NEW JERSEY
The Star-Ledger
By Tom Moran/ Star-Ledger Editorial Board
on March 03, 2014
It is tragic to hear Catholics say they will boycott Newark Archbishop John J. Myers’ annual appeal this year as a protest against his decision to build a luxurious addition to his retirement home in Hunterdon County.
That will do concrete harm to people in need. It will deny money to the soup kitchens and homeless shelters run by Catholic Charities. And it will worsen the financial pinch at Catholic schools, many of which have already shut down for lack of funds.
It has also drained away any surviving scrap of credibility Myers clung to in the wake of his shameful failure to protect children from abusive priests. This bleeding is likely to continue until Myers finally resigns, or is shoved into retirement by Pope Francis.
Some Catholics, taking a cue from Myers’ playbook, blame all this on the press. “For the love of God, the media is our devil,” one priest in Garfield wrote in his weekly bulletin.
But the press is not in the business of hiding secrets like this. And the facts of this case are unchallenged.
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