Captain Ahab: Robert Herguth of the Chicago Sun-Times
It's a simple fact we have stated numerous times before, but it bears repeating: The Catholic Church is the only institution on the planet where if you are an employee merely accused of some wrongdoing from decades ago, your name may end up on a public web site somewhere for the entire world to see forever as if you were an adjudicated child molester.
Think about that.
Now, thankfully, the Church is finally starting to awaken to the unfairness of this obviously unjust practice. In a letter (pdf) last September – which we also reported about earlier this year here – the Vatican determined that the publication of the names of priests merely accused of misconduct contradicts Canon Law and is unjust. The letter stated:
"[H]aving as an indispensable legal basis the statement of the Supreme Pontiff Francis according to which 'it is necessary to avoid the publication of the lists of the accused, even by the Dioceses, before the preliminary investigation and the definitive conviction,' the answer can only be negative with respect to the disclosure of hidden information concerning anyone, even more so when it concerns deceased persons."
But this seemingly common-sense decision by the Vatican did not sit well with Chicago Sun-Times investigative reporter Robert Herguth. Herguth's investigative beat in Chicago seems to be limited to ripping the Church over the issue of sex abuse by priests from many decades ago. While the media's interest in the abuse narrative has generally waned over the years as the story line has aged, the issue remains Herguth's white whale as he struggles to find new ways to criticize the Church over marginal or arcane practices related to the issue.
So, not surprisingly, Captain Ahab criticizes this new Vatican policy and writes in a recent story that not defaming merely accused priests on public web sites might be a sign that the Catholic Church may be headed "into a new era of secrecy."
Yet Herguth might want to give a moment of thought to the fact that taxpayer-funded Chicago Public Schools (CPS) – right in Herguth's own backyard – has openly admitted that it once logged a whopping 470 allegations of sexual misconduct by CPS employees just in the 2022 school year alone. And unlike with the Catholic Church, which involve allegations from decades ago, the potential crimes at CPS are happening today, as in right now.
And, most importantly, CPS has not even given thought of publishing any list of its merely accused employees. Why? Because to do so would be unjust to the merely accused, and CPS would immediately face a flurry of defamation lawsuits.
The hypocrisy in what is considered "news" at the Sun-Times and by Captain Ahab could not be any more obvious. But don't hold your breath that they come to this realization any time soon.
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Want to learn about the rampancy of false accusations against priests?:
- "The Great Shakedown Keeps A-Rollin': Phony Claims Continue at Epic Pace, Here Are The Facts" (January 2024)
- The Greatest Fraud Never Told: False Accusations, Phony Grand Jury Reports, and the Assault on the Catholic Church (Amazon.com)
I would say this cries to heaven for vengeance. I hope their sheep support them. A friend contacted one local priest immediately to offer $support. I pray for these priests daily. God help us.