Slanted facts

To the editor:

In the past, there has been scandal in the Catholic church of which we are rightly ashamed. However, the recent smear campaign against Pope Benedict is entirely an invention of the media. Here are the facts I gleaned from online sites for National Catholic Register and New Advent.

Father Lawrence Murphy sexually abused boys at a school for the deaf between 1963 and 1974. This became known and was reported to the police. There was no coverup. Murphy was removed from the school and never again given a pastoral assignment.

In 1995, some of Murphy’s victims sought further action. In 1996, the case came to the attention of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith in Rome, of which Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict) was the head.

I have read that Ratzinger “quashed” the investigation, that the investigation was “mysteriously” dropped. This is not true.

After some discussion about jurisdiction and Murphy’s extremely poor health the case was returned to the diocese of Superior, Wis., in May 1998. Three months later, Murphy was dead.

I strongly urge readers to go to the Internet sites National Catholic Register and New Advent for the real facts.