Does the pope read the Daily Mail? It seems possible given some of the contents of his speech at Westminster Hall today:
There are those who argue that the public celebration of festivals such as Christmas should be discouraged, in the questionable belief that it might somehow offend those of other religions or none.
There’s that favourite Daily Mail straw man, the war against Christmas. They’ll be claiming tomorrow that it must be true because the pope says it is (he’s infallible, you know). But it’s not any more true today than it was yesterday. It’s a pile of lies and exaggeration which is rolled out by the tabloids every year in order to scare the christians into toeing the party line.
It’s getting earlier each year, too.
Update: And here, as expected, is the Mail’s story on this:
The Pope issued a clarion call to defend Christianity last night, saying Christmas was at risk of being struck from the calendar.
Nonsense. It’s all nonsense. No-one is offended by christmas. No-one is trying to ban or rebrand christmas.
Tabloid Watch has more about tabloid coverage of this idiocy and here’s what Enemies of Reason has to say.
The decorations get earlier each year too.