posted by Rocco Palmo at 22:52
One of global Catholicism's most prominent chroniclers, Rocco Palmo has held court as the "Church Whisperer" since 2004, when the pages you're reading were launched with an audience of three, grown since by nothing but word of mouth, and kept alive throughout solely by means of reader support.
A former US correspondent for the London-based international Catholic weekly The Tablet, he's been a church analyst for The New York Times, Associated Press, Washington Post, Reuters, Los Angeles Times, BBC, NBC, CNN and NPR among other mainstream print and broadcast outlets worldwide.
A native of Philadelphia, Rocco Palmo attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. In 2010, he received a Doctorate of Humane Letters honoris causa from Aquinas Institute of Theology in St Louis.
In 2011, Palmo co-chaired the first Vatican conference on social media, convened by the Pontifical Councils for Culture and Social Communications. By appointment of Archbishop Charles Chaput OFM Cap., he's likewise served on the first-ever Pastoral Council of the Archdiocese, whose Church remains his home.
Thoughts for the author? E.mail him: rocco@theloggia.org
3 Comments:
Greg, would you say the same holds true for Ronald Reagan, Newt Gingrich, Bob Dole, or people who have set aside their original marriage vows? How long is a proper period of penance (assuming humility is a virtue for cultivation in every or any Christian): a year, five years, twenty, or forever?
That's no obsession. That's an attack.
NPR (as usual) is trotting out as much mockery of Catholicism as they can find. I notice you didn't link to NPR audio about the murder of Catholics in Indonesia for reciting the Rosary. That's right, because they didn't cover that story.
NPR's coverage of murder of Catholics
NPR's coverage of gay priests
I listened to the program just now, and as it turns out, it wasn't about either priests or ex-nuns, but about one son of them. And he does have a very interesting story to relate, which he tells quite well.
I have to say I found the tooth extraction story to be particularly chilling, but not out of kilter from what at least three women have told me about requests/suggestions/coercions priests have made or attempted that don't include matters of an overtly sexual nature.
It's all about control.
I wouldn't take NPR's coverage as mockery because the perception in society is that Catholicism is part of the powers-that-be, and that violence against the Church or its members is not as newsworthy as unjust violence against the oppressed.
To shift it to a sports image, people cheer when the Yankees lose. Nobody cares about the hurt feelings of Yankee fans or players, because of the perception that this team is all-powerful and deserves a dressing down more often than it gets.
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