As Twitchy reported this week, The New York Times immediately took up a defensive position around Pope Francis following a grand jury report in Pennsylvania alleging the sexual abuse of more than 1,000 children by clergy in the Catholic Church:
An ideologically motivated opposition has weaponized the church's sex abuse crisis to threaten not only Francis' agenda but his entire papacy https://t.co/vksRUayIPN
— The New York Times (@nytimes) August 28, 2018
Not satisfied with the actual use of “conservatives pounce” in its digital and print headlines, The Times doubled-down and praised the pope for taking the high road:
If you thought the @NYTimes digital headline was bad (“Vatican Power Struggle Bursts Into Open As Conservatives Pounce”) see the print one (“Francis Takes High Road As Conservatives Pounce, Taking Criticism Public”).
The “high road” being refusing questions on child sex abuse… pic.twitter.com/XlJjVu1LOj
— Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) August 29, 2018
And those were just the “straight news” stories; it took until Friday for contributing opinion writer Timothy Egan to publish a piece claiming an “ultra-conservative cabal” opposed to gay Catholics was trying to drag the Church back to the Dark Ages.
What’s really driving Archbishop Vigano and his ultra-conservative cabal is an abhorrence of gay Catholics and a desire to return to the dark ages. https://t.co/gQNvqXIY7r
— NYT Opinion (@nytopinion) August 31, 2018
If it’s “alt-right” and “ultra-conservative” to be shocked and appalled by this latest sex abuse and pedophilia scandal, we’re guilty as charged.
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Egan writes about the “attempted coup” in progress:
If you’re going to strike at a pope, to paraphrase the line about taking down a king, you must kill him. Right-wing Catholics, those who think allowing gay members of the faith to worship with dignity is an affront to God, have just taken their best shot at Francis.
The attempted coup was disguised as an exposé by a conscience-stricken cleric, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò. He claims that the pope must resign because he knew about the sexual abuse of young seminarians by a disgraced cardinal and did not defrock the predator.
It’s a fair point, and one that demands a full response from Francis. But if you read Viganò’s full 11-page letter, you see what’s really driving him and his ultraconservative cabal — an abhorrence of gay Catholics and a desire to return to the Dark Ages.
It does deserve a full response from Francis — but right now he has a bigger crisis on his mind: the damage all those plastic straws are doing to the ocean.
— Scott Harvey (@Scarveydent) August 31, 2018
WORSE than tweeting. It was published in what was once considered a premier newspaper#FailingNewYorkTimes
— I'm Smirking (@NvrRyan) September 1, 2018
This is absolute nonsense. Try "unwillingness to allow sex crimes against minors and their subsequent cover-up to continue."
— Caitlin (@CtlnAksak) August 31, 2018
https://twitter.com/marylanestrow/status/1035562871101374465
This is a rubbish hot-take by a self-described lapsed Catholic who thinks that “pedophilia is thick in clerical ranks” because priests must be celibate. And women should be priests, duh. No, seriously, “Duh” is his entire argument on the subject.
https://twitter.com/DeseretDefender/status/1035770645919846405
OMG how about a desire for CHILDREN not to be abused. Would the NYT be more upset at the priest if they had put the children in cages before abusing them?
— B Dennis (@bjd0994) September 1, 2018
McCarrick is the Harvey Weinstein of the catholic church, a serial abuser, maintaining position of power despite abuse stretching decades … liberals complying in coverups and denials to 'protect their own' is horrific and mis-placed.
— Patrick McGuinness (@patmcguinness) September 1, 2018
Are you serious? So… the child rapes are not the real issue? Cancelling subscription… now.
— Metaltarian (@metaltarian) September 1, 2018
Wow, what a train wreck. The NYTs is still trying to deflect from the decades of child abuse and pedophilia that's occurred at the Church AND the cover-up that apparently goes all the way to the top
— Christopher Carson (@Wilkersonclan) September 1, 2018
Typical of the paranoid leftists @nytimes, this isn't about you and your support of a leftist Pope, it's about rooting out the evil of child sex abuse and those who cover it up!
— CathleenO (@cmortolani) September 1, 2018
This is at least the 3rd piece in the @nytimes in a week attempting to deflect from the issue of child molestation and attack people trying to clean up the mess in order to protect a "progressive" Pope. Leftists will forgive anything in the name of their political agenda. https://t.co/wWITmYccch
— Derek Hunter (@derekahunter) September 1, 2018
"Right-wing Catholics, those who think allowing gay members of the faith to worship with dignity is an affront to God, have just taken their best shot at Francis."
Silly me, I thought it was about rooting out pedophiles and stopping the systemic abuse of children worldwide https://t.co/dbgAaWpYM5
— Cameron Gray (@Cameron_Gray) September 1, 2018
https://twitter.com/Brocktune2/status/1035921540942970881
Gay priests do not rape children. Gay men aren’t sexually attracted to children. Pedophilies rape children. If we the uneducated masses can know this truth, why does the NYT think we’re too stupid to understand?
— Trisha (@Trisha121288) September 1, 2018
https://twitter.com/SoyBoiExtreme/status/1035774745172570112
Make the Vatican great again? You know, back to the days when priests raping boys was a bad thing.
— Josiah Bartlett Jr. (@JosiahBartlet10) September 1, 2018
Yet another hot take.. ratio away https://t.co/kyQ2y7g7Yr
— Space Pirate Ninja Assassin ⚔️ Software Engineer (@nilgirian) September 1, 2018
https://twitter.com/GonzoLono44/status/1035582047870484483
We’re going to try to make this the last post on the subject today, but if you’re hungry for more, Father James Martin has his own hot take that starts here:
Thread: 1) The most shocking aspect of last week’s coordinated attack on Pope Francis (thanks to Archbishop #Vigano’s “testimony,” which is being discredited by the hour) is how former champions of the papacy rushed to attack, condemn and attempt to delegitimize Pope Francis.
— James Martin, SJ (@JamesMartinSJ) September 1, 2018
Related:
'SCREW YOU'! Reuters has officially gone OFF THE RAILS with this Catholic Church sex abuse scandal spin https://t.co/cyJbUCRyrK
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) August 30, 2018
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