up with. Knowing that there's somebody up there who's made his entire cardinal's career out of straightening out those heresies and defending the true, solid teachings of the church is something I am very, very excited about for the youth. He'll be able to deliver a strict, simple answer that will lead them to deeper life. "

NYT's Ian Fisher on WYD:

"As Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger he was like the church's bulldog; he was putting the smack down on heresy," said Pedro Russell, a 21-year-old Montanan who had both green-dyed hair and a rosary around his neck.

"Personally I am looking forward to that," he said. "There were a lot of slightly misguided teachings that I grew up with. Knowing that there is somebody up there who has made his entire cardinal's career out of straightening out those heresies and defending the true solid teachings of the church is something I am very, very excited for the youth."

Did Russell give a press conference?

Update: I think we can safely conclude that it's Fisher who's helping himself to John Allen's work (perhaps with Allen's permission?) and not the other way around. Here's a bit concerning the Pope's visit to the Cologne synagogue from John Allen's Correspondent's Notebook from Friday, August 19:

Most noticeably, although Benedict had strong words about anti-Semitism and the Holocaust, he never "went personal" in the characteristic fashion of John Paul II. ... Karol Wojytla, on the other hand, knew instinctively that his own life story offered riveting drama, and he routinely invoked it in the context of Jewish/Catholic relations.

And this from Fisher's NYT story on Saturday, August 20:

Unlike his predecessor, John Paul II, who often spoke of his own life in Poland during World War II, Benedict did not mention his own experiences during the war, sticking mostly to his prepared text ...

It's not principally the chronology that's telling, but the fact that the personal nature of JP2's testimony is the kind of thing that John Allen would notice and docket. He'd see its significance for background. Whereas Ian "Need some quote from supporter" Fisher has demonstrated neither the competence nor the curiosity pertinent to the subject. Intentionally or not, Allen is making a generous loan here.