In today’s edition of the ABC-TV show, “The View,” Rosie O’Donnell said that “the person who was in charge of investigating all the allegations of pedophiles in the Catholic Church from the eighties until just recently was guess who. The current pope.” She said her source was an upcoming movie, “Deliver Us from Evil.”
Catholic League president Bill Donohue responded as follows:
“There are several objections to today’s edition of ‘The View.’ What started as a discussion on the problems facing the disgraced former congressman Mark Foley, quickly digressed into a lengthy conversation about the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church. Given the fact that the exchange began and ended with brief comments about Foley, it is obvious that the real target was the Catholic Church.
“According to one article on the film, it mentions that before Cardinal Ratzinger became pope, he wrote to all the bishops saying that ‘grave’ crimes such as the sexual abuse of minors ‘would be handled by his congregation….’ This is correct. He would be in charge. And when did he take command? After the scandal erupted in 2002. In other words, it is a lie to say that the pope, when cardinal, was ‘in charge of investigating all the allegations of pedophiles in the Catholic Church from the eighties until just recently.’ Indeed, it was precisely because of Cardinal Ratzinger’s no-nonsense approach that Pope John Paul II put him in charge in 2002. It was on Good Friday, March 25, 2005, a week before Pope John Paul II died, that Cardinal Ratzinger spoke about the scandal, saying, ‘How much filth there is in the church, even among those who, in the priesthood, should belong entirely’ to God.
“O’Donnell, and the other panelists, err again by talking about the ‘pedophile’ scandal in the Church: it’s been a homosexual scandal all along, as the data make painfully clear.
“We are writing to Barbara Walters, who co-owns and co-produces the show, and co-producer Bill Geddie, requesting an on-air apology for smearing the pope.”
You can reach Bill Geddie at bill.geddie@abc.com.
