The Catholic Church seems to have found itself caught between worlds through the unfolding week of World Youth Day (caught between time references too), an event dominated theologically by doctrinaire and conservative hardliners, but one working hard to adapt the aura, energy and communications tools of youth to its cause. Pilgrims have shopped for merchandise, rocked out to White Metal and Godly rap and linked together through the web 2.0 nattiness of xt3.com.

But then there’s the corrosive little stain of clerical s-x abuse (one invisible to the normally penetrating gaze of the News Ltd press), the unfortunate remarks of certain senior clergy and the lingering issue of whether the pope will apologise to victims, merely make an acknowledgment of their suffering or ignore the whole business.

His Holiness has already shown a readiness to engage you on their own terms with the now fabled Pope txt of Monday. Time to flex the thumb one more time. How hard can it be? 

“Ey r-pe victimz.
Jus wanna say soz bout the abuse an stuff.
I tink we should put all this bhind us. Hbu?
The priests r goin to jail btw 🙂
anyways I g2g cya l8er
1nce again, uber soz
gd luvs u, BXVI”

That’d be a start.