Archbp. Dolan on the New York Times

It’s war between the Times and Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York.

Archbp. Dolan has posted a strong statement on his blog about the recent mistreatment of the Pope and the Catholic by the New York Times (aka Hell’s Bible).

Among the many good points raised by Archbp. Dolan these are of particular note:

First,…

Last fall I wrote in this blog about anti-Catholicism in the New York Times and other media, providing a list of contemporary examples. A few tried to slap me back into place, suggesting that I stupidly believed the Church to be immune from scrutiny.

Baloney!  The Church needs criticism; we want it; we welcome it; we do a good bit of it ourselves; we do not expect any special treatment…so bring it on.

All we ask is that it be fair and accurate.

The reporting on Pope Benedict XVI has not been so.

Well said.

Farther along, Archbp. Dolan adds with my emphases and comments.

 

Here’s a summary of the key points:

  • The New York Times relied on tort lawyers who currently have civil suits pending against the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and the Holy See, who are aggressively supporting the radical measure right now before the Wisconsin legislature to abrogate the statute of limitations on civil cases of abuse, and who have high financial interest in the matter being reported.  Hardly an impartial source…  [In fact, it seems that there was very little actual investigative journalism done here.  People gave things to the Times.  Think of how certain types of pipes take certain types of things away from your house and into a larger pipe.]
  • The documentation that allegedly supports these sensational charges is published on the website of the New York Times; rather than confirming their theory, the documents instead show that there is no evidence at all that Cardinal Ratzinger ever blocked any decision about Murphy.  Even a New York Times columnist, Ross Douthat, calls this charge “unfair” in his column of March 29.
  • We also find on the website a detailed timeline of all the sickening information about Murphy, data not “uncovered” by any reporter but freely released by the Archdiocese of Milwaukee a number of years back, and thoroughly covered at that time by the local media in Milwaukee.  One wonders why this story, quite exhaustively reported in the past, rose again this very week.  It is hardly “news.” One might therefore ask: Why is this news now? The only reason it is news at all is because of the implication that Cardinal Ratzinger was involved. Yet the documentation does not support that charge, and thus they should have no place in a putatively respectable newspaper.

I am glad that the former Archbishop of Milwaukee, now Archbishop of the city where the New York Times is published, has weighed in.  He is uniquely positioned to raise his voice in protest against the injustice being done to the Pope and the Church in this matter.

I also appreciate that Archbp. Dolan so forcefully confirmed that the Church is in no way afraid of dealing with any cases of harm done to children.  His confirmation resonates with my quote the other day from I, Claudius.  We have to rid ourselves of all the "poisons that lurk in the mud".

WDTPRS sends forceful kudos to Archbishop Dolan.   

I am sure you readers will, along with me say, a prayer for his spiritual support each day as this continues.

You might drop him a note.

 

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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27 Comments

  1. becket1 says:

    I think the New York Times is going to listen to Archbishop Dolan about the same as the Rev John Jenkins listened to various Archbishops, when he hosted Obama. It will go on deaf ears!. They only care about a good story. Best advice don’t buy their newspaper. I doubt the editor is going to read any of your responses. He probably get tons of email every day regarding all kinds of topics and stories. Kudos to Archbishop Dolan though!!.

  2. pfreddys says:

    The Archbishop makes a good point about the timing of the stories. Well all these ‘scandal stories’ are timed to achieve particular results. We had the initial media saturation about ‘pedophile priests around the turn of the millennium. Just on the heels of that saturation came the big push for homosexual ‘marriage’. I am absolutely convinced that the scandal was concocted as a preemptive strike to knock the Church out of the debate while the secularists go about their perversion of marriage.

  3. becket1 says:

    I really think that the main concern for all Catholics (practicing that is) today. Is how are Catholics going to restore the faith in Europe. How is the church going to turn an atheistic continent back to God. It will take more than your prayers to make it happen.

  4. becket1 says:

    I would really like to see Archbishop Dolan go out to the streets of Holland, or Austria and make his defense.

  5. becket1 says:

    Go out to were the sinners are!.

  6. TJerome says:

    The New York Daily news wrote an editorial today coming to Pope Benedict’s defense and slammed Maureen Dowd (fake Catholic in residence at the Slimes) for her lies.

