WASHINGTON (DC)
National
By Joe Feuerherd
Why is the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee posting a list of the most egregious Catholic clergy sex abuse cases on its Web site? What does this have to do with returning control of the Senate to the Democrats?
More than you'd think.
Senator Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) is the controversial conservative incumbent in what will be the most hotly contested Senate race of 2006. Three years ago, in July 2002, he penned a column for Catholic Online, a conservative Web site. "The most obvious change must occur within American seminaries, many of which demonstrate the same brand of cultural liberalism plaguing our secular universities," wrote Santorum.
"When the culture is sick, every element in it becomes infected," he continued. "While it is no excuse for this scandal, it is no surprise that Boston, a seat of academic, political and cultural liberalism in America, lies at the center of the storm."
Santorum's formula -- cultural liberalism leads to child rape -- was largely ignored at the time. No brouhaha. No headlines.
Given the context in which Santorum wrote (the U.S. bishops, meeting in Dallas, had just established theirAbuse Tracker Review Board to investigate the crisis and promoted a "one strike and you're out policy" for clerical abusers) it's not surprising that even the provocative words of a prominent senator were ignored. There was a lot being said about priest-molesters and their protectors at the time, much of it half-baked, most of it lost in the cacophony of voices chiming in on the hot topic of the day.
All that changed this week.