UNITED STATES
Sancte Pater
These Stone Walls by Father Gordon MacRae is a finalist in About.com’s Readers Choice for Best Catholic Blog. In justice, it should win… but there might be hell to pay.
By Ryan A. MacDonald
(A Ram in the Thicket) How did such a thing happen? The Catholicism page of the media site, About.com provides an annual forum for readers to select the very best in Catholic media – everything from best Catholic book, newspaper, and television/radio, to best Catholic blog and other electronic media. This year, someone in the Catholic online world nominated These Stone Walls, the blog of imprisoned priest, Father Gordon MacRae for the category of Best Catholic Blog in an enormous field of worthy candidates. These Stone Walls became a Finalist, and that this writing, it has shot up to second place in a short list of five of the best Catholic blogs selected by readers of About.com. Readers may register a vote, once per day if they wish, at the Best Catholic Blog ballot right here.
Though of course dwarfed by the coming Conclave to elect a successor to Pope Benedict XVI, the story of this honor bestowed upon an imprisoned priest and his writings is an important Catholic news story. For over a decade, accused Catholic priests have been vilified and bludgeoned without mercy in both the secular and Catholic media. Organizations such as SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, and VOTF, the Voice of the Faithful, have risen up seemingly for the sole purpose of denouncing the Church’s disciplines withing the priesthood and priests themselves when they are accused of claims that usually date back 30, 40, or 50 years. There is rarely any evidence beyond the word of someone who stands to gain a windfall settlement just for making the claim.
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.