Catholic news scoops itself in cyberspace

Thomas J. Olmstead, right, the Bishop of Phoenix, and James. S. Wall, Bishop-elect of Gallup, smile during a press conference in Gallup on Thursday. Wall, who was named to the position by Pope Benedict XVI, will be ordained on April 23. — © 2009 Gallup Independent / Brian Leddy

Copyright © 2009
Gallup Independent
Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Staff writer

GALLUP — In these days of the Internet era, it’s hard for the Catholic Church to keep a lid on their announcements.

Probably very few people showed up at Thursday’s press conference at the Diocese of Gallup’s pastoral center not knowing the identity of the next bishop of Gallup. If they hadn’t already been told by a diocesan official, they had probably read about it on the Internet early Thursday morning on a Catholic blog.

Even Bishop-elect James S. Wall humorously noted that fact of life during the news conference. “Google’s a great thing,” he joked.

Certainly the blog most people checked out first in the early hours of Thursday morning was the always informative and frequently humorous “Whispers in the Loggia” by Philadelphia native Rocco Palmo. And of course, Palmo didn’t fail his curious readers. Not only did he have the scoop on Wall’s appointment, Palmo had a photo of the bald bishop-elect — showing that although Wall was born on the Navajo Nation, he was surely not Native American — and he included a video clip of Wall celebrating Mass in Phoenix. This was all neatly packaged under the headline “Galluping Off.”

Palmo’s fans — the countless legions of them around Catholic cyberspace — know that in addition to Palmo’s highly placed sources in the Catholic hierarchy, he has a penchant for injecting humorous zingers and puns into his blog headlines. A search of “Whispers in the Loggia” using the key search word “Pelotte” reveals Palmo has been keeping his eye on the goings-on in Gallup since December 2004.

When former Bishop Donald E. Pelotte made his confused 911 call to Gallup’s Metro Dispatch, Palmo titled his blog entry “Gallup Goes Roswell.” When Phoenix Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted was appointed apostolic administrator in Gallup, Palmo served up the headline “How Much More on Olmsted’s Plate? Pelotte More.” Even one of Gallup Independent publisher Bob Zollinger’s editorial denouncements of diocesan officials was quoted in Palmo’s Aug. 6, 2007 “Quote of the Day.”

So will Bishop-elect James S. Wall be the youngest Catholic bishop in the United States? Olmsted and Wall tossed that question around for a few moments before someone in the audience settled the matter. He will be the youngest, the man declared, because the Internet said so.

Or make it “Whispers in the Loggia” said so.