In a revealing insight into the inner workings of the Vatican, Jesuit super-journalist and Bergoglio friend Antonio Spadaro has revealed a new development. From March 2017 all Papal statements, documents and interviews will be submitted to scrutiny by an American firm of ‘sensitivity consultants’.

Says their interactive website*, Writing in the Margins promises to weed out ‘internalised bias and negatively charged language’. It has a database of readers who list their areas of expertise: gay relationships, gender fluidity, the immigrant experience, specific racial backgrounds.

‘Sensitivity readers can help identify problematic language and internalised bias on the page when writing outside of your experience’, the agency says.  They will scan the manuscript for content that might offend on grounds of race, sex or religion.

‘Obviously’, says Spadaro, ‘the new service will be of immense help to the Holy Father, who clearly would not wish to offend Catholics without knowing it.’

* See The Daily Telegraph, Tuesday, February 14, 2017, page 3