Last week, Peggy Noonan wrote that the media has done the Church a service in its reporting on the sex-abuse scandal. To a certain extent, I agree: Unfortunately, I believe that some in the Church would have continued ignoring or, in some cases, covering up instances of abuse. But the media has gone overboard with its misreporting or selective reporting of facts, and its attacks against Pope Benedict.
The accusations against the pope are the most puzzling. Why is the media seemingly so intent on trying to bring Benedict down?
Sandro Magister says that “Pedophilia is only the latest weapon aimed against Joseph Ratzinger.” He notes that each time the media launches accusations against the pope, it is on critical issues where Benedict continues to effectively lead the Church. (Richard Bastien made a similar point here earlier this week.)
Orthodox. Faithful. Free.
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The article is worth reading, since it lists six media-generated tempests that have arisen in the wake of media contortions of Pope Benedict’s statements on critical issues.
And yet, despite this, tens of thousands of people came into the Church this Easter in the U.S. alone. There is always hope.
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