NYC's Cardinal Dolan disses NYC & NYT

For immediate release: Monday, Jan. 26

Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790, [email protected], [email protected])

New York’s Cardinal Timothy Dolan is urging Catholics to not let “outside distractions” likes “polls, rap music, and newspaper editorial pages, especially the New York Times" to influence their decisions.

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2012/07_08/2012_07_22_Martin_AbuseProbe.htm  

This is disturbing and reckless.

Dolan’s remarks were made on Saturday night and reported yesterday by The Wheeling News-Register. He spoke as the guest of “his personal friend” Bishop Michael Bransfield who was accused in 2012 of molesting a child.

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2012/07_08/2012_07_22_Martin_AbuseProbe.htm

(Dolan, who repeatedly says he loves New York, told the same crowd that while West Virginia is “almost heaven,” New York City is “almost purgatory.”) 

For decades, secular news outlets have repeatedly make kids safer by exposing Catholic officials who commit and conceal heinous child sex crimes. Bishops should praise, not denounce, reputable journalists. He should be encouraging, not discouraging, his flock to read independent news sources. Predators will be better off and parents will be worse off if Catholics heed Dolan’s advice to ignore independent journalism.

Polls consistently show that Catholics are still justifiably concerned about the continuing cover up of child sex crimes by Catholic officials. Is that why Dolan wants his flock to disregard polls?

While Pope Francis talks kindness and inclusiveness, it’s sad to see Dolan spewing divisiveness and advocating ignorance.

(SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the world’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. We were founded in 1988 and have more than 20,000 members. Despite the word “priest” in our title, we have members who were molested by religious figures of all denominations, including nuns, rabbis, bishops, and Protestant ministers. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)

Contact - David Clohessy 314-566-9790, [email protected], Barbara Dorris 314-503-0003, [email protected], Barbara Blaine 312-399-4747, [email protected]