    I think a faithful Catholic who does not cancel the Slimes is crazy. Protest needs to be said with MONEY the only language the Slimes understands.

    But I am very proud of Archbishop Dolan. He is the perfect man to take them on because he is a reasonable man, unfailingly courteous, and smart. The Slimes despises those attributes.

  7. becket1 says:

    Or as the Church would have done in the Middle Ages. Excommunicated them!!. Show some backbone!.

  8. Bornacatholic says:

    Fantastic. Fighting the enemy is necessary. The worst thing we could do is act supine and remain silent.

    Who care if the NY Times won’t listen? Catholics must see their Church resist and war against the enemy.

    Quietism is not an option.

    The Catholic Church is experiencing a savage and unjust attack and it is past time the American Hierarchy took a stand and started identifying as lies the lies the media are spreading.

    And it is past time the American Hierarchy began to awaken to the fact that the World remains our enemy and trying to curry favor with it only makes the world laugh at us and think it can crush us by any means necessary.

    This morning, NPR was calling for the resignation of Pope Benedict ans Sylvia Poggioli was quoting The Pope out of context to cast him in the worst possible light. And then NPR interviewed some guy who spoke about how difficult it would be for the Pope to resign (who would accept his resignation?)rather than to say – “What the hell kind of question is that? He has done nothing wrong. Why are you asking him to resign when there is no evidence he has done anything wrong?”

    Since the 1960s, we have acted as though we can make friends with the world; since the 1960s we have acted as though we can open ourselves to the world; since the 1960s we have told ourselves the sign of the times were such that the world was maturing and that it was eager to hear the Good News of Salvation we have.

    How’s that let’s-open-the-windows-because we-have-correctly-read-the-signs-of-the-times thingy working out for us?

  9. wanda says:

    At the Cardinal Newman Society’s web page, we can join in a Spiritual Bouquet being assembled for our Holy Father. It is being put together and will be a promise of the prayers of many for Pope Benedict throughout the Easteride season.

  10. becket1 says:

    Do you all really think the Popes of the past would have taken the liberals heresies. They would have taken action!. Heck back in the times of the Crusades look what they did. Not to duplicate all they did, but they took action. Which is my point. There is way to much autonomy in the Catholic Church today. Way to much!.

  11. sejoga says:

    I realize that it would be pretty irregular for Archbishop Dolan to get a red hat, because Cardinal Egan is still of voting age in a papal conclave, but at some point Benedict is going to have to do something to ensure that good bishops are rewarded and bad bishops are… dealt with… (I hesitate to say ‘punished’), and a good place to begin would be to make this guy a Cardinal in the presumably soon-to-come consistory.

  12. Tom in NY says:

    A worthy successor to John Hughes. He knows there will be more battles to come.

    Salutationes omnibus.

  13. irishgirl says:

    Bravo to the Archbishop! I sent him a thank-you message on his blog.

    TJerome-I’m glad to see that the NY Daily News slammed the Slimes!

    Oooo-I’ll have to go on the Cardinal Newman Society’s site and sign that Spiritual Bouquet! Thanks, wanda, for telling us!

  14. TNCath says:

    A very well written piece. Father Raymond D’Souza’s article, referenced also by Archbishop Dolan, is icing on the cake.

    Of course, The New York Times will never admit it is wrong on this, no matter what anyone else says.

    I know this is a serious charge and say this with great trepidation, but I’m beginning to think Maureen Dowd is diabolical. Seriously. Sincerely. Truthfully.

  15. Margaret says:

    I am so thankful Abp. Dolan is in charge in NYC. He’s just the right mix Gotham-dwellers need– very personable, but also very tough when needs be.

  16. Paul M says:

    Maureen Dowd goes for an allout attack on the Church this morning in Hell’s Bible: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/31/opinion/31dowd.html?src=me

    This woman loves to spew venom.

  17. Randii says:

    The press are generally vultures and this is what they do.

    I think it’s wrong to divert too much attention to the press though.

    Believing Catholics should be as angry at their bishops and at Rome for allowing this to go on for so long. In the US there was an effort at cover-up by some. When this came out were bishops removed? Hardly. That is on Rome’s hands IMO.

