Friday, May 19, 2006

Sullivan calls on Neuhaus to apologize for defending Legion of Christ

Today, the founder of the Legion of Christ, Father Marcial Maciel Degollado, was disciplined by the Vatican for what Andrew Sullivan calls "a long and brutal history of sexual abuse and harassment of young seminarians in his care."

Sullivan goes on to call on Richard John Neuhaus, a long-time defender of Father Maciel, and member of the Institute on Religion and Democracy's (IRD) Board of Directors, to apologize for his "slander" against the journalists "who tried to unmask Maciel's crimes."

Although hardly comparable to Maciel, Archbishop Peter Akinola, who is also defended by the IRD, is nearly immune to attack because of the idolization he receives from within conservative Anglican circles and because the current threat of schism within the Anglican Communion makes the complaints of liberals too politically charged to be recognized -- even when Akinola endorses legislation that would put gay and lesbian Nigerians in jail over a theological disagreement.

Sometimes the truth is before us, and we just can't see.

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