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  Journalist Defends Colleague, Chides Catholic League

By Matt C. Abbott
The Conservative Voice [San Francisco CA]
September 1, 2005

In an August 29 news release, Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights (www.catholicleague.org) president William Donohue said the following:

"...Jason Berry's savage attack [an article in the September edition of San Francisco magazine] on the former San Francisco Archbishop includes the vicious allegation that Levada 'worked tirelessly throughout his career to protect sexual predator priests.' Now if this were true, then Berry--who has made a career out of writing about this subject--would have blown the whistle on Levada long ago. So why didn't he? Could it be because Levada is a much juicier subject these days (he is Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith)? What makes this so ugly is the fact that when Levada was auxiliary bishop in Los Angeles in 1985, he was one of the first bishops in the nation to seriously address this issue! In short, what Berry has done is yellow journalism...."

Journalist Gerald Renner, who co-authored with Berry (whose hometown is hurricane-ravaged New Orleans) the controversial 2004 book Vows of Silence: The Abuse of Power in the Papacy of John Paul II, responded:

"I haven't seen his article in San Francisco magazine, but having worked closely with Jason for many years, I can say that he has a record as an indefatigable researcher and a most careful reporter. Given his role as the first journalist to bring to national attention the scandal of priestly sexual abuse, he is not one to shoot carelessly from the hip as does William Donohue, whose style is more, Ready! Shoot! Aim!"

Matt C. Abbott is a Catholic journalist and commentator. He is a columnist for and/or contributor to TheConservativeVoice.com, RenewAmerica.us, MichNews.com, Catholic.org, Opeds.com, Speroforum.com, and other sites. He is also an occasional contributor to "The Wanderer" Catholic newspaper.