In the current issue of The Irish Catholic Rory Fitzgerald interviews the Archbishop of Sydney, George Pell. In the interview the cardinal says: "The main atheistic influence in Australia is in the media and academia. However, I don't think the Australian media would be in the same league as the Irish papers, in terms of being anti-Catholic".
It is worth noting that most Australian media is owned by one, Rupert Murdoch.
The cardinal's 'swipe' at the media should not be allowed go without a comment.
When the media kowtowed to the Irish church did George Pell complain.
We are fortunate to have a press that is more or less free.
The broadside at the media and academia is not worthy of the cardinal. That's the sort of comment made by despots and dictators who are criticised by the media.
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7 comments:
Cow tow or kowtow?
I would have thought Pell has done more than the Oz media ever did to turn people off the Church. the Oz media ever did to turn people off the Church.
I would have thought Pell has done more than the Oz media ever did to turn people off the Church. the Oz media ever did to turn people off the Church.
Archbishop George Pell last year spoke at the same conference as a disgraced Melbourne deacon who Cardinal Pell had previously tried to defrock for suspected sexual misbehaviour. Cardinal Pell was the keynote speaker, at a small liturgical conference in Ireland, attended by about 100 people in County Cork last July. Another speaker was Dr Scott ''Alcuin'' Reid, who was the subject of claims of inappropriate and aggressive sexual advances when he was in the Melbourne Archdiocese from the mid-80s to 1991. As Melbourne archbishop in the 1990s, George Pell had ''strenuously and repeatedly'' asked Dr Reid to submit voluntarily to ''laicisation'' over serious sexual misbehaviour. The Age knows of one man who said in the 1980s he had been ''physically forced'' to comply with Dr Reid's sexual demands and that this complaint was conveyed by the victim to Dr Pell at the time. This has not been confirmed, and his office did not respond to the claim. In a statement to The Age yesterday, Cardinal Pell appeared unconcerned about appearing with Dr Reid, saying it was ''not surprising Dr Reid was also … invited … given his considerable expertise''. Advertisement: Story continues below Clerical abuse victims have often complained that senior church figures ignored abuse victims and continue to allow the abusers to take part in church activities. The Age understands that the current Melbourne Archbishop, Denis Hart, made concerted but unsuccessful attempts to find a witness willing to partake in a church law process that would compel the ''defrocking'' of Dr Reid. The Archdiocese says it has received no formal complaints about him, under its ''Melbourne Response'' protocol on clerical abuse claims. The organiser of the Second International Liturgy Conference in Ireland, Terry Pender, told The Age that Cardinal Pell was the keynote speaker and celebrated Mass on both days of the meeting, mostly held at the Sheraton Hotel on Fota Island. Mrs Pender also said Cardinal Pell had raised no objections to Dr Reid's presence, and that she had never heard of any church sanctions or allegations against Dr Reid. Dr Reid seems to have had some sway with the Vatican, as Pope Benedict XVI contributed a 2000-word foreword for a book Dr Reid wrote in 2004. At the time the Pope was head of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. An earlier book by Dr Reid had a foreword from senior Vatican Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos. In 1991 Dr Reid had his ''canonical faculties'' removed by the Melbourne Archdiocese, meaning he could no longer act as a deacon or priest's assistant, the most severe church punishment other than defrocking. Three successive Melbourne archbishops have asked Dr Reid to submit voluntarily to defrocking. He has refused. Last year a French bishop made Dr Reid a deacon in his diocese. Dr Reid gained a PhD from King's College, University of London in 2002, he taught at the London Oratory School, a Catholic secondary college and spoken on programs on BBC Radio. Join the conversat
Oops. apologies on 'cow tow'. An embarrassing error. Thank you.
Someone - an anonymous contributor - has posted a comment on the Pell piece.
For legal reasons this comment has not been posted.
The comment that has not been published on this blog concerns Scott Reid.
While aspects of the story are in the public domain, this blog is not in a position to publish the entire comment as some of the material might be liblous.
But no harm to point out that there seems to be a link between the proponentts of old rite liturgical practice and a form of priesthood which is closet gay.
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