Hollywood's "Spotlight" Attacks Moral Authority, Ignores Gay Predators' Attacks on Thousands of non-Catholic Young Victims in past, and present
Hollywood's "Spotlight" Attacks Moral Authority, Ignores Gay Predators'
Attacks on Thousands of non-Catholic Young Victims
SHINING THE LIGHT ON "SPOTLIGHT"
Bill Donohue of the Catholic League says ( in part)
".....The goal (of Hollywood) was, and still is, to
attenuate the moral authority of the Catholic Church. It certainly wasn't
outrage over the sexual abuse of minors that stirred their interest: if that
were the case, then many other institutions would have been put under
the microscope. But none were......"
..............The movie "Spotlight" is bound to spark more conversation about the
sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church. Unfortunately, much of
what the American public knows about this issue is derived from the
popular culture, something this film will only abet. Therefore, the time is
ripe to revisit what the actual data on this subject reveal.
When the Boston Globe sent the nation reeling in 2002 with revelations
of priestly sexual abuse, and the attendant cover-up, Catholics were
outraged by the level of betrayal. This certainly included the Catholic
League. The scandal cannot be denied. What is being denied, however, is
the existence of another scandal- the relentless effort to keep the abuse
crisis alive, and the deliberate refusal to come to grips with its origins.
Both scandals deserve our attention.
Myth: The Scandal Never Ended
When interviewed about the scandal in 2002 by the New York Times, I
said, "I am not the church's water boy. I am not here to defend the
indefensible." In the Catholic League's 2002 Annual Report, I even
defended the media. "The Boston Globe, the Boston Herald, and the New
York Times covered the story with professionalism," I wrote.
A decade later things had changed.
In the Catholic League's 2011 Annual Report, I offered a critical assessment of the media. "In a nutshell," I said, "what changed was this: in 2011, unlike what happened in 2002, virtually
all the stories were about accusations against priests dating back decades,
sometimes as long as a half-century ago. Keep in mind that not only were
most of the priests old and infirm, many were dead; thus, only one side of
the story could be told. Adding to our anger was the fact that no other
institution, religious or secular, was being targeted for old allegations."
It became clear that by 2011 we were dealing with two scandals, not one.
Scandal I was internal- the church-driven scandal. This was the result of
indefensible decisions by the clergy: predatory priests and their enabling
bishops.
Scandal II was external, the result of indefensible cherry-picking
of old cases by rapacious lawyers and vindictive victims' groups. They
were aided and abetted by activists, the media, and Hollywood................
Donahue's full commentary here at this link:
http://www.catholicleague.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/SHINING-THE-LIGHT-ON-SPOTLIGHT.pdf