At Philly Church Presser, AP Shows Its Distaste for the Catholic Church
If anyone still has any doubt about the utter distaste that many in the media have for the Catholic Church, one does not need to look any further than the "question and answer" session during the press conference in Philadelphia today (Tue. 9/19/11) welcoming the region's new Archbishop Charles Chaput.
A woman from the Associated Press stood with a question for the new archbishop. (I am unable to confirm 100%, but I am almost certain the woman was Maryclaire Dale, who submitted this article about the event.) Paraphrasing her words, the AP woman essentially asked, "If you are all about justice and compassion, as you've said in the past, then why did you oppose a proposed law in Colorado lifting the statute of limitations for abuse claims?" (Before arriving as the new archbishop of Philadelphia today, Abp. Chaput was Archbishop of Denver since 1997.)
Archbishop Chaput gracefully answered the question. He correctly noted that the proposed law in Colorado, first brought forward in 2005, deliberately and unfairly singled out the Catholic Church. The law would have allowed any individual to sue the organization for a claim of abuse, no matter how long ago the accuser claimed the abuse happened. However, this proposed lifting of the statute of limitations did not apply to other institutions, such as the public school system (where abuses and cover-ups are still extremely rampant, by the way). The proposed law was essentially a surly attempt by anti-Catholics and greedy attorneys to open up lawsuits against the Catholic Church and fleece its coffers. (Read Archbishop Chaput's excellent 2006 response to the proposed law.)
A writer for such a large organization as the Associated Press should most certainly have been cognizant of the blatant unfairness of the proposed Colorado law. One cannot help but conclude that the AP deliberately set out to portray Abp. Chaput in the most negative light with its question. And that's not cool. Not cool at all.
The tone with which the woman asked her question was notably spiteful, condescending, and disrespectful. American Papist Thomas Peters tweeted about the AP's query – he was actually in the room at the time – and relayed that the AP "really broke the civility of the q&a."
AP: Absolutely Prejudiced – against Catholics.
(Related: SNAP: Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.)
-- Dave Pierre is the author of the book, Double Standard: Abuse Scandals and the Attack on the Catholic Church. Dave is also the creator of TheMediaReport.com and is a contributing writer to NewsBusters.
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Comments
She better be careful w/ that
Submitted by fatboy on Tue, 07/19/2011 - 8:48pm.
She better be careful w/ that snarky attitude when dealing w/ the Church. That'll cost her dearly in the long run...big time.
No doubt fatboy! She'll come
Submitted by rbosque on Tue, 07/19/2011 - 8:49pm.
No doubt fatboy! She'll come to regret it....
No class.
Submitted by motherbelt on Tue, 07/19/2011 - 10:20pm.
All A$$.
I'm sure she's proud of herself.
Mary Claire Fail
Submitted by Tim Graham on Tue, 07/19/2011 - 10:54pm.
Wouldn't it great if Dale also brought that snark into a SNAP press conference? They might faint.
About the AP woman
Submitted by Herbster on Tue, 07/19/2011 - 11:25pm.
Any doubts as to her position on abortion, homosexual marriage, George Bush, successful Republican governors, Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann, Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, MSNBC, Antonin Scalia, A.C.O.R.N., The S.E.I.U., Gun control, etc.? Let me guess.................
Let me also guess who she voted for in the last Presidential election........and how her vote will be cast in '12.
Hmmm.
Unfortunately, snarky (Ignorant) is what passes for "Journalism" today.
AP Woman
Submitted by owlafaye on Tue, 08/09/2011 - 12:50pm.
By exposing the duplicity, hypocrisy and traditional LIES of the Catholic Church she is performing her duties in the best interests of America.
She should be commended for her efforts.
In 300 years the Roman Catholic Church will refer to these times as one in which the church was falsely and malignantly attacked by atheists, non-believers, evildoers, government and Satanic enemies of Christianity.
They will say:
"Against a massive effort to discredit the piety and chasteness of the clergy with accusations of heinous crimes, the church and her followers fought a protracted battle against this evil... eventually triumphing in the name of Jesus and to the greater glory of the mother church."
I assure you that this will come to pass...this has always been the strategy of the criminal enterprise called Catholicism.
AP = Assisting Pedophiles
Submitted by 617patrick on Tue, 07/19/2011 - 11:42pm.
People have distaste for pedophilia, and the Catholic church is by far the largest, most organized pedophile protection program in history. Catholics will say its the same everywhere, but never have any proof, because it isn't true.
They will say it isn't pedophilia, like they tried to say after the recent John Jay report, but that's because they changed the definition of the word "pedophilia". The American Psychiatric Association says the cut off for pedophilia is age 13. Catholics changed the definition for the study so that it was 10 years old, making it look like 22% of the accused priests were pedophiles.
If you use the standard definition of pedophilia, with a cut off at age 13, then 77% of the priests would have been considered pedophiles. You can't trust Catholics with definitions of words or with the truth, and you certainly can't trust them with your children.
In the Catholic church,
AP = Assisting Pedophiles
But . . .
Submitted by Lakewood Ed on Tue, 07/19/2011 - 11:58pm.
wouldn't the fact that they're mostly homosexual encounters, mitigate?
617patrick
Submitted by owlafaye on Tue, 08/09/2011 - 12:52pm.
Hear ! Hear!
I am afraid you will find little demand for TRUTH at this website. However, your efforts are appreciated by decent people everywhere.
owlafaye
Cognizant?
Submitted by Anneke9 on Wed, 07/20/2011 - 9:09am.
"A writer for such a large organization as the Associated Press should most certainly have been cognizant of the blatant unfairness of the proposed Colorado law."
Snarky, but that's assuming a bit much, given the state of the media these days.
They attack what they don't
Submitted by wiwf on Wed, 07/20/2011 - 10:25am.
They attack what they don't understand. Good for the Archbishop, and I wish him well as he moves from Denver to Philly.