Vatican Calls Pope Francis Rolling Stone Profile ‘Superficial’

Rolling Stone might love Pope Francis, but the Vatican does not love Rolling Stone. Clarin reported on Wednesday that in a statement to reporters, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi acknowledged that the magazine’s decision to put the pope on the cover -- and devote almost 8,000 words to him in a profile -- was a testament to his influence, calling it “a sign of the attention which news of the pope produces in very diverse places.” But he didn’t appear to think much of the article itself.

“Unfortunately, the article lacks merit by falling in the usual mistake of a superficial journalism, which in order to highlight the positive aspects of Pope Francis, thinks it should describe in a negative way the pontificate of Pope Benedict, and does so with a surprising crudeness,” Lombardi said, adding that he considered it a “shame.” “This is not the way to do a good service even to Pope Francis, who knows very well how much the Church owes to his predecessor.”

Rolling Stone channeled Bob Dylan in its cover of Francis, which was captioned, “The times they are a-changin’.” Mark Binelli, a contributing editor to the magazine who contributed the profile, calls the papacy of Francis’s predecessor “disastrous,” and contrasts Benedict -- “a staunch traditionalist who looked like he should be wearing a striped shirt with knife-fingered gloves and menacing teenagers in their nightmares” -- and the house he kept during his time as pope, with Francis’ stated efforts to transform the church into one for the poor.