Duluth, MN (OpEdNews) April 12, 2011: The going rate for a full-page ad in the NEW YORK TIMES is reportedly more than $50,000. But in a full-age ad on April 11, 2011, Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, published his comments about the priest sex abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church.
Among other things, he accuses the media of "distorting the truth about priestly sexual abuse," evidently "for ideological and financial profit."
But the media have long gravitated toward sensationalistic stories. Remember all the media attention to Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinski? I guess sensationalistic stories may help increase the media's financial profit.
But what about the media's ideological profit? Toward the end of his lengthy letter, Donohue returns to this point. He says, "Let's face it: if [the Catholic Church's] teachings were pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage and pro-women clergy, the dogs would have been called off years ago."
So the media "dogs" (how do you like that imagery for characterizing the media?) keep publicizing the priest sex abuse scandal as a way for liberal "dogs" to carry on ideological warfare with three points of conservative Catholic ideology.
But is anything missing from Donohue's account?
I've heard it said that leaders should lead by example.
Priests should lead by their example, and so should bishops.
But the abusive priests did not set a good example. Donohue allows this much.
Nor did their enabler bishops who transferred the abusive priests from one parish to another.
But Donohue argues that bishops may not have received good advice regarding certain abusive priests. This is an understandable mitigating argument.
But we have heard no expressions of remorse from any of the enabler Catholic bishops who followed such advice, or from any of the bosses of religious orders such as the Jesuits who followed such advice.
However, Donohue is silent about the lack of remorse on the part of enabler bishops and other enabler bosses in religious orders.
I'd like to see somebody take out a full-age ad in the NEW YORK TIMES to publish an open letter to the enabler Catholic bishops and other enabler bosses in religious orders. The text of the letter could be brief and to the point:
"Dear Enabler Catholic Bishops and Enabler Bosses in Religious Orders:
"Please express your remorse for transferring abusive priests from parish to parish and thereby enabling them to continue their abuse."
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