Maureen Dowd and Nicholas D. Kristof, New York Times
The New York Times has shown yet again that the abuse of children does not really bother them unless it involves the Catholic Church. But if there were still any doubt, the Times has now made it perfectly clear that the decades-old abuse of minors by Catholic priests is simply a rhetorical tool with which it can bludgeon the Catholic Church because it does not conform to the paper's left-wing liking.
It was only a week ago when a New York Times editorial fretted about the Catholic Church's efforts to align the dissident leadership of a conference of left-wing nuns with Church doctrine, and the paper predictably used the scandals as a useful cudgel to promote "progressive" dissent.
Now Times' opinion writers Maureen Dowd and Nicholas D. Kristof have double-upped on the Grey Lady's predictable tactic with similar Church-bashing columns running just a week later in the same Sunday issue.
Maureen Dowd: Off the rails
Maureen Dowd's deep-seated animus towards the Catholic Church is nothing new. Yet one cannot help but wonder if she may have outdone herself this time.
Dowd smears the Church by claiming that leaders are "more offended by the nuns' impassioned advocacy for the poor than by priests' sordid pedophilia."
In fact, as we have repeatedly shown, the Catholic Church's efforts to establish safe environments for children are unprecedented anywhere.
In other words, Dowd resorts to false statements and bogus attacks – again – in her latest effort to attack the Church.
Nicholas D. Kristof looks to dissent
Kristof's attack is remarkably similar to Dowd's in its content, tone, and disregard for truthfulness.
Kristof falsely accuses the Church of claiming that nuns are "worrying too much about the poor and not enough about abortion and gay marriage."
After displaying an ignorance of basic knowledge of the Bible and Catholic teaching, Kristof then promotes the views of a number of angry Catholic dissidents.
These figures include Mary E. Hunt, whom Kristof merely identifies as a "Catholic theologian," but who openly cohabitates with her woman 'partner' and whose theology is barely distinguishable from some wacky brand of Universalist-Unitarianism.
Kristof then cites Sr. Joan Chittister, whose public work has been so problematic that she has actually been banned from even speaking in some dioceses.
An obsession and a delusion
The Times' obsession with the Catholic Church has clearly become pathological. It is unwavering in its ideological commitment to bludgeon the Church by any means necessary, and the principle means by which it does this is to endlessly rehash the sex abuse scandals.
Anti-Catholicism is indeed pervasive at the Grey Lady. The paper intensely dislikes the Catholic Church and what it represents. And it cannot countenance the fact that the Vatican is finally pushing back against openly dissenting individuals who have opposed the Church by speaking favorably on "progressive" issues with which the Times aligns itself.
Unfortunately for the Times, the ranks of "liberal" and "progressive" Catholics are now shrinking and increasingly geriatric. "Traditional Catholicism is Winning," despite what the Grey Lady wants you to believe.
The Times can get as huffy as it wants to, but it will simply get even more frustrated if it continues to think it will somehow bully the Catholic Church into changing its 2,000-year-old teachings.
"……..Catholic Church's efforts to align the dissident leadership of a conference of left-wing nuns with Church doctrine……"
Dissident???………what behaviors, conduct, decisions and/or actions constitute a "dissident" leadership?
Left-wing???……….what behaviors, conduct, decisions and/or actions constitute a "left-wing" philosophy?
I think if you actually read the Vatican's doctrinal assessment of the LCWR, you will readily see the concerns that the Holy See has, and your questions will be answered.
I strongly recommend that you read this book: "Ungodly Rage: The Hidden Face of Catholic Feminism" by Donna Steichen. While published in 1991, it is as valid today as ever. The author attended many conferences, workshops and other Catholic feminist organizations and activites and her book is an expose on what she saw and heard. It was enough to convince me that many of these nuns not only dissent from Church teaching, but espouse beliefs that are even Catholic.
Michael Skiendzielewski writes:
Dissident???………what behaviors, conduct, decisions and/or actions constitute a "dissident" leadership?
