Here is the Catholic Leagues response to FAIR. As you may know, FAIR responded to the Catholic Leagues critique of FAIR’s attack of the media coverage of the Pope during his visit to the United States last month. FAIR brought up the same tired accusation of the 1962 document that others have claimed is a smoking gun for a systematic cover-up of the abuse scandal that has plagued the Church.
It is clear that FAIR is standing by its initial accusation without providing clear and substantiated proof that the Pope encouraged a systematic cover-up in the Church. Since FAIR has gone out of its way to post their response to the Catholic League on this blog, I will be contacting them for further clarification.
Here is the response from the Catholic League:
Fairness & Accuracy in Media (FAIR), a liberal media watchdog group, is now challenging our statement of May 2 calling into question the fairness of its story, “Pope Gets Pass on Church Abuse History.”
In that report, FAIR accused then Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) of sending “a letter to church bishops invoking a 1962 doctrine threatening automatic excommunication for any Catholic official who discussed abuse cases outside the church’s legal system.” We said the charge was bogus and explained why (click here).
Now FAIR is standing by its story, initially lifted from a British tabloid, claiming that although the Vatican 1962 document in question applied to solicitations made in the confessional, it can be read to include acts outside the confessional. It then quotes a priest who, in fact, provides no evidence from the document that would substantiate FAIR’s initial accusation.
Indeed, the title of the 1962 document, “ON THE MATTER OF PROCEEDING IN CASES OF SOLICITATIONS,” was deliberately chosen to reflect the Vatican’s concerns regarding improper solicitations that might take place within the confessional. It did not reach the question that FAIR alleges it did.
Moreover, if the initial FAIR story were accurate, it should be able to produce the indicting letter by Cardinal Ratzinger that it claims supports its accusation. So where is it? Trying to spin its way out of its own jam is bad enough, but when the pope is unfairly maligned, it is despicable. FAIR is never to be trusted again on matters Catholic.
Here is my letter to Isabel Macdonald, Communications Director for FAIR. Isabel Macdonald or someone on her behalf posted a comment/media advisory that responded to the Catholic Leagues original rebuke of FAIRS attack on the Pope and the media coverage during his visit last month to the United States.
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Ms. Macdonald,
Recently you or someone on your behalf posted a media advisory/comment on my blog—-Discover the Faith. The media advisory/comment was a response to the Catholic League’s critique of your commentary regarding the media coverage of the Pope during his visit to the United States last month. I am aware that there are many who believe that the 1962 document is some sort of “smoking gun” for a systematic cover-up of the abuse scandal that has plagued the church for many years. You must also realize that there are many who dispute that this is the case. Would it not have been prudent to give a FAIR and balanced assessment of what both sides of the discussion are saying, rather than make an outright attack on the Pope? Is that FAIR?
I created my blog mainly as a tool to explain some of the history and doctrines of the church but I also use it to call out unFAIR attacks on the Church. You must realize that most Catholics are ashamed of the behavior of a small portion of the priests that were involved in immoral and criminal behavior. We are appalled at how some of the Bishops handled the offenders. This behavior goes against the foundational principles of our Religion. The facts are that in some of these cases the Bishops were given bad advice from the psychiatric community. They were told that some of the priests were cured. This does not excuse the behavior and it was not the case in all instances. Would it not be FAIR to give the whole story? I have yet to see this on the networks or in print.
I am curious as to your position on the apparent fascination of the media when it pertains to the Catholic Church’s ills, while there remains deafening silence to the problems in other organizations, Churches and the public school system. Where is the FAIRness in that? I have not seen a media advisory on this. Is there a reason? Is there an agenda? Where are the stats to compare these poor track records ,when it comes to abuse, with the Catholic Church’s record. If you would take the time to read these stats you might be shocked. The public school system has a huge abuse crisis of its own, yet you very rarely hear the intensity of the outcry that you hear in all forms of the media to the Church. The View and Bill Maher’s coverage of the scandal has been scandalous at best. Where is the FAIRness? I am aware they are not journalist but they are a small example of the lack of FAIRness in some sectors of the media.
I do thank you for your time and hope that your organization takes the time to take a serious look at both sides of this story. We are just asking for your organization to be FAIR!
Christopher Decker