Te Deum laudamus!: Cardinal Wm Levada takes on the NY Times hit piece on Pope, and more...

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Cardinal Wm Levada takes on the NY Times hit piece on Pope, and more...

The unobjective and shoddy manner of journalism by so-called professional sources, has been too much to take. I have not ceased subsriptions to newspapers and magazines because of the web. I enjoy having a piece of paper in my hand. There are places you just can't take a lap top (or shouldn't). I don't know how else to say it, but many newspapers these days are better used as toilet paper and the NY Times is one of them.

There have been a number of hit pieces in the NY Times against the Holy Father which are seriously lacking in credibility. A number of bishops and journalists have risen to the Pope's defense. I've even seen a surprising number of people from the most unexpected places take on the NY Times piece. I'll provide some links at the bottom for further reading on this subject.

However, given that Cardinal Levada has taken the time to speak out on the NY Times shoddy journalism and editorial work, please take the time to read what he says in full.

In his introduction to the piece, Catholic journalist Rocco Palmo writes:

Over these last days, you've seen many responses by top clerics regarding Pope Benedict's actions as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, all criticizing the reporting of the record as produced by the New York Times.

Until now, though, you've seen nothing like this.

In the biggest underscore yet of the significance and seriousness which the Vatican has taken the 25 March Times piece laying out the Murphy Case, Catholic San Francisco features a rare intervention: an extensive commentary on the situation from the pontiff's successor at the CDF -- the city's former archbishop, now Cardinal William Levada

.Here is the beginning of Cardinal Levada's article. He's just getting warmed up in these first two paragraphs:

By Cardinal William J. Levada
Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

In our melting pot of peoples, languages and backgrounds, Americans are not noted as examples of “high” culture. But we can take pride as a rule in our passion for fairness. In the Vatican where I currently work, my colleagues – whether fellow cardinals at meetings or officials in my office – come from many different countries, continents and cultures. As I write this response today (March 26, 2010) I have had to admit to them that I am not proud of America’s newspaper of record, the New York Times, as a paragon of fairness.

I say this because today’s Times presents both a lengthy article by Laurie Goodstein, a senior columnist, headlined “Warned About Abuse, Vatican Failed to Defrock Priest,” and an accompanying editorial entitled “The Pope and the Pedophilia Scandal,” in which the editors call the Goodstein article a disturbing report (emphasis in original) as a basis for their own charges against the Pope. Both the article and the editorial are deficient by any reasonable standards of fairness that Americans have every right and expectation to find in their major media reporting.....

You can finish reading it in three places where it is in full, including the Vatican's website where it is now posted. I recommend the first because Rocco offers many useful links for background.