Mr Lawler illustrates how the secular press can attack the Church whilst seeming to simply report the news. It goes on all the time.
From Catholic Culture
By Phil Lawler
A report in the Buenos Aires Times on the trial of Bishops Zanchetta concludes this way:
The Catholic Church, which forbids priests from marrying, has been repeatedly rocked by child sex abuse scandals around the world over the last three decades.
Notice anything peculiar about that sentence? We are all sadly aware of the scandals. But suppose I were to rewrite the conclusion slightly, so that it read:
The Catholic Church, which sometimes uses incense in liturgical ceremonies, has been repeatedly rocked by child sex abuse scandals around the world over the last three decades.
Or maybe:
The Catholic Church, which operates thousands of hospitals, has been repeatedly rocked by child sex abuse scandals around the world over the last three decades.
The Buenos Aires Times does not actually say that priestly celibacy is a factor in sexual abuse. That argument is difficult to defend, since plenty of non-clerical abusers are married. But by casually mentioning celibacy, in a sentence where it does not belong, the paper can plant the idea without any need to defend it.
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