    Most folks today know not to trust the MSM but the tragedy is most folks today don’t trust the Catholic church either.

    The real travesty isn’t the MSM articles. it the betrayal by some shepards and that is why churches are empty in the US, schools are closing and serious searchers choosing Christianity are embracing evangelicalism or Orthodoxy instead of Catholicism.

    Ron Dreher is a perfect example but there are others.

    The focus of Catholics should not be in demanding retractions from the Times or whomever. It should be in demanding replacement of bishops and removal of orders of sisters and cleaning up of Catholic schools in terms of what is taught. The scandal is real and only Rome can bring it to an end.

  18. PeterK says:

    maybe we should ask the NYT why there have been no more stories about Roman Polanski. Ask them why Hollywood types support Polanski?

  19. pjthom81 says:

    An idea….

    This will, unfortunately, only work for the online version of Hell’s Bible, but there are comments on Dowd’s ravings. Why not post some of our own and drive the number of people who “approve” way the heck up and make the online edition at least reflect both sides?

  20. daniwcca says:

    Can someone (Fr. or someone else) address the concerns of the faithful, as to why it appears Cardinal Law is being protected by the Vatican? From reading the comments on the Archbishops blog, it appears that an overwhelming concern of Catholics is that Law has been protected, is still being protected by the Vatican.

  21. Bornacatholic says:

    The NY Times is a Jewish Paper and it publishes mendacious attacks against the Vicar of Christ during Holy Week; and not a few of those attacks have been written by Jews.

    If a Christian paper published mendacious attacks against Rabbis and Judaism during Yom Kippur there would be hell to pay.

    Not only would there be hell to pay, many Catholics would be among the first to denounce the lies and condemn as antisemites those who published the lies.

    Remember this silence the next time some clown starts-in on Pope Pius XII who was not silent.

    In his person, The Vicar of Christ is recapitulating the Passion while the NY Times, the Secular Sanhedrin, calls-forth liar after liar to bear public false witness against him so as to Crown the Vicar of Christ as King of the Guilty.

    He has silently taken the beating; he is been flailed with the Scourge of Lies; he has been dressed in a Robe of Reprehensibility; he has been Crowned the King of Guilty; and he has Shouldered the Cross of Hatred; and he is walking towards Calvary.

    My God I love this Pope so. Please comfort him Lord Jesus and strengthen him and woe betide one of us who forgets what the Secular Sanhedrin has done to him and to us.

  22. Geoffrey says:

    “The NY Times is a Jewish Paper and it publishes mendacious attacks against the Vicar of Christ during Holy Week; and not a few of those attacks have been written by Jews.”

    Isn’t a comment like that borderline anti-Semitic?

  23. Jim of Bowie says:

    As I read the Antiphon for Psalm 62 in tonights Vespers, I couldn’t help but think of the NY Times:

    ‘Let us lie in wait for the virtuous man, since he opposes our way of life,’ say the wicked.

    Maybe that should replace ‘All the News That’s Fit to Print.

  24. Bornacatholic says:

    Me “The NY Times is a Jewish Paper and it publishes mendacious attacks against the Vicar of Christ during Holy Week; and not a few of those attacks have been written by Jews.”

    Isn’t a comment like that borderline anti-Semitic?

    I suppose it is in that any accurate statement about Jews is axiomatically thought antisemitic.

    But if you go back and read what I wrote, you will see I was specific in my criticism and very careful not to condemn all Jews. And that is because I am not antisemitic and I do not condemn all Jews.

    Your comment, in my opinion, highlights the reality that far too many of us refuse to call a thing what it is for fear of The Jews.

  25. idatom says:

    Fr. Z.;

    I would like to see Archbishop Dolan end his article something like this.

    The New York Times was THE World PAPER without peer when the current publisher’s father was at the helm. It was indeed an very important part of our media. In those days The Times even spoke highly of Pius XII. Sad to say, as you can see this is no longer the case, so as of today I am canceling my subscription to the Times. I’m not asking New Yorkers to do the same but, It Couldn’t Hoit!

    Tom Lanter

  26. pfreddys says:

    @Bornacatholic:
    Excellent analogy about the Vicar of Christ going through some of Christ’s trials during Holy Week!

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