Left-wing???……….what behaviors, conduct, decisions and/or actions constitute a "left-wing" philosophy?……
Read "Ungodly Rage"……By Donna Steichen…There you will find all your questions answered….
Another great post.
It was never about sex abuse.
When is the Times going bankrupt again?
Mr. Pierre – One question…why do you want in any way do you want to protect people who abuse children?
Answer this question i will listen to anything you have to say after that.
“Protect people who abuse children”? By no means do I or this site do that. That would be atrocious.
Will you please take a look at our ‘ABOUT’ page?
Thanks for listening.
Did you read the webite?
Mr. Pierre,
The last time I checked catholic clergy is the only group molesting children who proclaimed to be Other Christs. Catholic priest pedophiles and the bishops who enabled them ,all over the world, did so while carrying on around altars and the notion of sacred sacraments. When the men who are molesting and raping the children are the same men who are writing liturgies ( as in liturgists), operating as canon lawyers, and otherwise hearing confessions, baptizing, providing "spiritual" direction to the dying, we have on our hands an international conspiracy of monumental proportion. For those of us raised Catholic whose ancestors gave their lives in service to the church, it is no small thing to learn that the men whom we were taught were representing Our Lord Jesus were in fact either child molesters or bishops covering for them, or the mostly silent clergy pedophile enablers.
To compare these catholic priest pedophiles and their bishop enablers' elevated place in society with any other criminal group is disingenuous and, mostly, just plain stupid.
Patricia –
Indeed, the abusive acts committed by criminal priests were abominable (and angering, as you show), and the harm to victims is immeasurable.
However, if there is one thing that Jesus made clear when He was here on Earth, it is that sinners would infiltrate his Church. (See Peter, Judas etc.) “Catholic” does not mean “perfect.”
The Church teaches us that even ministers are sinners, and that the Church suffers and must do penance for sins. (See CCC 827.) This does not dismiss or mitigate any wrongdoing whatsoever.
Indeed, we must demand justice and compassion for victims of clergy abuse, as the Church calls us to do.
Patricia,
You make it seem as if every other priest is a pedophile (have you been reading the New York Times)! That's simply NOT the case and I can't imagine your vitriol helps anyone to heal, least of all the Church.
Patiricia…It was less than 2% of all Priests, mostly homosexual abuse by the way, who were involved….99.98% of Priests were innocent ….And are you kidding about the Catholic Church is the only group abusing children! Ever hear of the public schools "Rubber Room"? Of course, this was an abomination. And the fact that most abusers were sent away for treatment and that the Bishops believed these secular doctors that they were cured so they were put back in ministry was terrible. But the minority that were covered-up was a scandal, I'll agree….. But the Church is the only institution which has implemented changes (prohibiting homosexuals from entering the Priesthood for example) which has resulted in cleaning up this mess, is more than I can say for the public schools or other groups which still have on-going abuse….
Patricia Lawler says:
May 1, 2012 at 7:09 pm
Your post was OUTSTANDING, and the feeble attempts to rebut it fell far short of the mark.
Please tell me soonest where you 'checked' about priests being "Other Christs". I always thought they were servants of Christ (which didn't usually improve the sermons or the singing at Highs and Solemn Highs). I think maybe Cardinal O'Connell thought he was pretty closely related to Christ, but that was Cardinal O'Connell.
I've seen this play before: 'we keep going after the Church because the Church is heinous in a way that no other organization in the whole wide world is heinous because a) Catholics were taught that the parish priest was their King; b) the Pope is even more of a King; c) the Church claims to be 'Divine', d) all of the above … and on that basis the games against the Church can continue until a day or two before the Second Coming because the Church's failure is a much greater failure than any other organization's failure because Catholics are taught that priests are their King and the Pope is God's voice, and the Church is Divine. (This apparently includes the government kidnapping, assassinating, and torturing folks all over the planet. – ain't but a thang.)
