Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Coverage on catholic sexual abuse

From what I remember, after N.Ram's editorial (a case of better late than never), there was another article before the latest one. Below are some excerpts from that article. To me, linking with anti-semitism sounded outrageous. A balanced edit by N.Ram was followed by two articles, one of which projected the church as a victim and the other blamed the people for having a "general liberal hostility" towards the church.

http://www.hindu.com/2010/04/12/stories/2010041250891300.htm
But the screening also comes amid a complex subplot in the sexual abuse crisis in which defenders of the Pope have sought to associate him with Pope Pius XII and have likened criticism of the Vatican's handling of the sexual abuse crisis to anti-Semitism.

On Good Friday, the preacher of the papal household, the Rev. Raniero Cantalamessa, delivered a sermon in St. Peter's Square, citing a letter that he said was from a Jewish friend who had compared what he called "the violent and concentric attacks against the church" to anti-Semitism, angering both victims and Jewish groups.

In an interview last week, the dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, denounced what he called "unjust attacks" on the Pope and compared criticism of the church for its handling of sexual abuse to "the offensive against Pius XII for his actions during the last World War." 

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Here are five stories that appeared in the Print version of The Hindu over and above the edit and the stories that you mentioned. There are 2 by Vaiju Naravane from Paris, 1 by Hasan Suroor from London and 2 agency stories. There were a few more smaller agency stories but I am unable to find the link. There are about 10-15 stories in addition to this on the website.
http://www.thehindu.com/2010/03/14/stories/2010031463291600.htm
http://beta.thehindu.com/news/international/article304891.ece
http://beta.thehindu.com/news/international/article393877.ece
http://beta.thehindu.com/news/international/article247938.ece
http://www.thehindu.com/2009/11/28/stories/2009112861551400.htm
Also, you cannot cull a few paragraphs from the story which gives the other sides version and say it is a pro-church story.

Anonymous said...

Those who wanted to harvest souls in far off places are now reaping the fruits of harvest in their own places, and the fruits perhaps taste quite bitter.

Hindu Fundamentalist said...

there have been more stories on cuba and fidel castro than on catholic child abuse during the same period.

a document signed by the pope was recovered by new york times that was implicating the pope's complicity in the whole affair. chindu syndicates columns from new york times but thought this was not fit for publishing.

there were cases where indian catholic priests have been indicted for sexual abuse in america. they have been duly transferred by the church to india and they are still serving here. again no coverage of these events.

the list is really huge. and all this news is more relevant than some red revolution in latin. america. are we not a crypto-christian nation ruled by a catholic.

to be fair, vaiju naravane did a good job in those very few articles he filed.

Anonymous said...

I believe the second Vaiju Naravane story was exactly that: based on the New York Times report and that too on the same day the NYT article appeared.
http://beta.thehindu.com/news/international/article304891.ece
All newspapers prefer publishing their correspondent's reports over using syndicated reports.
And here is the Indian priest article as it appeared in print
http://beta.thehindu.com/news/states/tamil-nadu/article390077.ece
and the extended version that appeared online
http://beta.thehindu.com/news/states/tamil-nadu/article389682.ece
Was there a Castro article in print during the period? I don't remember seeing one.. Can u link it?

Hindu Fundamentalist said...

i try not to respond to anonymous comments. if you want to have a discussion, login and post your comments. i have repeatedly requested people to use a name while posting.

Anonymous said...

Whatever be the extent of Chindu's coverage of the issue, the tone and tenor (of the news articles and the muted editorial) is much milder than its usual castigation of the "communal" Hindus and their "evil beliefs and practises".

Now will Mr. Ram support the calls to oust the present Pope (who it is reported, was also involved with Hitler's youth brigade in the Nazi Germany)?

Name said...

Well.. The first and fourth comments are mine, if it makes any difference. To the other "anonymous" commentator, I didn't see this in any other newspaper. Did you? http://www.thehindu.com/2010/04/29/stories/2010042961831300.htm
Others won't touch it with a barge pole for fear of losing their "secular credentials"

Hindu Fundamentalist said...

http://www.hindu.com/2010/01/04/stories/2010010455791300.htm
if this deserves space, proceedings against pope deserve mention, no?

look at the coverage given to anand jon. he too was an indian christian(though not a catholic priest) accused of sexual abuse of minors. but it was a front page/national/international news.

http://www.hindu.com/2009/03/01/stories/2009030155201900.htm
http://www.hindu.com/2009/03/17/stories/2009031758710300.htm
http://www.hindu.com/2010/01/31/stories/2010013157621600.htm
http://www.hindu.com/2009/07/14/stories/2009071455431800.htm

by contrast, chindu thought joseph jeyapaul's case appears was a local tamilnadu issue. for all i know, it could have made it to print in only chennai edition. but the editor's intention is obvious: to hide the news as far inside as possible. if not for google or some alert reader like you @name (who refuses to sign in with a google account), we wouldnt have known that chindu even reported it.


the login definitely matters because that is the best way to avoid discussions being hijacked by trolls.

Anonymous said...

Vaiju Naravane had quotes that NY Times did not have, speaking to an irish journalist and to a source at the vatican. Just because it appeared on the same day does not mean it was copied. The story broke the same day and he had independent sources something to be applauded. iBut i agree the article was more balanced than the others