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634. Pope and Roman Catholic under attack (5/5/2010)
Here are some excerpts from news articles of San Jose Mercury News in recent weeks.
"Sex abuse scandal taints Palm Sunday services
....Cardinal Sean Brady.... as a youthful priest 35 years ago, had two boys sign papers not to reveal scandal. "The inquiry had the effect of shielding and prolonging the career of a priest who was exposed 15 years later as the most notorious child-abuser in the history of Irish church. But the Vatican has been buffeted by recent disclosures of inaction as well."
(New York Times, 3/30/2010)
"AP: Abuse case delayed for years
Vatican waited 12 years to defrock Arizona priest" (A.P. 4/3/2010)
"Vatican defends pope, criticizes New York Times
... an article describing failed efforts by Wisconsin church officials to persuade the Vatican to defrock a priest who had abused as many as 200 deaf boys from 1950 to 1974. The pope, then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, was head of the Vatican’s doctrinal office when the case was referred there in 1996." (New York Times, 4/2/2010)
"Pope delayed defrocking
A former East Bay priest with a long record of sexually abusing children remained in the clergy for years while then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, bucked pleas from the from the Oakland Diocese to defrock him in the 1980s, according to an A.P. report citing church documents." (jsimerman@bayareanewsgroup.com , 4/10/2010)
"Pope's link to '90s Austrian abuse case under scrutiny" (New York Times, 4/27/2010)
"News of abusive priest hit Vatican year earlier
Rome was warned of molester in '95, not '96 as claimed" (A.P. 4/23/2010)
What do you learn from these news?
1. The cases mostly took place in '80s and '90s, some even were 50 years ago.
2. Most reports target at Benedict XVI when he was a Cardinal.
3. All these news appear in later March and April. It is exactly what Vatican called as a "campaign of attacks on the pope and the church.
What is the purpose of this propaganda campaign? Since this January, the Inside group works hard to frame a drug case and then to start the war on Iran. The war effort was especially active in April. As a leader of Catholic, Pope Benedict XVI is against war. Then we saw this campaign. It lowers the moral image of the Pope. Once the war starts, his anti-war voice would be weakened. How can Vatican criticize others when its own profile is tainted?
Media played important role in propaganda for the Iraq war. Now it beats the drum again for another war.
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