Jack Posobiec, an influential figure of conservatism in the United States, has exclaimed on Twitter that Catholics “are done being silent”. And former Vice President Mike Pence is deeply offended by a group that is anti-Catholic.
The right-wing’s firm opposition to human rights for LGBTQ people is juxtaposed with their silence on sexual abuse cases made against the Catholic church, in Illinois and in California.
CHICAGO (AP) — More than 450 Catholic clergy in Illinois sexually abused nearly 2,000 children since 1950, the state’s attorney general found in an investigation released Tuesday, revealing that the problem was far worse than the church had let on.
Attorney General Kwame Raoul said at a news conference that investigators found that 451 Catholic clergy abused 1,997 children in Illinois between 1950 and 2019, though he acknowledged that the statute of limitations has expired in many cases and that those abusers “will never see justice in a legal sense.”
“It is my hope that this report will shine light both on those who violated their positions of power and trust to abuse innocent children, and on the men in church leadership who covered up that abuse,” Raoul said, crediting the accusers for making the review possible. “These perpetrators may never be held accountable in a court of law, but by naming them here, the intention is to provide a public accountability and a measure of healing to survivors who have long suffered in silence.”
In fact, Media Matters for America reported that Fox News only spent just over 20 seconds reporting on child molestation within the Catholic church, in contrast to the 2 hours spent on discussing the backlash against Target celebrating Pride month. And this is over a weeklong time period.
From May 23 through 9 a.m. ET May 30, Fox aired over 2 hours and 12 minutes of coverage of the Target controversy. In comparison, Fox reported for just 22 seconds on the Illinois attorney general’s recent report that Catholic Church clergy members and lay religious brothers had abused nearly 2,000 children in the state since 1950.
Much of Fox’s extensive coverage of the Target boycott included expressions of outrage that children were exposed to clothing with positive messages about the LGBTQ community. While Fox repeatedly fearmongered about this supposed threat to children, the network almost completely ignored the reports of sexual abuse in the Illinois Catholic Church, airing only one segment on the attorney general’s report.
Make no mistake, as the Republican Party is increasingly delving deep into extremism.