Monthly Archives: May 2011

VATICAN AND U.S. DIFFER ON GAY RIGHTS

By |2017-03-20T17:52:54-04:00May 16th, 2011|Categories: Catalyst, Features|Tags: |

In Geneva, representatives from the Holy See and the U.S. recently differed on the need for a declaration protecting homosexual rights. The Obama administration introduced a declaration that pledged to end discrimination against homosexuals around the world. But a Vatican spokesman  noted that the language of the statement is problematic. In December 2008, the outgoing Bush [...]

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CATHOLIC VIEWS ON GAY MARRIAGE

By |2013-01-17T17:25:29-05:00May 16th, 2011|Categories: Catalyst, Features|Tags: |

Do Catholics support homosexual marriage? According to the Public Religion Research Institute’s recent study, it depends on how Catholic they are. Those who attend Mass a few times a year think it’s fine (59 percent); those who attend once or twice a month are mostly opposed (43 percent support it); and those who attend weekly or [...]

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NEW DATA ON CLERGY ABUSE

By |2013-01-17T17:26:53-05:00May 16th, 2011|Categories: Catalyst, Features|Tags: |

On the same day we ran our New York Times ad, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops released its 2010 Annual Report on clergy sexual abuse. In 2009, there were six credible accusations made against over 40,000 priests during that year; in 2010, the number was seven. As usual, most of the accused are homosexuals: [...]

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SPINNING THE ABUSE REPORT

By |2013-01-17T17:28:24-05:00May 16th, 2011|Categories: Catalyst, Features|Tags: |

Following the report on clergy sex abuse in 2010, the reaction from the media was varied. “New Sex Abuse Allegations Down Slightly in 2010” was the main headline in the Catholic News Service (CNS) story, but the National Catholic Reporter wasn’t happy with this positive connotation. Ergo, it ran the CNS story under the banner, “505 [...]

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NEWS FLASH: PRIESTS HAVE RIGHTS

By |2017-03-20T17:52:54-04:00May 16th, 2011|Categories: Catalyst, Features|Tags: |

The rights of priests have been under siege for some time now and recently the attacks against them reached a fever pitch. In a vicious editorial, the Seattle Times said that 37 priests in the Philadelphia archdiocese have been allowed to continue in ministry despite a finding of sexual misconduct by a grand jury. But the [...]

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PHILLY ARCHDIOCESE BLAMED FOR SUICIDE

By |2017-03-20T17:52:54-04:00May 16th, 2011|Categories: Catalyst, Features|Tags: |

In 1980, Daniel Neill complained that Rev. Joseph J. Gallagher fondled him when he was an altar boy at St. Mark’s in Bristol, Pennsylvania. His accusation was not deemed credible by the principal of the school, and so the case was dismissed. Moreover, the boy’s parents did not sue the school. Fast forward to 2007. Neill, [...]

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DESCENT TO THE GUTTER

By |2019-09-23T16:22:48-04:00May 16th, 2011|Categories: Catalyst, Features|Tags: |

Sexual abuse of minors is unfortunately a social problem that touches virtually every segment of the population where adults and minors interact on a regular basis. Nowhere is this less a problem today than in the Catholic Church: the norms it has adopted have led to a massive reduction in priestly sexual abuse since its peak [...]

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SPIKE IN FALSE CLAIMS

By |2013-01-17T17:33:55-05:00May 16th, 2011|Categories: Catalyst, Features|Tags: |

A week after the bishops’ report on clergy abuse was released, we wondered why there had been virtually no reporting on what may be the most important finding of all: the 42 percent increase in accusations found to be unsubstantiated or false. The number of such claims jumped from 12 percent in 2009 to 17 percent [...]

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MACY’S OFFENDS CATHOLICS

By |2019-09-23T16:48:56-04:00May 16th, 2011|Categories: Catalyst, Features|Tags: |

Recently, Macy’s decided to pick a fight with Catholics during the Lenten season. Why they chose to do so is not known, but we wanted to find out. Here’s the background. In early April Showtime began airing a series, “The Borgias,” about a corrupt Spanish family, one of whose members became pope. The series was written [...]

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NO ATTEMPT TO KILL “THE BORGIAS”

By |2017-03-20T17:52:55-04:00May 16th, 2011|Categories: Catalyst, Features|Tags: |

Before the premiere of Showtime’s “The Borgias,” we looked at the Catholic reaction to the series and compared it to the reaction of other groups to controversial shows. The Kennedy clan got bent out of shape over the History Channel’s scheduled miniseries, “The Kennedys,” and succeeded in getting it killed, even though $25 million had been [...]

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