What Catholic kid ever believed or was taught any of that is anybody's guess. "King Jesus" is a Protestant phrase, but there is no 'King Priest' (unless you want to tell me that that one line in the ordination ceremony about Melchisedech has been the defining element in every Catholic kid's education). The Pope has never spoken with God's voice except 'ex cathedra' and that's been pretty well established for quite a while. And the Church is divinely-established but not herself 'divine' or a divinity.
Who sold you the book that you 'checked'? You should sue that person.
All this hatred against the Catholic church is uncalled for. Statistics show that child molesters come in every size,shape,color and faith. They come as school teachers, coaches and other people that deal with children. All Catholc priests are NOT molesters, the majority are who and what they are supposed to be.
There is a rabbi in my town that has served time in prison, a number of times. Does that mean all rabbi are molesters? Of course not. I have a friend who was being nurtured into a musical career by someone she trusted and later found out that he was molesting one of her sons and the son of a friend of hers, at the same time. N.Y. Times and all other dissidents against the Catholic church, give it up and seek the truth.
If you look at this article by a Sister high up in the LCWR
http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/politics/5908/we_are_all_nuns
you will notice that she enumerates the following issues as being problematic for her organization: "the doctrine of faith that has been revealed in God by Jesus Christ, presented in written form in the divinely-inspired Scriptures, and handed on in the Apostolic Tradition under the guidance of the Church's Magisterium".
She also says that "Catholics no longer look to Rome for guidance in our personal lives [this apparently includes vowed Religious as well]. Nor do we live within the narrow confines of a cultic Christianity or, as women, accept male leadership and preistly ministry as if theirs were God-given and ours were not".
Even if we leave off the 'men' part, there is some serious question as to just what's left that her organization does accept in Catholicism. You wind up, I would say, with something like the Shakers or a transcendentalist commune. Which if fine, but it's not Catholicism.
This Sister also seems to make the case that she and all other "postmodern Catholics" (whatever that may mean) are not leaving the Church but that rather the Church (as she defines it) has left the Vatican.
I can't see where the Vatican is stepping out of bounds by inquiring further. And inquiring is not Inquisiting, so to speak.
Our Lady has ALREADY crushed the head of the serpent (the NYT, among others). It is a done deal. The fact merely needs to be played out in time.
As we approach the end, when he shall be chained forever in the pits of hell, we should only expect the fury of the Devil to increase.
When we understand this, we'll see that there is no reason for perturbation. Rather, we must go forth into the world with perfect confidence and equanimity to conquer the earth for Jesus Christ, knowing that our victory is absolutely certain.
No surprise. Maureen Dowd is cradle Catholic and a product of the American Catholic education system who once called the church "an inbred and wealthy men’s club cloistered behind walls and disdaining modernity…. an autocratic society that repressed women and ignored their progress in the secular world." Biased? Nawwwwwww. Nothing sadder than a person stewing in her own self-hatred. I feel very very sorry for the people who gets all their information from the bird cage liner which was once the Grey Lady. I'll do my own research, thank you.
The best thing about the NY Times was always their Sunday edition and that they sponsored a great classical radio stationing NY : WQXR. Unfortunately their money has been going bye bye for years now because of the Internet so they had to unload WQXR.
maybe it is not just the internet that is disturbing their readership . it might be , their fevership .
It's difficult at times to endure the constant attacks on the Catholic Church, and even more so when it comes from " fallen" Catholics like Dowd. It goes back to the very beginnning of history and the theme of " I will not serve". What did the bard say about fair is fowl, and fowl is fair? It speaks to what scripture tells us about folly passing for wisdom. In the end, God is not mocked, and his will will be done. We can't judge people, but we can pray for them, which will irratate them even more. We have to be the tolerent ones, while they, the self professed liberals who claim to be tolernet, are just the opposite. Anyone who believes the last 60 years have made this country a better place are deceiving themselves. Political correctness dominayes Western life, and the trend has gone too far to the left to stop now, but judgement and destruction are coming, and America will be brought to its knees. We will use our freedom to lose our freedom.
