Recent attempts to smear Chicago Archbishop Francis Cardinal George and Los Angeles Archbishop Roger Cardinal Mahony were met with a strong response from the Catholic League.
Mary Gail Frawley-O’Dea, a psychologist who addressed the bishops in 2002, recently sent Cardinal George a letter saying he might be considered “an accessory to soul murder” because he didn’t act quickly enough to remove an accused priest, the Rev. Daniel McCormack, from ministry.
What Frawley-O’Dea didn’t say is that the police and local prosecutors found no credible allegations against the priest. Nor did she mention that the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services investigated Father McCormack but never notified the archdiocese that it was doing so. And even after it concluded that he may be guilty, it still said nothing! Besides, Cardinal George apologized for not acting quicker.
Cardinal Mahony recently made some controversial remarks about pending immigration legislation, and it was this subject that led KABC talk show host Doug McIntyre to call Cardinal Roger M. Mahony a “molester”: he said the “M stands for molester.” We branded the smear libelous.
We concluded our news release by saying, “There is nothing bigoted about criticizing any priest, including the pope. But what Frawley-O’Dea and McIntyre have done isn’t criticism—it’s hate speech.”
