Lending some words from Jacob in the scripture will actually go a long way to clear the cloud in respect to what I have in mind to communicate to my audience. He says when he was wrestling with the angel of God, I will never let you go unless you bless me. But in my own case, I will paraphrase the same sentence to be, I will never let them be, unless they get it right, I will never let them be, unless they do it right. Who are we addressing today and what have they done wrong? The people in question are news headlines creator and what they did wrong was misleading people with their succinct and sugar-coated headlines. Though, not all the time, but most of the time.

In today’s fast-paced digital age, news headlines have become an integral part of our daily lives. We scroll through our social media feeds, news apps, and websites, often glancing at headlines that grab our attention. However, have you ever stopped to think about what lies beneath the surface of these headlines? What hidden truths, biases, or agendas might be concealed within the carefully crafted words? If I must be sincere with you, I will say many if not all of us are guilty of reading the headlines without paying keen attention to the context and the originality of the information before spreading it around. Two weeks ago, I woke up to read some headlines on my mobile phone and the one that really got to me was, “the bishop of Rome, Pope Francis has approved a document that encouraged the ordination of gay people”. Whaaoo What a caption!

Initially, I was shocked because I couldn’t comprehend such a statement to be uttered by a revered spiritual leader of a great church who will never compromise truth for any reason. The believe has always being that regardless of low vocation to the priesthood in any country or nation, the Lord knows how to take care of his work and his church. I was still pondering on the headlines and trying to get to the root of the matter when some messages popped-up from friends seeking clarification about the same headline. It was at this point I laid my hands on the actual document in question to  check for myself issues discussed in it and also to be sure of what I will tell my friends who are already running out of patience and time. Can we actually blame my friends for running out of patience because of this heart-troubling caption and misguided contents concealed in it? I leave that for you to decide.

Unfortunately, it will surprise you that the contents of the document in question was totally different from what they projected for the world to consume. What a people! In the document approved by the Dicastery for the clergy, the document presents a formative process for the priesthood divided into two stages; a first phase has to do with building of interior life of the candidates and the second stage has to do with building of proper human relationship with the community of Christ faithful in their formation years. But where they got it mixed up could be, presumably in chapter three of this document that made reference to “people with homosexual tendencies who approach seminaries or who discover this situation during their formation.” Immediately they see a sentence like this in a document, the sentence was excerpted from the content of the whole document and they said “The bishop of Rome has legalized ordination of gay people into priesthood”. This was indeed a misleading headline.

Interestingly, the guidelines only clarifies two previous statements from the Vatican in 2005 and 2016. The 2016 statement, signed by Pope Francis, was essentially a reiteration of the 2005 statement, signed by Pope Benedict XVI, the latter quoting directly from the earlier one “the church, while profoundly respecting the persons in question cannot admit to the seminary or to the Holy Orders those who practise homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so called gay culture.” Such persons, in fact, find themselves in a situation that gravely hinders them from relating correctly to men and women. Then I was asking myself how rejecting a poisonous act of gay culture into priesthood becomes approval of it? I am yet to receive my answer.

Thus, the art of reading between the lines is a vital skill in today’s information age. It requires a critical eye, a discerning mind, and a willingness to question the status quo. By doing so, we can uncover the underlying narratives, motivations, and interests that shape the news we consume. Another thing we need to pay attention to is the context, the context is king when it comes to understanding news headlines. Without it, we can easily misinterpret or misunderstand the information being presented. Just like the one I narrated above. So, the next time you scroll through your news feed, take a moment to read between the lines. Ask yourself: What is the underlying narrative? What biases or agendas might be at play? What context is missing? By doing so, you will become a more informed, critical, and discerning consumer of news. “Once again, I will never let them rest unless they write it well”