Vatican Lifts Bios From Wikipedia
The Holy See pulled from Wikipedia for bios of 22 newly elected Cardinals.
| Posted Monday, Jan. 9, 2012, at 11:51 AM
Photograph by Gabriel Bouys/AFP/Getty Images.
The Vatican's bold foray into the wilderness of the Internet hit a snag late last week when, in a rush to provide journalists with information on the 22 newly elected cardinals, the Holy See sent out bios lifted directly from Wikipedia's Italian site, without attribution.
The giveaway? Many of the newly promoted archbishops were described as "Catholic."
As the Guardian reports, some cardinal-elects were also depicted in tones decidedly not in line with the voice of the Holy See. For example, the archbishop of Utrecht Willem Jacobus Eijk's bio said he has a "strong tendency to conservatism, specially regarding abortion and homosexuality, which has made him one of the most talked about religious men in the country."
Vatican spokesperson Father Federico Lombardi told the Guardian that the bios were labeled unofficial and were lifted from Wikipedia in the interest of timeliness.
Pope Benedict has more or less embraced the Internet in recent years. The Vatican even has its own YouTube channel.
