Somehow the Globe's Cover Story About the Catholic Church is Funnier Than the Metro's Feature on Bridget the Midget

As Greater Boston commuters may have seen, the Metro ran the Bridget the Midget story on page one this morning. I don't blame them; any time a police officer gets busted for vacating duty in order to snap Facebook pics with porn stars, it's a definite contender for prime real estate.

Over on Morrissey Boulevard, though, Globe editors had something much sexier to run with. They buried Bridget in the Metro section, and slapped "A call to Catholics to 'come home' again" up front. Who knew a piece about Catholics launching a Mormom-esque media blitz would top both the Metro's salacious scoop and the Herald's sleaze, bigotry, and gossip?

First of all, it's absurd that the Catholic church would roll out a PR campaign built around the word 'come.' Hopefully this was just a market test, and parishioners will bring this potentially conflicted message to their attention now that it's been vetted in the paper.

Innuendo aside, it was interesting to read such a passive article in the Globe - which helped expose the priest abuse scandal - about how the abusers want their family back. Somehow I can't see how this subject deserves objective treatment; would they do the same if NAMBLA ran a spot luring new meat into the fold?  

Finally; my favorite part of the story is how they interviewed two unrelated people with the same last name. Not that there's anything wrong with that - it just struck me as odd. She also spoke with them under rather strange circumstances: "Sandra Correia, 26, is more skeptical. Correia, who is not related to Neal Correia, was interviewed while sunbathing with a 16-year-old cousin who is preparing for her confirmation."

I don't know too much about public relations, but if the Catholic church wants to get on society's good side, priests might want to retire the tradition of poolside youth masses. Just a thought.