Right as CNN's The Situation Room reported the resignation of
Pope Benedict XVI, correspondent Brian Todd launched into a litany of
the "controversies" of his papacy and pushed the positive analysis to
the bottom of his report.
"Pope Benedict's papacy has been marked by serious controversies," began anchor Wolf Blitzer. Todd followed up that as far as "controversies" were concerned, "there was certainly no shortage of those during his papacy."
[Video below. Audio here [1].]
Todd cycled through liberal controversies like the Pope's citing a
Byzantine emperor's quote about Islam that upset Muslims. He later added
a more frivolous criticism which could pass for a cheap shot: "Pope Benedict also carries the stigma of not being as popular a figure as his predecessor, John Paul II."
And after another guest provided some more positive context, Todd did
throw in this brief line at the very end of his report: "And Tom Roberts
points out that Pope Benedict will be remembered as well for doing more
to actually address the abuse scandal than his predecessor John Paul II
ever did."
Then Todd and Blitzer returned to another "controversy," Benedict versus the U.S. nuns, some of which CNN cheered on [2] in their liberal protest against the Ryan budget. It was unmistakable [3] that CNN took [4] the nuns' side [5]
when the Vatican reprimanded them, and Todd preposterously blew it up
into "one of the more controversial moments of his papacy."
"That's right, not long ago, some American nuns had challenged the
church's teachings on homosexuality, on the male-only priesthood. They
had supported President Obama's health care plan when the church had
spoken out against it. The Vatican had appointed a bishop to kind of
investigate these nuns. They ended up being reprimanded. But the nuns got a lot of support within the United States for their actions. So it was controversial for the Pope," Todd ridiculously spun.
A transcript of the segment, which aired on February 11 on The Situation Room at 4:08 p.m. EST, is as follows:
[4:08]
WOLF BLITZER: Other news we're following, it's an event so rare that
the last time it happened was some 600 years ago. Pope Benedict XVI says
he'll resign at the end of this month after only eight years as leader
of the world's one billion Roman Catholics. He says it's because of his
age and his health. And now the question being asked around the world,
who will be the next pope? We're watching what's going on. We have
several correspondents in Rome. Pope Benedict's papacy has been marked
by serious controversies, especially the sex abuse scandal and his prior
role as the church lead investigator personally handling every single
case that made its way to the Vatican. CNN's Brian Todd is working this
part of the story for us. Brian, we're going to go to Rome in just a few
moments, but tell us what's going on.
BRIAN TODD: Wolf, here at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the
Immaculate Conception they were shocked as anyone at the Pope's
announcement of his resignation. This was the spot where it was one of
the most talked about moments of his visit to the United States almost
five years ago. The place where he addressed one of the biggest
controversies of his tenure and there was certainly no shortage of those
during his papacy.
(Video Clip)
TODD: (voice over) The scrutiny began before he even assumed the
papacy. For decades before his elevation, when he was Cardinal John
Ratzinger, Pope Benedict XVI had worked as the Vatican's chief
investigator into allegations of sex abuse by priests.
COLM O'GORMAN, Irish abuse survivor: In 2001, he wrote to every bishop
in the world telling them in the letter that every case of a priest who
abused a child was to be referred to his department at the Vatican.
TODD: But critics said as a cardinal, Benedict was part of the system
of cover-ups of abuse and the practice of moving priests from parish to
parish to avoid trouble. I spoke with Tom Roberts of the National Catholic Reporter, an independent newspaper.
(On camera) Was that fair, was he part of the problem?
TOM ROBERTS, editor, National Catholic Reporter: I think as
part of the general clergy culture, yes. And there was one incident that
was highlighted even after he became pope about when he was a bishop in
Germany, where he knew of accusations against a priest and really
didn't act against it.
TODD: (voice over) But later during his 2008 visit to the United
States, Pope Benedict addressed the issue directly, visiting with abuse
victims.
(On camera) It was during that period that he vowed to take on crimes
of abuse more directly. And right here at the Basilica of the National
Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, one of the biggest Catholic
churches in the Americas, Benedict made an extraordinary request.
POPE BENEDICT XVI (through translator): We too insistently beg
forgiveness from God and from the persons involved. While promising to
do everything possible to ensure that such abuse will never occur again.
TODD: A more extensive apology came later that year in Australia, where
Benedict used the words "unequivocal condemnation." There were other
controversies. The year after he was elevated, the Pope quoted a
Byzantine emperor's words saying the prophet Mohammed had brought,
quote, "things only evil and inhuman." That touched off outrage and
protest in the Muslim world. Benedict later clarified, saying those
weren't his personal views. Last year, the Pope's butler was convicted
of stealing and leaking documents exposing corruption and
disorganization at the Vatican. Pope Benedict also carries the stigma of
not being as popular a figure as his predecessor, John Paul II. But the
monsignor of the shrine in Washington puts it into perspective.
MONSIGNOR VITO BUNANNO, Basilica of the National Shrine: Christ was
controversial. The things that Jesus did, the way that he reached out to
people, the way he talked to people, the types of people that he talked
to. It upset many, many people.
(End Video Clip)
TODD: And Tom Roberts points out that Pope Benedict will be remembered
as well for doing more to actually address the abuse scandal than his
predecessor John Paul II ever did. Wolf?
WOLF BLITZER: As you know, Brian, Pope Benedict was also involved in a
controversy in the United States over the actions of some American nuns.
Remind our viewers about this.
TODD: That's right, not long ago, some American nuns had challenged the
church's teachings on homosexuality, on the male-only priesthood. They
had supported President Obama's health care plan when the church had
spoken out against it. The Vatican had appointed a bishop to kind of
investigate these nuns. They ended up being reprimanded. But the nuns
got a lot of support within the United States for their actions. So it
was controversial for the Pope. He was kind of also prompted to do that
by some pressure from conservative religious figures in the United
States. So that ended up being one of the more controversial moments of
his papacy and it had to do of course with quite a few popular American
nuns here in the United States.
-- Matt Hadro is a News Analyst at the Media Research Center