The New York Times has been in existence since 1851. The Roman Catholic Church has been in existence for 2012 years. The NY Times was founded by Henry Jarvis Raymond and George Jones. The Roman Catholic Church was founded by Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The NY Times will become extinct someday, but the RC Church will last until the end of time. She has that guarantee from her divine Founder: "On this rock, I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it." (Matthew 16:19) So let Maureen Dowd and Nicholas Kristof continue their diabolical ravings. In the end, they will answer to Christ for their slander against His Church. But of course, by then, it will be too late and that will be tragic for them.
What seems apparent.
A Catholic, like myself, speaks of the realities and of the Catholic faith and its virtues and the “thoughtful” response I might get is “why should we listen to baby rapers?”
Christianity has raised the dignity of women who were subjugated and treated as property by nearly all pagan contemporaries and the enemies of the Church have it in their mind that women have been only persecuted by this faith because of a male priesthood.
You document a million instances where the Church has been charitable to the most needy in this world, sacrificed themselves thousands of times as missionaries caring for strangers with food, medicine, education, etc., and all they can speak to is the Inquistion or the Crusades. Bear in mind their secular version of either of those events is of gross distortions and claims.
They accuse the Catholic Church of being enemies of science and progress because of Galileo, but totally ignore the facts of history. The Catholic Church has made innumerable contributions to science in every century, along with enormous advances on government, law, education, medicine, et al.
The facts of the miracle at Fatima are undeniable, they are reluctantly admitted to in a Lisbon Marxist newspaper by those journalists who were initially there to mock the prophesied sign to come. The eye witnesses are in the tens of thousands. The predictions of Mary come true. And the whole matter is dismissed by the skeptics or referred to as mass hallucination. Either way, it is always forgotten, and yet they demand “give us a sign.”
Weeping statues of Mary or Jesus number in the scores. No one really wants to investigate said phenomena. They prefer to contend the witnesses all lie or that the nuns are assembling gimmicks to feign the miracle. Yes, real integrity or scholarship there.
Padre Pio has to suffer with hands and feet bleeding daily for 50 years as a true sign from God, but the proud and defiant are sure he is faking it for attention. They ignore how truly impossible such a task would be to stage, but still act as though God never manifests himself in any credible way. To these deniers of the faith no miracle assumes any greater credibility than an alleged image of Mary on a grill cheese sandwich.
The Catholic Church teaches that all are sinners, prone to human weakness and temptation and fall short of the glory. And so when it occurs repeatedly within the priesthood, the mocker uses this as his evidence the faith is false. No matter it is a very small percentage of priest guilty of gross disobedience, they remain the reason all priests are of no value, the reason the teachings of Christ are false. Indulgences were sold as a fast ticket to heaven and Martin Luther rebelled, and threw the baby out with the bath water. The Church has shown great sin and weakness and paid heavy prices, but the truths remain. So does all its virtues. Even Christ had a traitor in his own ranks, why should we expect purity in ours?
They accuse the pope of acting as though he is perfect, infallible in all his words. Of course they should know that has never been the case, but still it is waged against the Church. Meanwhile, we acknowledge corrupt popes in the past and try to explain it is not the man who is divinely ordained, it is the office established by Christ, first with fallible Peter.
Some new age philosopher of educated or amateur status assures the world that “I am spiritual but not religious.” Another gains viral popularity by saying “I love Jesus but hate religion.” How insightful and profound! These are the voices of people who do not want to find the one true God, the voices of people who want to live their lives according to how they would like God to be — that is, one who lets them have their cake and eat it too. Oh please go on preaching because Augustine and Aquinas and Padre Pio were fanciful fools who led so much of us astray hitherto.
Another tiresome defense of secularism: “religion is the cause of more wars than all others.” As wrong as that is, the fact they have to keep using the word “religion” so they can group Catholicism with Islam, et al. is disingenuous. But still they take comfort in that thinking this is a good reason to ignore God in any church.
Have we not also heard ad nauseum “Christianity is nothing but a bunch of man-made rules.” Can someone expound on that? What rules are “God-made” then?
