Soundbite

From Ben Sternke's blog:

The Pope is going to the USA next week. An Archbishop at the Vatican said this about the trip:
"The key to this trip will be to listen to Benedict’s speeches in their entirety. He is not a man of blah, blah, blah. He’s a thinker, and before speaking, he thinks. And he prays a lot.”

The Pope isn't "a man of blah, blah, blah". That's a great soundbite! Especially as it warns us against looking for soundbites and commends the long haul listen of whole intellectual reasoned sermons.

But I think the ironic juxtaposition of the style of the comment and its content are beaten hollow by the final five words: "And he prays a lot." Just an afterthought. A final throwaway reason for giving a spare hour to consider what the spiritual leader of a large number of the world's Christians has to say. Every one needs a press man like this; but I'm wondering if he has a day job as well as being an Archbishop...