Cardinal Dolan reacts to the NY Times piece about his paying hush money to pedophile priests and then getting caught lying about it that DougJ mentioned earlier. And like all right-wing sociopaths, he went to a Murdoch media empire to vent his spleen, so that there would be no chance of any hostile questions:
“The New York Times does not have a reputation for fair and accurate reporting when it comes to this issue,” Dolan said yesterday after Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Midtown. “So, to respond to charges like that — that are groundless and scurrilous — in my book it’s useless and counterproductive.”
Yesterday, Dolan denied that similar payments were being made in the New York Archdiocese, which includes about 400 parishes in Manhattan, The Bronx, Staten Island, and seven suburban counties.
“No, thank God. Cardinal Egan did a splendid job — that’s all taken care of,” said Dolan, referring to his predecessor, Edward Cardinal Egan.
Dolan didn’t say whether similar payments to abusive Archdiocese of New York priests were made in the past.
The cardinal also lashed out at an advocacy group — Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests — that has called the payments “secret deals” and “incentives.”
But Dolan fumed, “SNAP has no credibility whatsoever.”
It’s a response right out of the Republican playbook, isn’t it? A baseless attack on the media, and then go after the victims. This guy is like a super-villain out of a comic book.
Heck of a Church you folks got going there, Dolan. Now tell me again why using a rubber is a sin, Mr. Moral Authority?
BGinCHI
You know who else discredited the media and blamed the victims?
Scott S.
Hey, man, don’t you go slandering my comic book supervillains. Lex Luthor, the Joker, Dr. Doom, Doc Ock, and Magneto have done a lot of rotten things, but they’ve never paid hush money to pedophile priests. There are some things that are just beyond comic-book villainy.
Villago Delenda Est
Dolan needs to swing for this.
With his fucking red beanie on.
He’s got Sarah Palin mendacity…claiming something is not true that objectively is.
What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us? (formerly MarkJ)
Thou shalt not bear false witness. But I can lie my ass of anytime I want, because I’m a Catholic Cardinal – different rules apply to me.
gbear
His time is gonna come.
Keith
It’d be meta-sweet if Dolan could somehow be interviewed on Fox by that priest who works as a contributor.
SteveM
My Italian forebears and all the other Catholic ethnics in America used to be treated like shit in this country — as a result, we became tribal, you became guilt-ridden, and the upshot is that we (well, not me, but a lot of Italians and Poles and Irish and so on) circle the wagons when the Catholic Church is attacked, and a lot of non-Catholics still see it as bigotry against rank-and-file Catholics. I don’t know how many generations it’s going to be before the thuggishness of the Catholic leadership will be decoupled in people’s minds from guilt/anger about “No Irish need apply” and the like. It can’t happen soon enough.
slag
To be fair, it must be hard for comic book writers to keep coming up with new villainy for their characters…maybe Mr. Dolan is just doing his part for the genre. I, for one, look forward to Marvel’s upcoming release of Paradise SPLAT! vol. 1.
cathyx
Cardinal Egan did an splendid job. He left no paper trail, no fingerprints, and no evidence whatsoever of the payoff in New York.
Trakker
My devoutly Catholic wife has finally had it and is looking elsewhere! She did so after discussing it with her other Catholic friends. They are fed up too. I wonder how many others are doing the same. Millions I hope!
Holden Pattern
I was unaware that Catholic Church doctrine permitted antinomianism for the priesthood.
PaminBB
Then the Cardinal presumably stamped his foot and shouted “Respect My Authoritah!”
Comrade Dread
If I were him, well, if I were him, I think I would first publicly apologize to the victims of abuse and then start a campaign that would educate the congregations and the larger public on child abuse and sexual abuse, the possible signs of a victim and abuser, how to protect their children from abuse, and start a counseling ministry that provided free psychological counseling to victims of abuse.
Then after that, I might comment on contraceptives.
redshirt
Mysterious ways, yadda yadda.
