Last time we saw the Catholic League’s Bill Donohue writing for the Media Research Center, it was a NewsBusters post complaining about the film “Spotlight,” which focuses on how the Boston Globe exposed sex scandals among Catholic priests and whining that other random sex scandals weren’t getting the same media attention.
Now that “Spotlight” has won an Oscar for best picture, Donohue is back in distraction mode. NewsBusters published a Feb. 26 post by Donohue complaining that “Hollywood has no interest in turning its cameras on itself, which is why the public’s eyes have been shut tight from seeing a movie that documents child rape in Tinseltown.” Donohue doesn’t even mention “Spotlight” after the second paragraph.
After the film’s Oscar win, an updated version of Donohue’s rant appeared at CNSNews.com, with a new beginning:
The politicization of “Spotlight” began even before it won the Oscar for Best Picture. Actor Mark Ruffalo held a rally outside the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels; 20 persons showed up. He said he stood by victims of priestly sexual abuse. On stage, screenwriter Josh Singer exclaimed, “Pope Francis, it’s time to protect the children and restore the faith.”
Apparently, these men are unaware of the fact that the homosexual scandal occurred mostly between 1965 and 1985, and that no institution in the United States has less of a problem with this issue today than the Catholic Church. That’s because Pope Benedict XVI made it hard for practicing homosexuals to enter the priesthood. But no matter, the propaganda experts cannot resist trying to keep the scandal alive.
Donoue is lying when he claims that the priest sex scandal was exclusively “homosexual.” As we’ve documented, a report by John Jay College commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops explains that “there is no causative relationship between either celibacy or homosexuality and the sexual victimization of children in the Church. Therefore, being celibate or being gay did not increase the risk of violating children. So, blaming the clergy abuse crisis in the Catholic Church on gay men or celibacy is unfounded.”
Donohue is simply engaging in homophobia, which suits the anti-gay MRC just fine.
The CNS version of Donohue’s column omits an important disclosure included on the NewsBusters version: that MRC chief Brent Bozell serves on the board of advisors for the Donohue’s Catholic League. You can thank us for guilting the MRC — parts of it, anyway — into finally admitting that.