Then we must suffer idiotic musings such as “Can God make a rock too heavy for Him to lift?” As though if we cannot answer that question satisfactorily then they think they have demonstrated we have a faith that makes no sense. What is the true ulterior motivation for all their bizarre questions?… it is obvious.
So here it is. Yes, secular and agnostic world, we know and admit that many of our priests and bishops are guilty of heinous crimes against their fellow man. It is unforgiveable (in some sense only), especially the cover-ups. This wound in the Church and its effectiveness in witnessing will never heal. The devil has won a great battle. We know this. All that can be done now is to ask forgiveness and try to make amends with the victims of the past and corrections for the future. And despite foes calling Benedict a nazi and an enabler he has made great efforts to do the right thing. It will never be acknowledged. Even though less than 5% of priests have been accused or involved and an even smaller percentage of bishops engaged in a cover-up, the whole Church is guilty, the whole Church is corrupt, and their many accusers are the true “holy ones” of this world apparently?
So, fine, it if it be your lot in life to use the sex scandals and cover-up to dismiss all truths revealed by the Catholic Church since the time of Christ, then so be it. Let that be your defense when you come before your Creator at the time of death. Tell God why you ignored all the truths preached to you, why you demanded a sign but then callously dismissed all those signs with the most flimsy of arguments. Tell God the reason you went through life without any real prayer, why you taught your children nothing of spiritual importance, why you did not think being that charitable to your neighbor mattered that much, was because you were angry at the Catholic Church for sex scandals. Tell God the reason you were sure all that was revealed by the Catholic Church was false or meaningless was because you knew of some bishops who did not properly report a priest who committed a sexual crime. Tell God the reason you engaged in a life of materialism, lust, self indulgences and comfort was because you never saw any sign of God or eternal truths during your life’s experiences, so you felt entitled to go it your own way. And any time some witness brought forth the love of Christ in the Church or a reason to believe, you just said “what good is a church that has baby rapers?” It will all make perfect sense to a God who apparently never expected anything more than that from you.
“For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.”
Thank you, Margaret!
Did you forget to take your meds?
This post was about the Times using sex abuse to lobby for left wing changes that it likes.
I penned it just for you, Howard. Maybe I am an angel (messenger) sent by a grieving Lord?
The NY Times kicks at steel walls with feet of clay.This world is darkened and the enemies of God work openly now..their time is short and they will be destroyed eventually..the Church shall always remain.Those who judge shall likewise be judged..and they will have no excuse.They are also part of prophesy now beginning to unravel..that the church shall be persecuted and oppressed..this is happening now..in it's infant stages.Catholics do not worry,nor fear,nor are we swayed by the hateful bias rhetoric of Godless immoral people who set themselves up against God.We will however pray for them.As for the employees of the NY times..are there any Catholics within their ranks..if so..why the silence while your faith is mocked and attacked?
I would challenge both writers, since they profess to be Catholic, to begin praying the rosary every day without fail. As someone who was away from the Church for 25 years, I can assure them that praying the rosary will lead them to the Truth. May they be sanctified in the Truth and realize all that is good in the Church and try to be a part of that good instead of constantly trying to tear it down. May God grant them His healing, comfort and peace.
I wonder if the NYT ever reports on OTHER religions scandals or do they single out the Catholic Church due to some deep-seated hatred and personal bias. I bet they never see anything wrong with the Moslem's. Seems that they only attack the churches that remain silent and humble. They only attack the ones that do not attack back.
Let them attack the Hebrew faith and see what happens to them very quickly. The Jews would not stand for it. They would make the NYT wish they could find a hole to hide in. I respect them for standing their ground and defending their faith. I wish our Bishops did.
