Saturday, July 19, 2008

A Tale of Two Gatherings

While the world's media is focused on Pope Benedict and the gathering of Catholic youths in Sydney, the Worldwide Anglican Communion's Lambeth Conference opened this past week as well.

Not much has been written or shown, certainly not in the United States media, about the gathering of Anglican (or "Episcopalian" in the United States) bishops.  Probably because this isn't going to be pleasant to watch.  The BBC has an story which explains the showdown expected to take place over issues such as homosexuality and the nature of authority within the WAC.

The world's media has been keen at doing stories about the "Pope Protests" that have come and gone during World Youth Day, complete with pictures of costumed protesters mocking the Catholic Church.  They do this every World Youth Day, scouring the crowds, looking for young people who will proudly announce their dissent from Catholic doctrine.  The media rarely have any luck finding any, much to their frustration (and not a little bit of surprise).  Stories of dissenters handing out condoms to attendees rarely tell you the kids throw them out at the first waste basket they find (thereby getting points for being both faithful to doctrine and courteous in not littering).  One story is worth passing on, as we seem to have found an untapped reservoir in the youth who give new meaning to "Church Militant" when it comes to protesters.  No, he didn't form a whip with cords, but there's always room for improvement.

Once WYD ends on Monday, let's see if the media turns its attention on the Canterbury conference.

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