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August 04, 2006
60 Minutes
The Pope will sit for an interview with German television:
MUNICH - Pope Benedict XVI is to give an unprecedented interview Saturday to four German TV journalists invited to his summer residence, Castel Gandolfo, with the discussion set to air worldwide on August 13.
The German-born pope has already given a couple of one-on-one television interviews in his year-long papacy, but no head of the Catholic church has ever gone before the cameras to handle a panel of questioners for a full hour.
"Nothing like this ever occurred with Pope John Paul II," recalls Father Eberhard von Gemmingen, head of the German section of Vatican Radio, who is to be one of the four interviewers.
The other journalists will be from two German public television channels, ARD and ZDF, and from Germany's state-funded worldwide TV service, Deutsche Welle. The interview precedes the pope's September 9-14 visit to his German homeland.
As Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the present pope often appeared to lack the easy confidence of a TV personality. But since his election in April last year, he has reached out to the mass media. The panel discussion arose from the pope's own invitation.
That will be fascinating...if the questions are good, which I imagine they will be. By "good," I mean not vague and general, but specific and probing. Benedict is always so fascinating off-the-cuff.
Posted by Amy Welborn | Permalink
Comments
But WHERE can we see it?!!!
Posted by: Linda Cacpal at Aug 4, 2006 1:55:09 AM
I second Linda-- Where can those of us in the US see it? Will it be rebroadcast somehow?
I'm sure that it won't be very long at all until EWTN, at least, grabs it for broadcast. They'd try to do that ASAP, I'm sure.
If anyone hears anything, please let us know right away!
Posted by: Ben Swagerty at Aug 4, 2006 2:13:00 AM
In addition to two national broadcasters, the interview is going to be carried by Radio Vatikan and Deutsche Welle. Deutsche Welle content is often available online, but I don't know how long it is going to take to get it translated. (dw-world.de) The posted weekly program guide only runs through today.
Posted by: ann(-e) at Aug 4, 2006 3:19:19 AM
It helps to read the article to the end. The broadcasts won't be until Sunday August 13th, the times in the evening depending on the channel. This is excellent news for me because I already have plans for tomorrow evening!
Posted by: ann(-e) at Aug 4, 2006 4:27:56 AM
If the Pope handles the TV interview anywhere as well as he handled the "Salt of the Earth" and "God and the World" interviews, this should be fantastic.
Posted by: Dan at Aug 4, 2006 1:17:15 PM
Never fear, ladies and gentlemen...It's for just such occasions that the good Lord inspired somebody to create YouTube.com.
I can all but guarantee that a video of the Holy Father's interview will uploaded to YouTube within a day after it airs...(maybe even before it airs)... along with the requisite bootleg comedy clips of Stephen Colbert, assorted amateur air guitar players, mentos-in-coke bottle rockets and assorted other goofy, eclectic stuff to be found there.
I've heard the idiomatic phrase from the sublime to the ridiculous variously attributed to Napolean Bonaparte or Talleyrand. Personally, my theory is that it's the guy who wrote the YouTube.com business plan.
Posted by: Mike Russell at Aug 4, 2006 6:00:28 PM
Darn! I wish I'd gone beyond two terms of college-level German (and back in the 1980's at that!).
Posted by: tonydoc at Aug 4, 2006 6:23:23 PM
I am torn between thinking this is a good thing and not a good thing. What if this sets a precedent? Pope Benedict can handle it, we all know but I still feel uneasy about it.
Posted by: Rose at Aug 8, 2006 7:04:58 PM
