On Monday, The New York Times published a sprawling article on its front page studying “A Prelate’s Record in the Abuse Crisis.” The prelate was New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan, who has been quite public in challenging the bias of the Times. The liberal Catholic magazine Commonweal found it to be a story where the Times didn’t “have the goods” on Dolan living up to the stereotype of a predator-whitewashing villain, but wanted to publish what was in reporter Serge Kovaleski’s notebook: “no hits, no runs, no errors.” But for someone with the persistence to read the whole thing, a very interesting passage from the Archbishop arrived in paragraph 64. The Times allowed a “victims advocacy group,” Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP), to be accused of wanting to bring the Catholic Church down:
The archbishop said he had come to regret his early overtures to the group.
At one parish visit in Milwaukee, he recalled, “a SNAP member spat in my face and yelled that he would not rest until there was a ‘going out of business’ sign in front of every Catholic parish, church, school and outreach center.”
He added, “That’s when I knew I should have listened to those who told me that working with them would not be helpful.”
Mr. Isely, the Midwest director of SNAP, said he was not aware of the incident, but if a member had acted that way, the group would apologize to the archbishop.