John L. Allen on a case in Ireland: a priest, falsely accused, but the press doesn’t make corrections

Posted on 9 December 2011 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

While I have posted some items about dreadful pieces in the Fishwrap, to be fair there is a good piece by my friend the nearly-ubiquitous John L Allen, Jr. about the persecution of a priest falsely accused of abuse of children.  HERE.

A priest, Fr. Kevin Reynolds, was falsely accused and the Irish press got out the knives.  When it was demonstrated that the priest was innocent, the Irish press did not correct its stance.

It is a longish piece, but I urge you nonetheless to go read it.  Allen makes excellent points about a serious problem.

Pray for the Church in Ireland and the Irish people.

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

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5 Comments

  1. Titus says:
    9 December 2011 at 2:08 PM

    European legal systems often have highly rigorous defamation laws, in case anyone is interested.

  2. jjfxg says:
    9 December 2011 at 2:20 PM

    Sad, but overall not surprising.
    Pray for Ireland

  3. Henry Edwards says:
    9 December 2011 at 2:38 PM

    Mr. Allen: “First, there’s no moral equivalence between the agony experienced by victims of sexual abuse, especially children, and the hardships of a falsely accused priest.”

    But is it not conceivable that in some cases the agony of the falsely accused priest may be worse.

  4. Soler says:
    9 December 2011 at 3:07 PM

    A priest, Fr. Kevin Reynolds, was falsely accused and the Irish press got out the knives. When it was demonstrated that the priest was innocent, the Irish press did not correct its stance.

    It was the national broadcaster, not the Irish press as a whole, that got out the knives. And it did correct its stance.

    RTÉ’s calumny has received widespread press coverage here, including from RTÉ itself.

  5. letchitsa1 says:
    9 December 2011 at 9:40 PM

    Sadly, RTE’s calumny is more widespread than just the press. Definitely pray for Ireland. From what a friend over there tells me, she needs it.

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