Can you imagine how quickly the New York Times would curtail their hatred if instead of attacking God loving, polite, do on to others as you would have them do onto you followers of the true church of Jesus Christ, the Catholic Church, if instead they attacked Muslims? Why they would run for cover so fast and apologize and devote front page coverage to the glories of Islam the likes you would think they now thought each reporter was going to be bludgeoned to death or viciously attacked at their homes or on the street so much apologetic coverage would they give. You know evil when it attacks the cross of Christ, and the New York Times is as evil as Satan because it is his arm in today's world destroying the followers of Jesus Christ in his church. You think maybe they just might have a neurosis as a company? You shall know them by their fruits, and the fruits of The New York Times are rotten to the core.
The Times is not noted for having professional and ethical people reporting for them. some of them even lack personal ethics.
one has to wonder , why did so many pagans leave their belief systems and join the christian faith even to the point of death ? could it have been because , their belief system was so abusive and one sided , ( almost as if it were governed by man-made rules ) that benifited those at the top . yes , look at the islanders , who sacrificed virgins to the fire-god , or , those virgins were counter culture and showed that the culture was immoral . the problems with these wordsmiths is that they are given the platform to spew and we live our lives in good example . i suspect that due to the greater attraction there may be more going to the interstate and less using the county roads . john leary .com./ has shown how god wants us to continue our humble ways and seek the kingdom of god first , and then all things will be given to us .
If the NYT was truly up in arms about the sex abuse of children, they would be blasting the gubamint school systems daily.
Margaret said it all. Thank you. Love your enemies and do good to those who persecute you. Who is your neighbor? Love God with all your heart, with all your mind and with all your strength and love your neighbor as you love yourself. Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect. Be "other Christs". Be love and live the life you were created to live.
To the person who said that the 'Church' when attacked does not hit back. Depends what you mean by 'Church'. Aren't you all a part of the Church – and aren't you hitting back here ?
If by 'Church' yu speak about 'hierarchy'. You try attacking them and see if they 'hit back' or not. An innoncent, victim/survvor going to them to make them aware of abuse, believing they will protect said person – knowing she/she is speaking the truth and telling them so. Then whe they have you where they want you – they send their dogs after you – hounding you to near death. 'Lawyers'. They don't just 'attack' – they go for the jugular – the kill.
I am not anti Catholic. That's one thing they did not strip from me – my faith, given me by good parents. And what prevented me giving wholly to despair and ending the torment they put me through, and in time, those good parents too.
The gates of hell will not prevail against the filth, rot and corruption WITHIN the Church. Thank God for the 'media' or the truth we spoke, lived through – the hell we endured would never have come to light. And you 'traditional' Catholics would still have it in darkness from my experience of your kind.
Thank you NYT for any such help.
I go to Mass every day. I agree with the poster who suggests to all you 'true' 'traditional'ly would be Cathoics, that you get off your soap boxes, quit with the jugement and pray the rosary every day.
God bless you all
Great post.
I bought the book Double Standard and it is spot on.
These lefties don't care about sex abuse; they onky care about damaging the Catholic church.
We need more sites like this to keep the media honest.
Poor Mauren Dowd, that aging spinster has become so loopy that I find her a delight to read and I am sure she does not want men like me laughing at her. If there exists anyone anywhere who so often misses the wrong target she mistakenly identiifes as the right target I am unaware of who it might be.
She obviously knows on which side her Bagel is buttered and the feminist fizgig is not about to endanger her paycheck by writing facts about Holy Mother Church.
Pity the poor spinster, alone in the world without a husband and childen and whose actualisation of feminist ideology has left her lonely and bitter.
Because liberalism is a spiritual malady that effects the will in such a deadly way, one worries that the spinster, like almost all liberals, lacks the humility necesary to turn back on the path to perdition she is waltzing down; nobody wants to see a person pointed towards perdition, especially one whose does have talent that could be put to the service of The Lord.
Amen
Here's an exercise in logic for all you products of that glorious Catholic educational system.
A – You must believe that the Church hierarchy is infallible in matters of faith.
B – It is a fact that some priests have used their position to abuse defenseless children and that senior members of the hierarchy knew of it and did not immediately stop it. It is self-evident that this is morally, ethically, religiously wrong.
Ergo, the Church hierarchy has been proven not to be infallible. Why do you continue to believe that it is?