Continuing Double Standards

Continuing Double Standards | David F. Pierre, Jr. | Catholic World Report

Major media outlets continue to turn a blind eye to the abuse of children in public schools, while rehashing decades-old accusations against the Church.

Does the abuse of innocent children really upset the decision-makers at our country’s leading newspapers, or is it only bothersome if it involves the Catholic Church?

Just weeks ago in April, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops released its annual audit of compliance with the 2002 Dallas Charter, the landmark initiative by the bishops to deal with accusations of abuse by priests.

The report concluded that in 2011 there were a mere seven credible abuse accusations against Catholic priests in all of the United States involving minors.

While any number greater than zero is upsetting, the report demonstrates that no other organization is striving to make itself a safe environment for children more than the Catholic Church in the United States. Between annual audits, diocesan review boards, abuse prevention training, millions spent every year on therapy and settlements for victims, and more, the Catholic Church has taken unprecedented steps to keep the children in its care safe.

Yet you would never know this from reading some of the nation’s leading opinion-makers.

According to a recent editorial in the Washington Post, the Church still “protects abusers” and “remains focused more on safeguarding its image than protecting victims.”

The New York Times’ Maureen Dowd claims the Church is “more offended by nuns’ impassioned advocacy for the poor than by priests’ sordid pedophilia,” while the Boston Globe’s Joan Vennochi would have you believe that Pope Benedict himself “tolerates” a “worldwide network of priests” that enables child abuse.

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Meanwhile, these same journalists who want you to believe that the abuse of children is still a pervasive problem in the Church today are largely ignoring shocking abuses and cover-ups happening today in our public schools.

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