Second priest says Obama-voters should confess

Just to get both coasts involved.

The AP report was so short (and the reporting so horrible) that I have to pick it apart.

My comments in [brackets]:

A Roman Catholic priest has told parishioners they should confess if they voted for Barack Obama because the president-elect supports abortion rights. [I'm sure he asked them to confess the sin of voting for Obama, not confess that they voted for him.]

The Rev. Joseph Illo said parishioners at St. Joseph's Catholic Church shouldn't risk losing their "state of grace" by receiving Communion sacrilegiously. [No, I'm sure the priest said those who commit a mortal sin are thereby deprived of the "state of grace". Seriously, this counts as religion reporting?]

He delivered the message in a Nov. 21 letter and at Mass. [I bet it was a bulletin.]

In an interview last week with the Modesto Bee, Illo said he sent the letter because Catholic teaching requires that people go to confession when they commit a mortal sin. [Wow, I actually don't have see anything worth correcting in this paragraph - good job, AP reporter!]

The Most Rev. Stephen Blaire, bishop of the Stockton diocese, disagreed with Ilo. Catholics were not in need of confession if they voted for Obama after considering many issues, the bishop said. He also said Catholics should not be compelled to disclose how they voted to their priest. ["After considering many issues" - now there's an oversimplification that completely does away with the substance of the debate.]

Saturday, Illo said he would make a statement about his letter at services this morning. [Protestants have services, Catholics have Mass. They are different.]

You know the reporting is bad when you can actually discover the truth of the situation past the obvious blunders the actual report contains. That's how obvious the facts are, facts which escape the persons paid to report this news! It just goes to prove William Shneider's famous quip: "The press ... just doesn't get religion."

I've created a whole category for this sort of reporting. I call it, "stupid reporting."