1 1 Catholic Clergy Sexual Abuse Meets the Civil Law by Thomas P ...

misconduct. 93 This assertion was given some temporary support by Philip Jenkins, professor of
history and religious studies at Pennsylvania State University. 94 However, Professor Jenkins’
conclusions that the apparent crisis was both exaggerated by a hostile press and manipulated by
opposing Catholic special interest groups have been greatly relativized, and were later disproved
by the continuing revelations brought about by the present crisis erupted with the Boston Globe
publication of previously classified documents in January 2002. 95 In spite of the hard data
produced in the many civil court cases, Church leaders in the United States and abroad continue
to blame the secular media for misrepresenting the problem. One cardinal compared the
American press coverage of the abuse scandals to ancient Roman persecutions, and went as far
as to liken it to modern persecutions under Hitler and Stalin. 96
Some have blamed the crisis on a spirit of dissent that arose after the close of the Vatican
Council II in 1965. 97 They focus on the departure from traditional Catholic teachings about
sexual matters, especially contraception. In their view, this coincided with the so-called sexual
93 Id.
94 Jenkins, supra note 4. The author claims that there is a tradition of anti-Catholicism in the American media.
Some excepts from the dust jacket description provide a sense of his direction:
There is a long standing anti-Catholic stereotype of priests as lascivious predators. The Catholic Church is
a more attractive target for lawsuits than other denominations.... Perhaps most important, however,
dissidents within the Roman Catholic Church itself -both liberals and traditionalists- seized upon the issue
as a rhetorical weapon.... It [Pedophiles and Priests] also delivers a disturbing message about how
vulnerable we are to the news media, and how easily the media can be manipulated by special interests. Id.
95 See Betrayal, supra note 4, at 205-51.
96 Michael Paulson, A New Leader Reaches Out Installed as Bishop, O’Malley Voices Remorse and Looks to
Renewal, Boston Globe, July 31, 2003, at A1, available at 2003 WL 3410880. Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez
Maradiaga of Honduras made the remarks. Similar remarks were made by Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera of
Mexico City, Cardinal Juan Sandoval Íñiguez of Guadalajara, Mexico, retired Cardinal Eugenio Araujo Sales of Rio
de Janeiro and Archbishop Julian Herranz of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legislative
Texts. See John L. Allen Jr., Curia Official Blasts U.S. Media Coverage, Nat’l Catholic Reporter Online, available
at http://natcath.org/NCR_Online/archives2/2002b/051702/051702e.htm, May 17, 2002. American Cardinal Avery
Dulles is reported to have said “I don't think there's any great crisis in the U.S. It’s practically no news. To the
extent it's a crisis, it’s created by the news media.” Jack Sullivan and Eric Convey, Pope Takes Action: Cardinals
Ordered to Vatican, Boston Herald, Apr. 16, 2002, at 1, available at 2002 WL 4073550. See also Cardinal Dulles
Calls Clergy Sex Scandal a Media Beat-up, Catholic News Broadcast, available at
http://www.cathnews.com/news/204/91.htm (Apr. 17, 2002).
97 See generally George Weigel, The Courage to be Catholic 57-86 (2002).
18
18