Comments on: The Times and the Church

By: Julie

Julie — Sat, 08 May 2010 01:57:25 +0000

Mr. Bottum, you have hit the nail on the head. Thanks for a great article. Mmmm, yes, Gloria, I am a very educated, informed and happy Catholic. I am most certainly not brainwashed. I can’t say the same for you …

By: JonathanR.

JonathanR. — Fri, 07 May 2010 17:23:21 +0000

I’m sorry, but after the all-hands-on-deck hatchet job the NYTimes pulled on Pope Benedict XVI, a man who has done more for these abuse victims than any member of the heirarchy under a climate of blatant hostility, I do not find myself sympathizing the least when they go after any other Catholic cleric.

Sure, the crisis was a bad thing. But how come we do not see the same crusading effort when a public school student is sodomized by his teacher? Abuse occurs in the American public school system at a higher rate than the Catholic Church, and teachers are also shuffled around, and yet there are no shadowy Times reporters haranguing superintendents just because the abused kids are not conveniently Catholic.

Cardinal Levada may not give off the good vibes, but the New York Times has proven to be no trustworthy arbiter of truth either. At the end of the day, the Pope trusts this bishop, so he may be there for a reason.

The Church is reforming in reaction to this crisis. While his PR may not be so good, the Pope has proven capable so far.

I can’t say the same about the Times.

By: DNB

DNB — Fri, 07 May 2010 14:53:56 +0000

Hmmmm. Now that we’re preaching about the need for accountability, it seems the NYT ought to be held accountable for covering up the Holocaust. See Fischel, Jack. “Sins of Omission: How the New York Times didn’t report the Holocaust” Weekly Standard 4/11/05. Review of Laurel Leff, Buried by the Times: The Holocaust and America’s Most Important Newspaper (2005).
And where was the NYT during the 80s and 90s on the North American Man Boy Love Association?

By: Joe

Joe — Fri, 07 May 2010 13:16:22 +0000

To requote from above posts:

“how could these things have happened in the Catholic Church? The scale and number of abuses, reaching even into the Vatican, call for a radical examination of the institution. I’m beginning to see what Catholic liberals were agitated about.”

“since First Things (especially Weigel and Neuhaus) thoroughly discredited themselves by being so terribly wrong about Fr. Maciel and about the early reporting on his crimes, perhaps Mr. Bottum might also deign to offer an account of why we should give a rip what he has to say about the current crisis. Aren’t conservatives supposed to believe in accountability?”

“Scale and number of abuses.” “Terribly wrong…”
Rather damning.

The NYT could be a group of gay whores, and it would not make the church’s performance here much better. Levada is a professional manager, a lifetime bureaucrat. His answers are wildly unacceptable. We are not talking about a mid-level priest. If this is what is at the top, can you imagine what IS happening at the lower levels? And meanwhile, Weakland is still esteemed Bishop Emeritus in Milwaukee. Church discipline, protecting the faithful…. huh? Try imagining if it was your son abused, or deciding to follow a Bishop’s lead but lauding the gay lifestyle. Would you be as equally defensive of the victimized Levada?

By: Jim

Jim — Fri, 07 May 2010 02:25:03 +0000

Speaking as both a childhood sexual abuse victim and a conservative, I find myself more in sympathy with defenders of the NY Times than the Church.

The story on Levada puts the facts out there for all to judge. I’ve read it twice and don’t see a hatchet job. I watched his interview with PBS and couldn’t believe what he was saying about how they were just now learning about how much damage is done to victims, etc.

He very much looked like a man who had something to hide and I’m grateful that his feet are being held to the fire. He needs to be held accountable.

By: JonathanR.

JonathanR. — Thu, 06 May 2010 23:23:46 +0000

Wow, I didn’t know the New York Times made their own spam-bots.

By: Joseph Bottum

Joseph Bottum — Thu, 06 May 2010 23:22:30 +0000

Whew. Anybody who thinks I’m not stern with the Vatican about this hasn’t been reading what I have to say. But the topic is a fraught one, no doubt.

By: Bob G

Bob G — Thu, 06 May 2010 22:57:34 +0000

Mr. Collier says: “perhaps Mr. Bottum might also deign to offer an account of why we should give a rip what he has to say about the current crisis.”

Mr. Collier, why should we give a rip what you have to say either? You sound like a liberal.

Mr. Bottum is always interesting. One may not agree with him, but is that a reason to write him off? Get a grip.

By: David

David — Thu, 06 May 2010 22:52:26 +0000

Wow! You, JB, apparently have stepped on some very sensitive toes with your blasphemous commentary on the Holy New York Times. The self-righteous blindness of the previous posts makes one wonder if the Church could gain any charity or approval from the NYT mavens only by turning the lights and joining the Unitarians.
The tragedy of the on-going scandal is the thing in itself and the cover it has given to those who either hate the Church or would rebuild it in their own image.
As for the moral authority of the Times, does the name Walter Duranty ring a bell?

By: Charlotte M.

Charlotte M. — Thu, 06 May 2010 22:52:24 +0000

There is nothing left for them to do but beg forgiveness for perpetrating fraud on the good people who have always paid their salaries, and the awful people who successfully tried to buy them. Then apologize for giving unto Ceasar ( themselves) what belongs to the Divine. Then speak publicly and often of the regret over the holes in their collective heads regarding everything concerning women and children. They need to willingly go off to jail, where they belong, every last one of them who enabled a pedophile priest, bishop or cardinal to molest children. Until these things, all of them, take place, they are all just whistlin’ dixie while shakin’ in their pumps..