Please feel free to discuss the remarks by Father Benedict Groeschel
Here's Bill Donohue's comments on the Fr. Groeschel flap. It seems to me like the good priest might have taken more care about how he stated his points, but the usual suspects (e.g., Rod Dreher) have served up the typical over-the-top, manufactured reaction.
Here's Bill Donohue's take. Feel free to add your own insights in the comments.
Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on remarks made by Father Benedict Groeschel in the National Catholic Register regarding the sexual abuse of minors:
A quarter century ago, Father Groeschel and seven other priests broke away from a religious community to found the Franciscan Friars of Renewal. His service to the Church over the past half-century has been nothing less than heroic. His ministry to the least among us is especially noteworthy.
Father Groeschel holds a Ph.D. in psychology from Columbia University, and has put his training to work by counseling some of the most mentally and socially challenged people in our society. In addition, for the past four decades he has been screening men for the priesthood, weeding out those who should not be ordained. His record is impressive.
In a recent interview, he hypothesized how a young person (14, 16 or 18, as he put it) could conceivably take advantage of a priest who was having a nervous breakdown. He also referred to Jerry Sandusky, the disgraced Penn State football coach, as “this poor guy.” For these remarks, and related comments, he is now being labeled as a defender of child abuse.
The accusation is scurrilous. In the same interview, Groeschel emphatically said that priests who are sexual abusers “have to leave.” His reference to Sandusky was exactly the way a priest-psychologist might be expected to speak: “poor guy” conveys sympathy for his maladies—it is not a defense of his behavior! Indeed, Groeschel asked, “Why didn’t anyone say anything?”
Groeschel is nearly 80 years old. A few years back, he was almost killed in an auto accident that left him disabled; it has definitely taken a toll on him. I have known him for two decades, and recently spent an afternoon with him. I’ve read his books, listened to his tapes—on sexual abuse—and have come to know a great priest. To condemn him for one part of one interview is wholly unjust.
This is how Dreher revises history about Father Groeschel. He said this in his blog.
ReplyDeleteAugust 30, 2012 at 9:50 pm
I’m glad you brought that up, Favog. I was at National Review when the Dallas Morning News reporter Brooks Egerton contacted me out of the blue to ask if I had any way to get Groeschel to speak to him. He was working on a story about Groeschel and the scandal (this was 2002), and had repeatedly tried to get Groeschel to answer questions, and was getting the runaround. Egerton (who later became a friend when I moved to Dallas) had seen writing I had done, and reached out thinking maybe I knew Groeschel, and could help him (Egerton) get in touch. I told him I didn’t know Groeschel and couldn’t help him.
The point here is that Egerton went out of his way to try to get Fr. Benedict’s side of the story, and as far as I can tell, gave him multiple opportunities to speak to the allegations. For whatever reason, Fr. Benedict chose not to — and then, when the story got published anyway, he accused the reporter of being reckless and anti-Catholic.
If a reporter calls you and repeatedly asks you to give your side of a controversy, and you ignore him, and he writes a story that, in your judgment, is factually erroneous, it’s not right of you to respond as if the reporter sandbagged you. I can vouch from my memory of my phone conversation with Egerton that he was genuinely trying to reach Groeschel, and had been doing that for some time, and was getting the runaround.
This is what the Catholic League said.
http://www.catholicleague.org/fr-benedict-groeschel-responds-to-his-critics/
Jonathan Carpenter
Thank you, Jonathan. So actually Father did respond in detail to DMN, and Rod "remembers things" differently. Typical.
ReplyDeleteThey announced yesterday that Father Groeschel will no longer be hosting Sunday Night Live. I'm angry that they've ended that wonderful show on a sour note. Given his health issues, I thought perhaps he should have stepped down before this but because of *this* incident? Not good, not smart, EWTN.
ReplyDelete"Damage control mode" is not a good place to be--ever. The forces of evil are always able to take advantage of the Church more when scandals arrive. Continue to pray for the church and this good man.
ReplyDeleteHere is Mr. Dreher kicking Father Groeschel when he is up and when he is down.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/father-groeschel-goes/#post-comments
Those of you who remember Father Richard John Nuehaus will recognize the abuse done by Breher Dreher.
Jonathan Carpenter
Another victim of the cowardly hysteria surrounding sexual abuse and the Catholic Church.
ReplyDeleteIn his attack on Father Groeschel and Bishop Finn he attacks Father Z.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/how-blunt-should-we-be/
Jonathan Carpenter