The dregs have arrived. The National Catholic Register’s coverage of the CDF decision was deliberately inadequate. Whatever honor there was in it for the Legion of Christ, a Catholic newspaper ought to have considered what it meant that the Holy Father judged it best for Fr. Maciel to abide by the penalties usually given to elderly priests found guilty of sexual abuse. The unmistakable implication of both the Legion of Christ’s response and the publisher’s reaction was that the CDF had required an innocent priest to relinquish his public ministry. The newspaper failed to entertain the most obvious interpretation of the CDF decision: that Fr. Maciel was guilty of grave canonical crimes. That is not defensible journalism, let alone Catholic journalism.
What is to be done now? The National Catholic Register is a valuable contributor to the new evangelization. Despite failings on this story and matters related to the Legion of Christ—understandable perhaps, but not excusable—it should continue to make that contribution. But its credibility has been damaged, and needs to be restored.
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