Blame the messenger
By Phil Lawler ( bio - articles - email ) | Oct 31, 2003
When Worcester's Bishop Daniel Reilly testified last week before the Massachusetts legislature, everybody-- I mean everybody-- interpreted his remarks as a signal that the Catholic bishops would end their opposition to domestic-partnership legislation.
After his formal testimony, the bishop was asked by a Boston Herald reporter what he thought about the current law, under which same-sex couples do not automatically qualify for partnership benefits. The Herald recorded his response:
"That's wrong, and that's too bad.'' He further said: ``We have to find a way'' to give civil benefits to gay partners.
Sure sounds like an endorsement to me. Does it sound like an endorsement to you?
For a full week after the bishop's public testimony, Massachusetts legislators remained fully and justifiably convinced that the bishops were going to accept domestic-partnership legislation. Opposition to that legislation crumbled; nobody wanted to be in the position of defending a position that even the Catholic bishops had abandoned.
Then yesterday-- a full week after the damage had been done, and after the key lawmakers had broken ranks, and after the passage of domestic-partnership legislation was assured-- the Catholic bishops of Massachusetts announced that Bishop Reilly's testimony has been misinterpreted, and that they still opposed the legislation. The confusion, the bishops' statement insisted, was caused by the media.
Oh, really?
- If you don't endorse an idea, why do you say "we have to find a way" to do it?
- If your position on a key public issue has been completely misinterpreted, why do you wait a full week before offering any correction?
- If you want fair treatment from the media, why do you blame honest reporters for your mistakes?
Phil Lawler has been a Catholic journalist for more than 30 years. He has edited several Catholic magazines and written eight books. Founder of Catholic World News, he is the news director and lead analyst at CatholicCulture.org. See full bio.
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