Letters

Distorted View

Posted

Once again I feel the need to protest George Weigel’s column (CNY, Aug. 18). In this case, he attacks the Washington Post for not being as smart as he is about the Catholic Church. George Weigel apparently has not gotten the memo from the Vatican announcing the Year of Mercy. 

Like other reactionary Catholics, he feels called upon to explain to the rest of us what Pope Francis really meant when he said: “Who am I to judge?” Weigel claims that “Empathy for the oppressed has been a hallmark of the papacy for a long time.” How does that explain the racism and segregation of Catholic institutions in my hometown of Baltimore, which I witnessed during my lifetime? Weigel claims that The Washington Post is guilty of slander when they are only reporting an inconvenient truth. Weigel claims that the Church has not dodged on moral issues. Of course, he is talking mainly about issues of sex, which conservative Catholics think are the only moral issues worth discussing. 

I am a faithful Washington Post reader, and the real slander is what Weigel has said about this fine American newspaper. In the interest of accuracy and journalistic integrity, his column should be called “The Weigel Bias” as it projects a distorted view of Catholic life. Weigel has chosen to ignore the most important commandment, whereas the Washington Post has not.

Edward McCarey McDonnell

Baltimore, Md.