Welcome to the latest in what is becoming a long-running series of photos of me staring in disbelief at a ridiculously overblown Belfast Telegraph headline.

‘Pope’s Holy War’!  Is the Shared Medley in ruins?  Have relations with the Catholic church broken down and descended into bloodshed?  Well, no; when you turn to page 16 and read the article, you find out that it’s about one of the Wikileaks cables which have been emerging over recent weeks.  This one contains the opinion of the British Ambassador to the Vatican from November 2009.  Back then, he warned that the Pope’s invitation to disaffected Anglican clergy to join the Catholic church would lead to anti-Catholic sentiment in the UK, and possibly even attacks.

Did the dire portents of his prediction come true?  Err…no.  So the news is, over a year ago, a bloke warned about something that then didn’t actually happen.  Nevertheless, POPE’S HOLY WAR it is!

I don’t usually get on my soap-box about these things, but this isn’t the first time that I’ve been moved to write a blog about a sensationalist Belfast Telegraph headline that a) has the potential to do some damage, and b) doesn’t actually relate to the facts of the full article (see also here).  Does this get on anyone else’s nerves?