MASSACHUSETTS
skipshea
Skip Shea
Lisa,
I’m a survivor of clergy sexual abuse from the Diocese of Worcester. At one point in my life the objective reporting on the church and clergy sexual abuse scandal by the Boston Globe is what prompted me to turn my life around. A life filled with drug and alcohol abuse, suicidal ideation and worse.
This morning’s piece, Catholics in the Age of Francis Speak Out, brought me back to the days prior to 2002, when nothing could be said objectively about the church.
I am no longer Catholic so perhaps my view doesn’t fit the story you were trying to tell. It wouldn’t have been positive. Just the opposite. And clearly the point of the story was to find people who would discuss how positive Francis makes them feel. A nice PR piece.
And so far that’s all this is. In an opinion column for Al Jazeera America, Michael Tracey writes that the Vatican PR campaign is “…headed by former Fox News reporter Greg Burke. A member of the ascetic Opus Dei order, Burke is wedded to lifelong celibacy and professional communications services.”
Part of that campaign is the appearance that Francis lives a more humble life. Tracey writes. “Burke correctly surmised that in an era of austerity and continued economic misery, a leader who takes on austere appearances would win favor with the public — no major doctrinal alterations necessary. This is one of the oldest tricks in the book: former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, for instance, stripped his office of fine Persian carpets to secure a few favorable headlines. Most important, it works.”
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.