MSNBC’s Chris Matthews Interviewed Pope-Unproven!
Summary of eRumor:
This is a forwarded email that contains what is allegedly an interview of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the future Pope Francis, by Chris Matthews of MSNBC. The interview was supposed to take place just before the conclave.
The Truth:
TruthOrFiction.Com has found no evidence of this being true. A search of the MSNBC website found no such interview in the archives and inquiries sent to Matthews have yet to be responded.
According to a March 24, 2013 article in London’s Telegraph, the transcript of the interview was published on the website of the Roman Catholic diocese in Salford but was later taken down because it could not be verified. Salford is a city in England that is East of Manchester.
There are indications in the transcript that this may be a hoax.
Matthews is a Roman Catholic as well as a professional interviewer. A professional would not have begun an interview by addressing a Catholic Cardinal with “Welcome Cardinal.” The correct protocol when addressing a Catholic Cardinal is “Your Eminence,” according to “How to Address Church Officials” found posted on the website Catholiceducation.org. Cardinals may also be addressed by “Your Lordship” but it would be considered bad form to say “Welcome Cardinal” without including the clergyman’s last name.
Another clue that this could possibly be a hoax is that the spelling of Matthew’s name is incorrect in the transcript of the forwarded email.
Posted 4/23/13