Dear TIA Staff,

Regarding: Pope embraces 'hot model' Wanda Nara

Please reconsider how the TIA ought to have presented the news in this case!

Graphic photos simply have absolutely no place among the faithful even in this context.

St. Paul the apostle himself once stated in Ephesians 5: 11-12:

Take no part in the fruitless works of darkness; rather expose them, for it is shameful even to mention the things done by them in secret.

If it is “shameful even to mention the things done by them,” then all the more it is shameful to show it to the faithful!

It is easy to find something and publish it while more difficult to prove it. The reading space would be better used by demonstrating the legitimacy of the photo of the pope’s pose, by stating exactly who took the shot and interviewing witnesses, to show that the photo is unretouched, as the event itself is so disgusting.

To view the porn that you published was not my intent and I exitted the screen immediately after beginning to view accidentally.

The images of the flesh especially when presented in such a salacious manner as those poses, are intrinsically evil and powerful!

To include them in your reporting is like providing crack cocain to the audience to pass around (or maybe even to inhale) in a presentation on drug abuse so they can verify that “Yes, the purpetrator was using this.” The danger of increasing the abuse is even more likely in that the internet users such as myself typically take in the information while all alone, and if I wanted to I could easily keep some and no one would be the wiser.

Will you please increase your prayers for prudence in future news reporting?

All the same I see the topic itself generally worthy of reporting and worthy of deep concern over the pope Francis’ own prudence.

Thank you.

      In Christ though Mary,

      B.O.

"The person who does not become irate when he has cause to be sins. For an unreasonable patience is the hotbed of many vices. It fosters negligence, and stimulates not only the wicked, but above all, the good to do wrong." - St. John Chrysostom - c. 347-407 AD




The Editor responds:

Dear Mr. B.O.,

Thank you for your little sermon on morals. It is always good to see that principles – forgotten by most Catholics when they have to deal with their families regarding morality in behavior, beachwear, dancing, dressing, watching movies, etc. – are still alive in the memories of some. Unfortunately, in your case your remarks have the practical effect of deviating attention from the indefensible scandal raised by Pope Francis and indirectly defending it.

Regarding the photos you “accidentally” accessed on our website, we at TIA had placed a quite visible warning in bold red print on the index page of that section stating that they are graphic photos. We also strongly blurred the provocative parts of those photos in order not to stimulate bad thoughts in any man or to provoke envy in any woman. So, I believe we did what prudence normally dictates should be done to avoid scandal.

If, nonetheless, you still had problems, as your exasperated message shows you had, I wonder whether the cause is some obsession in your own mind. Especially when we consider that we brought those photos to readers not to promote pornography or from negligence toward it as you suppose, but to prove to what degree of moral decadence Francis’ papacy has reached. The text on that posting is unequivocal in this regard.

If we would have completely covered with black stripes the provocative parts of those photos, many would say that they do not prove anything; perhaps you would be among those. Since we let our readers know who that woman the Pope embraced actually is – distorting as much as possible those photos without destroying the evidence – you jumped against us claiming that you are scandalized and accusing us of promoting sin.

Regrettably, the impression you give is not of a paladin defender of purity, but rather of either a simple-minded man who does not understand the value of evidence to demonstrate a crime or a cloaked defender of the scandal of Pope Francis.

As a counsel of prudence, I end by suggesting that you take more seriously the red print warnings about graphic photos on our indexes before “accidentally” looking at other photos like these.

     Cordially,

     Atila Guimarães, editor of TIA website

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