Ann Rodgers, writing the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s story on the installation of Archbishop Donald Wuerl in Washington, DC, throws in a quick jab at critics of his predecessor, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, that leaves me scratching my head.
[Wuerl] turned to face his predecessor and offered praise to Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who was often a target of criticism by the far Catholic right for refusing to publicly condemn Catholic legislators who supported abortion rights, and for his bold stands in favor of justice for the poor worldwide.
Huh? Who has criticized McCarrick for being in favor of justice for the poor? In what world would anyone oppose justice for the poor? This is the same old straw man reporting we’re used to seeing along the lines of “Senator, when did you stop beating your wife?”
Criticisms of McCarrick have been many and varied but to characterize those who thing he was wrong on the “pro-abortion Catholic politician” issue as “far right” is tendentious at best and to throw in an unattributed slur against his critics is just media bias at its worst. Rodgers is often complimented by some people for her writing on Catholic matters from a Pittsburgh perspective. If she’s that good normally, she certainly isn’t deserving of the praise in this case.
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I am prepared to condemn most the Leftist garbage that passes for Social Justice in our Archdiocese in the USA.
I have taken a quick look at Washington DC. It is not particlularly heinous. Support for Fair Trade Coffee, Operation Rice Bowl, some gibberish about Diversity, all sort of harmless and non-controversial, if not particularly useful campaigns. There is a section on a campaign to assist Darfur that should be applauded.
There is also a section advising political campaigning via the “Legislative Action Center” that seems totally inappropriate for a part of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy. The few article I read sound like a left-wing front organization from about 1890. The section is pretty hapless, and looks like some webstartup from 1997.
I would not condemn McCarrick for his Social Justice programs. They mostly look wasteful and ineffictive, but not downright evil.
JBP
The fact that the phrase “far Catholic right” is found only ten times by Google confirms my suspicion that the author intended to write “Catholic far right.”
Like entitling this entry “McCarrick the Martyr” isn’t tendentious at best and Bettinelli bias at its worst….