Madeleine McCann: The Pope’s Holy See
“FOR 26 anguished days she has not spent a night away form her twins. But yesterday, as the search for little Madeleine went on, Kate McCann had to say goodbye…”
What follows is “A MOTHER’S HEARTACHE”, as the Mirror sees Kate McCann say “GOODBYE DARLINGS” to her twin children.
In the mystery of Madeleine McCann, we are back to watching the parents, looking on as “TROUBLED” Kate McCann prepares to make the journey to meet the Pope.
What follows adds nothing to the search for Madeleine McCann. Adds nothing to the debate on why or how the girl was taken. But it adds much to the public spectacle and the media narrative, which threatens to consume the McCanns.
Pope Of Hope
The Mirror sees Kate flash her children a “bright smile”. She gazes into “their shining eyes”. Mum and dad are going now, off to see the Pope, a man who can help them find Madeleine by, as dad Gerry McCann says, giving them a “great spiritual lift”.
Gerry McCann tells us: “Meeting the Pope is so potentially hugely important to what we are trying to achieve as a family. We never thought for one moment we would get such publicity, but it means we can get our message across.”
From the parents of a missing girl, the McCanns now carry a message.
Writing Wrongs
The Sun calls them a “deeply religious couple”, but anyone who has followed the case knows Gerry to be less then that. The theft of his daughter has increased his religious convictions. Prayer is, after all one thing he can do for himself.
The McCanns cannot rely on the police. The Sun says “bungling Portuguese cops” miscalculated the height of the man seen carrying a child on the night Madeleine disappeared. The witness said he was 5ft 7in. The police converted that into metric and came back with 5ft 10in. The Sun is appalled. But fails to say how three inches would have cracked the case, nor how such a thing was overlooked by the crack British police it watched head to Portugal weeks ago. The Mail says chief suspect Robert Murat is 5ft 8in.
Thankfully, the Pope is here to help. Sun readers learn that the Pope will include Madeleine “prominently in prayers”. Who knew there was a pecking order, a hierarchy of prayer, the Pope sandwiching in Madeleine between payers for world peace, ecumenism and an end to accusations of paedophilia in the American Roman Catholic Church?
See You Soon
Readers learn that in the next few days the McCanns plan to travel to Madrid, Berlin and Amsterdam. They are looking for their daughter. We wish them well. But what is their odyssey but a chance for the papers to see the McCanns in new locations.
“Be safe darling, Mummy will be back soon,” says the Express’ front–page caption besides a picture of Kate McCann cradling her son. “The hardest goodbye for Madeleine’s mother as she leaves her twins behind,” says the Mail, its shot of Kate with her daughter.
And we will be looking on. As the Mirror says: “Kate knows if there is any hope of bringing Madeleine home safe she must do whatever is necessary to keep the story of the disappearance in the news worldwide.” So “she has emerged into the media spotlight every say and allowed herself to be filmed and photographed to keep the abduction highlighted.”
Do you see? Kate allows herself to be stalked by the papers. And the papers tell us about Madeleine. The Mirror justifies its story. Only it’s not keeping up its end of the deal. The Mirror does not tell us about Madeleine McCann, sheds no light on the case to find her and offers no insight.
The Mirror and it rivals tell us about Kate McCann. And we all know where she is…
May 30th, 2007 at 9:40 am
i find it ironic & sad that the mcCann’s are now seeking the help of The Father. I hope Madeleine is returned safely & soon to ease all our pain but surely this is a police and parents work. Surely god has more important work to get on with. The World of Humanity is in a terrible state, mostly the cause of human “error”. God does not make “mistakes”. I believe Madeleine will be found and is waiting for “humans” to do the good work of releasing her.
May 30th, 2007 at 9:51 am
Please dont think i am trying to wind anyone up when i say the truth. Anyone putting this much faith in Men of the Cloth is making a serious error of judgement. Put your faith in the children , Kiss, cuddle and care for them ,it is a parents duty.
May 30th, 2007 at 9:54 am
and before any of you are intrusive enough to accuse me of being heartless and having no experience of the McCanns pain, I am sorry to say I have. Whoever has taken Madeleine does not believe in god or man.
May 30th, 2007 at 9:57 am
The Pope is a very important figure and thier meeting him will raise awareness in countries in Africa and across Europe. Catholics around the world will join in the support and the search for Madeleine, financial or otherwise.
Why is that a bad thing? And if prayer helps the McCanns feel better, then why is that a problem for you? Unless of course you want them to continue suffering?
They are doing al they can. They cannot make the police work any harder (not least without raising the profile so as to put pressure on them).
They are exhausting every option available to them to increase awareness and achieve financial and practical support. The more cash they get, the longer they can spend looking. Good for them.
I applaud them for it and
May 30th, 2007 at 10:17 am
I agree with Joanne.
People seem to really want this couple to suffer and ‘pay’ for their sins (ie making a huge mistake and leaving Madeleine unsupervised. They can’t put a foot right now.
Its done. They will suffer for the rest of their lives. Now, can’t we all just let them do what they think is right in finding her without criticism? .. I mean the human judgement and cruelty is astonishing.
May 30th, 2007 at 11:00 am
the pope heads one of the greatest kiddy fiddler institutions in the world.
May 30th, 2007 at 11:36 am
Say no more:
Thankfully, the Pope is here to help. Sun readers learn that the Pope will include Madeleine “prominently in prayers”. Who knew there was a pecking order, a hierarchy of prayer, the Pope sandwiching in Madeleine between payers for world peace, ecumenism and an end to accusations of paedophilia in the American Roman Catholic Church?
copied from above
May 30th, 2007 at 12:05 pm
Sad as it is, Madeline is not the only missing child in the world. Is the Pope featuring all of those children “prominently in prayer” as well? Or only the ones who get media attention? And I agree with di papa. Leaving your other children for an audience with the Pope is the worst thing you can do. What is the Pope going to do? Will being in his presence make his prayers more powerful? Stay and comfort your children and put your money not into traveling but into investigating Madeline’s disappearance. If it were my daughter, I wouldn’t be traveling hundreds of miles from where she was last seen, to stand in front of some perceived authority figure. I’d be on the police’s asses, and searching for her. (Unless there is a credible lead that she is in Berlin, Amsterdam or wherever else they plan on going.) Seriously. Making the world aware that you are “deeply religious” only serves you. It doesn’t help your daughter. If you were deeply religious, your god would know it, Pope or no Pope.
May 30th, 2007 at 12:10 pm
Well said Jen!
May 30th, 2007 at 12:11 pm
The pope, head of Kiddie Fiddlers Ltd. What a great guy!! Hes the last person Id go to for help. And whats the point?? The almighty too busy to listen to the pleas of us mere mortals?? Only the prayers of a former member of the Hitler youth will suffice?? Still if the Mccanns get some strangth from it, thats OK. Wallowing in superstition is sure to bring Madeleine back.