Hardball?
Bill Donohue's hopping mad... again. In a release this afternoon, he went on a tear:
I've gotta say -- one of the smartest things Ed Egan ever did was to kick the Catholic League out of the New York chancery. Did it spare the rest of us headaches? Well, no... but at least it stripped those headaches of the appearance of coming from competent authority.
Next on deck in the "vultures in their place" department: The Cardinal Newman Society....
-30-
"The sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church is no longer about the alleged victims—they have had their day in court—it is about the victimization of the Catholic Church. The time has come for the Catholic Church to put the vultures in their place."Vultures in their place, i.e. Bill Donahue in some cable TV interview chair. He makes me look peaceful... But there's more.
"Bishops would do well not to listen to those who always want to settle and start playing hardball. It’s time to countersue."Oh, God. Here we go with the Viking funeral bit -- it's one of Donahue's strengths.
I've gotta say -- one of the smartest things Ed Egan ever did was to kick the Catholic League out of the New York chancery. Did it spare the rest of us headaches? Well, no... but at least it stripped those headaches of the appearance of coming from competent authority.
Next on deck in the "vultures in their place" department: The Cardinal Newman Society....
-30-
posted by Rocco Palmo at 17:58
4 Comments:
This is the first I've seen the Catholic League comment on it, but the situation in Spokane does seem to be something of a disaster, and the judge does seem to be on something of a tear...
Well, I do rather agree with Mr Donahue. The present situation doesn't really seem to be about healing or forgiveness, but rather just plain money. Lots of money. In fact, as Forbes Magazine put it a while back, Catholic child abuse is the ASBESTOS of the 21st century!
Donahue may be a blowhard, but he's right on here. The "victims" and their lawyers have gotten away with the "we're victims, so you can't criticize us" meme for way too long. Blowback from Cindy Sheehan's manipulative pr tactics?
A few things:
- There is a victim mentality in American society; it's hard to move beyond the cycle of anger (a needed stage in healing) to the natural healthy development that follows.
- I don't think Donohue is the person to call the victims on their excesses. He's been over the top in too many instances.
- Sadly, I don't think the bishops themselves are in a place to do it either; they have too much invested in restoring their own reputations to suggest the victims and their lawyers are going overboard.
Face it: we live in a litigious society. Don't admit blame. Don't apologize. Hold out for the best possible settlement. Fact is, if the Church hadn't blundered the pre-1990 cases so badly, they wouldn't be in this spot.
I don't think there's an easy answer. It's not quite true they've gotten away with "we're victims, so you can't criticize." Bernardin's false accuser pretty much stopped the scandal in its tracks for years.
Post a Comment
<< Home