New York Times columnist rips Church, praises one Irish prelate

June 06, 2011

New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd proclaims Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin as the sole hero of Ireland’s sex-abuse scandal, in a column scattered with errors of fault and logic.

Dowd says that Archbishop Martin conducted an “unprecedented” liturgy of repentance. It was not unprecedented. She lashes out at the Vatican for failing to accept the resignations of two bishops whose dioceses were scarred by abuse charges. But she does not mention the three bishops whose resignations were accepted. And she seems to be referring to two bishops who a) did not freely offer to resign, b) were not heading their respective dioceses at the time of the reported abuse there, and c) were not charged with any specific instances of mishandling abuse allegations during their earlier assignments.

Dowd’s antipathy toward the Catholic Church is well documented, so it is not surprising that she criticizes the Vatican, the remainder of the Irish hierarchy, and the teachings of the Church. What is surprising is that she casts Archbishop Martin in the hero’s role.

 

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Further information:

• An Archbishop Burns While Rome Fiddles (New York Times)
• Maureen Dowd's Morality Play (National Catholic Reporter)