Circles Quote by George Weigel
“There's an obvious investment in some media circles in the "narrative" of "the pope who's finally going to get with it."”
About This Quote
Source Interview: Catholic World Report, 2023
The quote critiques media focus on a sensational narrative about the Pope adapting to modern culture, suggesting hidden agendas.
In simple terms: Media may push a catchy story about the Pope changing.
Key Takeaway
Question media motives and seek deeper context.
Themes
media criticism
religion
culture
politics
narrative
Mood
skeptical
critical
inquisitive
Type
analytical
commentary
When to use this quote
- news analysis
- media literacy
- religious commentary
- public discourse
Key Concepts
agenda setting
public perception
institutional change
Questions to Reflect On
- How does media framing affect public view of religious leaders?
- What motives drive sensational religious narratives?
A Different Perspective
The narrative may oversimplify complex religious developments.
![“But ripped out of context, ["Who am I to judge?" phrase] has become an all-purpose filter through which everything else - including the pope's multiple reaffirmations of Humanae Vitae, Paul VI's encyclical on the morally appropriate means of family planning - gets airbrushed out of the picture.” quote by George Weigel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/b1d/george-weigel-9372_appropriate_but-ripped-out-of-context-who-am-i-to-ju_146817.jpg)
![“By the same token, the new and stringent Ultramontanism on the Catholic Left - in which even the mildest questions about how things are working in this pontificate are denounced as treasonous disloyalty - is an affront to the open conversation for which the pope [FRANCIS] has called.” quote by George Weigel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/e10/george-weigel-9372_affront_by-the-same-token-the-new-and-stringent_1885252.jpg)
![“[Pope Francis] comes to that conviction [of family crisis] as a pastor, not as Brad Wilcox or Charles Murray. So he wants to challenge the Church to find pastoral responses to that crisis that meet real human needs.” quote by George Weigel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/9ab/george-weigel-9372_brad_pope-francis-comes-to-that-conviction-of_1491977.jpg)
![“The colossal mess in Vatican finances that [Pope] Francis inherited has been cleaned up, and cleaned out. Real budgeting and accounting procedures are in place; so are real professionals, not somebody's nephew.” quote by George Weigel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/a0b/george-weigel-9372_accounting_the-colossal-mess-in-vatican-finances-th_1349672.jpg)
![“Then [Catholics] owe [pope] the loyalty that is expressed in speaking the truth to him - and that puts a premium on knowing whether what you're happy about, on unhappy about, has a basis in fact, or is merely a reflection of the "narrative.” quote by George Weigel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/a24/george-weigel-9372_bases_then-catholics-owe-pope-the-loyalty-that_1212464.jpg)
![“The pope [Francis] knows that the marriage culture is in crisis throughout the world, and so is the family.” quote by George Weigel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/e22/george-weigel-9372_crisis_the-pope-francis-knows-that-the-marriage_744194.jpg)
![“[Pope Francis] is 78 years old and knows that his will be a short pontificate.” quote by George Weigel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/6aa/george-weigel-9372_knows_pope-francis-is-78-years-old-and-knows-t_577438.jpg)
![“[Pope] Francis communicates the pastoral embrace of the Church, the breadth and inclusiveness of Catholicism symbolized by the Bernini colonnade around St. Peter's Square, in a powerful way.” quote by George Weigel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/06a/george-weigel-9372_bernini_pope-francis-communicates-the-pastoral-e_495970.jpg)
![“[Pope Francis]sees a world in need of the Gospel, and of friendship with Jesus Christ, as an antidote to the self-absorption and loneliness that are eating away at the solidarity of the human community.” quote by George Weigel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/79d/george-weigel-9372_absorption_pope-francis-sees-a-world-in-need-of-the_343248.jpg)
![“The pope [Francis] takes his vocabulary from his pastoral experience, not from the rhetorical tool kit of liberation theology, with its Marxist yammering about "center" and "periphery." The "peripheries," for Francis, are all those who have fallen through the cracks of late-modernity and…” quote by George Weigel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/14f/george-weigel-9372_argentina_the-pope-francis-takes-his-vocabulary-fr_261899.jpg)
![“I hope ["reanimated the papacy"] means that the new interest in the pope evokes a new interest in the Church's teaching, of which the pope is the custodian.” quote by George Weigel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/a8e/george-weigel-9372_church_i-hope-reanimated-the-papacy-means-that_225548.jpg)
![“Perhaps the dumbest of these story lines is that [Pope] Francis has re-opened conversation and debate in a Church that had been closed and claustrophobic for 35 years under John Paul II and Benedict XVI. I defy anyone who, over the last 35 years, has spent time on the campuses of Notre Dame or…” quote by George Weigel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/4fe/george-weigel-9372_benedict-xvi_perhaps-the-dumbest-of-these-story-lines_1945253.jpg)
![“These [conservative] people, if they're Americans, look back on the last 35 years of our ecclesial experience and take heart from that. The dramatic reform of seminaries continues. The priests and bishops who take their pastoral model from John Paul II will continue to do so, perhaps learning a…” quote by George Weigel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/22a/george-weigel-9372_bishops_these-conservative-people-if-they-re-ame_542601.jpg)
![“Tell them you came, and saw, and looked into my eyes and saw the shadow of the guard receding. Thoughts in time and out of season, the hitchinker stood by the side of the road and levelled his thumb in the calm calculus of reason. [...] Why does my mind circle around you? Why do planets wonder…” quote by Jim Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/9ae/jim-morrison-1692_bird_tell-them-you-came-and-saw-and-looked-in_18280.jpg)
![“[Wise men] have tried to understand our state of being, by grasping at its stars, or its arts, or its economics. But, if there is an underlying oneness of all things, it does not matter where we begin, whether with stars, or laws of supply and demand, or frogs, or Napoleon Bonaparte. One measures…” quote by Charles Fort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/1e7/charles-fort-11887_art_wise-men-have-tried-to-understand-our-st_19788.jpg)
