Radio 3AW's Neil Mitchell and a venal media exploit the misery and tragedy of clerical sexual abuse

Right on the eve of World Youth Day, ABC's Lateline gave a generous uncritical airing of the accusations brought by Anthony Jones against Cardinal Pell (see previous comments). Most ordinary Catholics on hearing this would have immediately thought, "Oh, no, here we go again. Where is the media free-for-all going to end this time? We'll have all the usual self-righteous anti-Catholic bigots fronting microphones and cameras, blowing any little spark into a holocaust."

Of course, we know now that's what has happened. It is routine when it comes to the Catholic Church. You have a gripe against the Catholic Church? You can rely on the Australia's media to be on your side. There will be no obstacle. You can be assured that all opposition has been silenced. They will apply their considerable talents to isolating a bundle of facts, producing a story that will take all opposition before it, and have the accused appearing as cruel, heartless, immoral, in a word, deserving of social and political obliteration. Years of unrestricted battering have taught most Catholics that.

Radio 3AW's Neil Mitchell, as usual, has been out in front of the mob in Melbourne, feeding with a frenzy no doubt on the reports in The Age, that unreformable bulwark of Australia's dominant political class, whose anti-Catholic attitudes are worn with casual pride. "Catholics? An ignorant underclass that have to be rescued from their ignorance by the more enlightened of our society. Us."

In the midst of all this, the politicking and the manoeuvring of what appears the most virulent anti-Catholic group in Australia, Broken Rites, has loomed large. Broken Rites, by virtue of its barely disguised anti-Catholic campaign, has been quarantined from the scrutiny of the clever investigative talents of ABC Lateline's boys. Indeed, the ABC's clever journalists are functioning as Broken Rites' battering ram, with Chris MacIsaac, President of Broken Rites, deftly giving the directions - in both senses.

This morning Neil Mitchell, with the usual politically refracting glasses on, has been in a frenzy constantly declaiming, 'They don't get it! The hierarchy don't get it!' Certainly people blinded by their self-righteousness and their bigotry don't get it. It was significant that he roped in Chris MacIsaac, to feed him with the choicest bits of her organisation's campaign: the Catholic hierarchy is arrogant, non-caring, out of touch with the ordinary person all demonstrated by the Church's defending itself against any and all charges. It has to change, or be changed.

During his self-righteous rant he interviewed Fr Dillon from Geelong. Among other things Fr Dillon spoke of the open abuse that priests experience when they appear in public. He gave a recent example. They are subjected to abuse because hysterical anti-Catholic bigots like Neil Mitchell manufacture the impression that every priest is a paedophile. Only a small number of priests over fifty years has been accused of sexual abuse. Smearing the overwhelming majority with the criminal deeds of a small group, that's the trick.

Mitchell is wilfully blind to the bigotry he and others excite in the community towards all Catholics. He said to one caller who wanted to defend the Church: "Nobody knocks the average Catholic for being Catholic." Don't they just? These are the words of a person who belongs to Australia's dominant political class, a class that has legislatively shielded itself against views it doesn't like. Mitchell obviously doesn't know what it is to be subjected to prejudice.

Prejudice, of course, is not always abuse. Catholics who stand their ground and defend the Church and its teaching will regularly experience ridicule and mockery - and often employment and social isolation. They will hear repeated the views of the likes of Neil Mitchell. Now let me get on to what caused this morning hysteria - and I do mean hysteria. These are the opening paragraphs of a report in Cathnews:

WYD Coordinator Bishop Anthony Fisher has stirred up a hornet's nest with comments criticising people concerned with clerical abuse for "dwelling crankily on old wounds".

The Age reports Bishop Fisher, made the remarks in response to questions about two Melbourne women who were repeatedly raped by priest Kevin O'Donnell when they were pupils at Sacred Heart Primary School in Oakleigh from 1988 to 1993.

The case was detailed on ABC's Lateline on Tuesday, but Bishop Fisher told the World Youth Day daily media briefing that he had not seen the program.

"Happily, I think most of Australia was enjoying, delighting in, the beauty and goodness of these young people … rather than dwelling crankily, as a few people are doing, on old wounds," he said.

It was the words "dwelling crankily...on" that sent Mitchell into a frenzy, repeating them time and time again throughout the morning, whipping up the raw feelings of those susceptible. There was no containing his spluttering outrage, condemning not only Bishop Fisher but by implication anyone who did not share his interpretation of the incident. "If people think I'm a bigot, so be it," he declared defiantly. As if Neil Mitchell would be subject to what he subjects others to!

The preamble above about the regular expression of anti-Catholic bigotry in both the media and general community was meant to put Bishop Fisher's words in context. The indisputable context was the deliberate loud cynical manipulation by the media of clerical sexual abuse right at the time of World Youth Day. The obvious political aim was to sabotage the joy and positive image young Catholics were projecting of the Church and its teaching. The last thing that could be tolerated was a youthful positive image of the Church. That would spoil the feverish political campaign of the Broken Rites faction and their allies in the media.

There is nothing more reasonable than to point out to a small powerful faction in Australia - the media and Broken Rites people - just what they were doing: ignoring the positive occasion of World Youth Day and beating up the misery and tragedy of the cases of clerical sexual abuse. I agree with Bishop Fisher's comment. It is right and just in the context.

Context means nothing to Mitchell and his fellow bigots, many of whom simply seek any means at their disposal to harm the Church. According to them, Bishop Fisher had no just reason whatever for his comment. None. Full stop. He displayed heartlessness and a lack of understanding of the suffering of the victims of clerical sexual abuse. He represents the character of that whole class of Church hierarchy. They're unfeeling, heartless people who only have interest in protecting the church's interests - and so it went on ad infinitum.

It is an empirical truth that Cardinal Pell, Bishop Fisher, many in the "hierarchy" and many lay representatives of the Church have constantly expressed deep regret and sorrow at the actions of a small group of priests that betrayed the people in their care, betrayed the Church, and betrayed the ordinary Catholic who often has to suffer abuse because of that betrayal. It is an empirical truth that Cardinal Pell and other bishops have taken steps to deal with the tragedy, both in terms of care and compensation. The Toward Healing document reflects that action and concern. To claim otherwise in the face of the empirical evidence is to propagate a falsehood.

Deductively it does not follow from Bishop's Fisher words that he does not care about the victims clerical sexual abuse. He was talking generally about the media and others, not specifically about the victims and the parents of the victims. But even if he were, it still does not follow that he does not care, or is not keen to deal sympathetically and justly with each case as it is taken individually.

But as I have pointed out before, evidence and logic are of no concern when there is an important political end in sight - and within reach.

comments: gerardwilson01@optusnet.com.au