The Boston Globe's Joan Vennochi and the Los Angeles Times' Steve Lopez

Since when have journalists been so concerned about internal doctrinal matters in the Catholic Church? Why are journalists suddenly fretting about the status of nuns in America?

It has been no secret that many Catholic women religious (nuns) in recent years have been in open dissent of a number of gender-related components of Church teaching, such those regarding the all-male priesthood, celibacy requirements, and, in some cases, abortion.

Because of this open dissent, the Vatican has finally taken efforts to review and monitor the leadership of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR). These efforts simply seek to align the conference – a Church-recognized body – with the teachings of the Church and with Church law.

Now it seems that the Vatican's actions have journalists worked up all over the country.

The Boston Globe's 'Pope Joan'

The Boston Globe's Joan Vennochi rarely misses an opportunity to plaster the Catholic Church. In her latest diatribe, Vennochi accuses Pope Benedict of acting "swiftly" to "crack down" on nuns but dragging his feet in efforts to protect children.

Of course nothing could be further from the truth. The Church's efforts in recent years to create safe environments for youth are unprecedented among comparable institutions that deal with youth.

Can Vennochi say the same about the efforts at Boston Public Schools? Just a few months ago, when a school principal apparently broke the law and failed to report the suspected abuse of a special needs student by a teacher's aide, the district merely leveled a two-week suspension on the principal and allowed her back to work. This episode has not seemed to bother Vennochi, however.

Loopy Lopez

Just like Vennochi, the Los Angeles Times's angry Steve Lopez rarely misses an opportunity to take swipes at the Church.

Lopez’s bleary-eyed piece follows the predictable theme of "Bad-Catholic-Church-pounds-on-innocent-nuns-who-help-the-poor-but-have-'ignored'-child-abuse."

But Lopez also allows his interview subjects to mislead his readers. Lopez quotes a Sister Simone Campbell, who claims that the Vatican's measures are "payback" against some nuns who supported President Obama's healthcare legislation.

In truth, as the Catholic League has correctly pointed out, the decision by the Vatican to assess the LCWR was announced in April 2008, when George W. Bush was President. Meanwhile, U.S. legislators did not introduce President Obama's healthcare initiatives until September 2009.

But why let the facts get in the way of a good anti-Catholic hit piece?

Anti-Catholic Bigotry on Parade: The Boston Globe's Michael Rezendes

Consider this: Just a few months ago, Boston Public Schools leveled a two-week suspension on a school principal for not reporting a case of suspected sex abuse by a special education aide. After the principal failed to report him to the police, the aide transferred to another school, where he reportedly was busted in the act of sexually assaulting yet another special needs student.

The Boston Globe did not feel this repugnant story was worthy of any front-page coverage even though this was a clear example of abuse and institutional cover-up taking place today. Neither has the paper bothered to follow up on this stomach-turning story, nor has it investigated how Boston Public Schools handles abusive teachers system-wide.

Indeed, the suspended school principal has even since returned to her school without any media notice!

Catholic Church abuse from years ago: Always front and center at the Globe

Meanwhile, the Globe has plastered a top-of-the-front page, 2,500-word article – with a prominent color photo – about the nearly decade-old case of a former Jesuit priest from Chicago, the abusive Donald McGuire.

And if the one prominent story were not enough, the Globe published a second front-page story the next day for even further emphasis.

Both articles were penned by the paper's notorious Church-basher Michael Rezendes.

As with any act of child abuse, the acts committed by McGuire were detestable. He is deservedly being punished for his crimes. Justice demands nothing less.

Abuse and cover-ups in schools today ignored by the Globe

But the incessant campaign by the Globe against the Catholic Church is irrefutable. While it once won a Pulitzer Prize nearly a decade ago for reporting the story of abusive priests being transferred in the Archdiocese of Boston, the paper blithely ignores evidence of abuse happening in other institutions today in Boston right under its nose.

With evidence of abuse and cover-ups in the Boston Public Schools, the Globe would rather recycle years-old allegations of abuse in the Catholic Church. Why? The Globe's agenda now seems to be less about exposing abuse and more about piling on the Catholic Church over old news.

"[T]hink the Catholic Church has a problem? The physical sexual abuse of students in schools is likely more than 100 times the abuse by priests"

That's Hofstra University's Dr. Charol Shakeshaft, the author of a mind-boggling 2004 report by the U.S. Department of Education about massive abuse and cover-ups happening in our local public schools.

That report also chronicled an earlier 1994 study that chronicled how zero of 225 admitted cases of teacher abuse in New York state in the early 1990s were reported to the police.

The double standard and bigotry are clear. The outrageous abuse of innocent children only gets the Boston Globe riled up if Catholic clergy are involved.

Anti-Catholicism? Absolutely.

[UPDATE, Sun., 4/22/12: Reliable Globe Church-basher Joan Vennochi used the McGuire case to take some potshots at the Church in a Sunday commentary, further bolstering our point.]