Catholic League's Inaccurate Critique of FAIR
|
(Tue, 13 May 2008 15:24:35 -0500 (CDT)) ---
Media Advisory
Catholic League's Inaccurate Critique of FAIR
Group mischaracterized document in defending Pope Benedict
5/13/08
UPDATE--The Catholic League, a conservative Catholic advocacy organization, has challenged the accuracy of FAIR's April 29 media advisory, "Pope Gets Pass on Church Abuse History." In a May 2 release, "Media Watchdog, FAIR, Smears Pope," League president Bill Donohue challenged FAIR's report that before he was elected pope, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger "sent 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."
According to Donohue, "The document did not apply to sexual misconduct--it applied only to sexual solicitation that might take place in the confessional." Donohue went on to say that because "the policy was specifically aimed at protecting the secrecy of the confessional, it called for an ecclesiastical response: Civil authorities were not to be notified because it involved a sacrament of the Catholic Church, not a crime of the state."
Donohue, who accused FAIR of failing to read the document, is in error. "Crimen Sollicitationis," the 1962 Vatican document in question, explicitly includes acts taking place outside, as well as inside, the confessional. Under the headline "On the Worst Crime" (Chapter V, article 73), the scope of the document is extended to include "any obscene, external act, gravely sinful, perpetrated in any way by a cleric or attempted by him with youths of either sex or with brute animals."
The issue of whether "Crimen" applied to acts committed outside the confessional was addressed by Monsignor Brian Ferme, a doctor of canon law, in "Il Proceso Penale Canonico," a book published by Lateran University Press, a publishing house affiliated with the Vatican. As Monsignor Ferme explained, "While the instruction dealt specifically with solicitation and the procedural norms to be applied in judging this crime, the fifth chapter stated that the same norms were also to be observed for the 'crimen pessimum' (article 71), which was understood to include paedophilia (article 73)."
FAIR's advisory accurately criticized media for failing to mention Ratzinger's letter and other evidence suggesting that, prior to being named pope, Ratzinger attempted to conceal and downplay the church's sex abuse scandal.
******
Our subscriber list is kept confidential. To unsubscribe from this list at any time, visit our web at: fair@democracyinaction.org with "unsubscribe" in the subject line.
Feel free to respond to FAIR ( fair@fair.org ). We can't reply to everything, but we will look at each message. We especially appreciate documented examples of media bias or censorship. And please send copies of your email correspondence with media outlets, including any responses, to fair@fair.org.
Your donation to FAIR goes a long way. Help us hold mainstream media accountable. Make a difference -- support FAIR today!
If you would prefer to receive these messages in HTML format, please visit our website to change your Email Preferences. Go to:
SUBSCRIBE TO EXTRA! AND GET FAIR FOUNDER JEFF COHEN'S NEW BOOK FOR FREE:
Cable News Confidential: My Misadventures in Corporate Media
FAIR SHIRTS: Get your "Don't Trust the Corporate Media" shirt today at FAIR's online store:
FAIR produces CounterSpin, a weekly radio show heard on over 130 stations in the U.S. and Canada. To find the CounterSpin station nearest you, visit
FAIR
(212) 633-6700
E-mail: fair@fair.org
FAIR (fair@fair.org).
|
You may contact Vunet.org staff via E-mail address (MSN, Yahoo! or email) :
">Contact Us.
 print article
text version
|
|
www.fair.org
Give article a thumb up.
My favorite Vunet video is (Suosikki videoni Vunetissa on) ...
readers picks
watch music videos
write comment for this video
go to random article
join mailing list