To The Telegram:
I am thoroughly disgusted with the bashing, denigration and harassment of Catholic priests and the Catholic Church by your newspapers and the media in general.
Tuesday, the editorial page has this headline: "Sexual abuse by priests is disturbing; cover-up is worse." Could not that headline have been: "Sexual abuse by public school teachers is disturbing; the cover-up is worse"? This in light of the recent report that in the last five years, 2,500 public school teachers had been discharged due to sexual abuse.
Also, has the news media checked into the past 50 years of sexual abuse/misconduct that has been a cover-up in public education? What about the other professions: legal, medical, coaches, etc. Also, has there ever been articles on sexual abuse in families -- cases that have been reported and investigated both in Douglas and St. Louis counties?
Your newspaper would have the general public believe that sexual abuse is mainly a Catholic priest/Catholic church problem rather than admit that it is a pervasive "societal" problem that needs all our attention and vigilance.
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Secondly, your reporting of the regent tragedy involving four young men was grossly insensitive and highly judgmental. Insensitive: by reporting of a "family feud" over their business dealings. What did this have to do with the tragedy? This merely added "insult to injury." Judgmental: "gross negligence on part of workers." Sure, there are safety procedures to be followed, but what would you do if it your brother/sister/father/mother or friend was in trouble? What type of snap decision would you make? Sometimes it is a matter of the "heart."
Your newspaper has a long way to go to attain high ethical and professional standards. No wonder newspapers are failing and journalists held in such low esteem.
-- Daniel Dahlberg, rector,
Cathedral of Christ the King
Editor's note: Since Jan. 1, The Telegram has published 110 stories addressing sexual assault; only a very small fraction of them involved abuse by clergy. Many involved abuse within the family unit but were not reported as such to protect the identity of the victim(s).
Contrary to your assertion, The Daily Telegram ran a Page 1 story Oct. 22 about sexual abuse by public school teachers. It included accusations of improprieties by several in Superior. The Telegram followed that story with an Oct. 22 editorial calling for tougher investigation and prosecution of abusive teachers. And last year, we sought and received a court order to expose abuse accusations against a local teacher. Also, three stories since July 24 have told of alleged sexual assault by a medical practitioner.
Regarding the landfill tragedy, The Telegram did not publish the story regarding business disagreements within the victims' family, nor did we publish the "gross negligence" quote. Although both were available to us from another newspaper, we felt neither would be appropriate during a time when family and friends were mourning.