Kathy in St. Louis
@Trakker: One in four are attending church regularly. You can’t keep a place running with numbers like that. The hierarchy has succeeded in destroying the Church in order to keep their pitiful power. It’s awfully hard to exercise your authority over empty pews.
The Other Chuck
@Kathy in St. Louis:
One of these days and it won’t be long, you’ll look for me, but baby I’ll be gone.
BGinCHI
I’m starting to think it’s about time for a Reformation or something.
Someone find me a door and some theses!
Frankensteinbeck
@Scott S.:
Pretty sure Luthor, Doom, and Magneto would kill said pedophile priests out of disgust. Dr. Octopus… I don’t know him well. Throw up all six hands and declare he was having no part of anything like that?
Joker, of course, is not into those kinky sex games and would kill the priests just because he likes killing people.
chopper
@BGinCHI:
you only need two theses: stop fucking kids! stop covering it up!
BGinCHI
@chopper: How about: stop disrespecting women by treating them as baby factories! Leave the gays alone! Stop wearing funny hats!
And: Fuck Notre Dame football!
Patricia Kayden
And Dolan is someone I need to take moral advice from? Right.
Trakker
@Kathy in St. Louis:
But one in four is still a big number. Those left behind are mostly virulently conservative and loud. A lot of our politicians and pundits are Catholic and generally support the church even when disagreeing with some of what they do. Who, but the Catholic Church could survive widespread PEDOPHILIA and still remain a powerful and ‘respected’ force in our culture? I have yet to see a Catholic politician or pundit (are you there E.J.?) publicly quit the church in disgust. I find that disgusting!
Holden Pattern
@Trakker:
Also, I think that it’s a mistake to think that the Princes of Holy Mother Church are trying to exercise their power primarily over their parishioners. They’re trying to exercise temporal power over all of us using the denominator of the total “Catholics” and the undeserved deference granted to them by the media and politicians.
Kent
And VERY old. They will soon die out and then what will the church be left with?
BGinCHI
@Kent: Relics.
yopd1
They have gone full RWNJ. The bishop in Peoria, IL spent a Sunday comparing Obama to Hitler and Stalin.
PurpleGirl
@Kent: Imported conservatives priests from Africa and India. Since the 1960s, the number of men with vocations to become priests has been dropping. (The numbers are quite low these days.) The American hierarchy has been bringing in priests from Africa and India to fill in the gaps. Also a priest may be assigned to several parishes and he rides circuit to conduct mass in each parish he serves on a rotating basis. They also accept Episcopal priests who don’t agree with changes within their church (women being ordained, gays allowed to serve and even be bishops, etc.) to become Catholic priests and allow them to keep any wives and families.
geg6
@Trakker:
THIS. A thousand times. How many times does the Church and it’s entire hierarchy and structure get a pass from these people? The Church has always been a corrupt, sexually deviant, sadistic, mysogynist, murderous criminal syndicate. Pedophilia has always been rampant, even more so since they decided that celibacy was suddenly required. Any Catholic who says he/she was surprised by any bit of this latest scandal is a liar or too stupid to even talk to. It’s a well-known “secret” among Catholics, much like the similarly common raging alcoholism of many, many priests. Yeah, there are some good priests (a few…but they are mostly pompous asses) and even more really terrific nuns, but they can’t make up for the evil rot that emanates from Vatican City and oozes into every corner of the world.
Kent
@Trakker:
What about Maureen Dowd? I don’t know if she has actually quit the church but she sure has been tearing them a new one as of late.
OmerosPeanut
Wait, Cardinal Dolan? I feel sick.
Ruckus
Now tell me again why using a rubber is a sin, Mr. Moral Authority?
Sure seems like it wouldn’t have been a sin if his folks had used one. Every time.
Gus
“SNAP has no credibility whatsoever.” Unlike the hefty moral authority wielded by the child rape ring known as the Roman Catholic Church.