Everyone's talking about the

crisis in the Catholic Church. What about the crisis in the media? Specifically,

how can liberal journalists roundly condemn the Church without harming

their sacred cow: homosexuality?

These crises began in January

with the Boston Globe's stories about defrocked priest and convicted-child

molester, John Geoghan. The Globe used the term "pedophile priest"

to describe Geoghan, an accurate depiction since "[a]lmost always,

his victims were grammar school boys."

When the larger story revealed

other abusive priests, however, few in the media bothered to clarify that

Geoghan's particular abuse was an anomaly. Thereafter, every priest charged

with sexual misconduct was viewed as a predatory pedophile in the eyes

of the public.

The problem is that few priests

guilty of sexual abuse were involved with prepubescent children a requirement

for pedophilia. The vast majority estimates range from 90 to 95 percent

were involved with adolescents, specifically teenage boys.

Illicit attraction to sexually

mature, but underage teenagers is not pedophilia. The appropriate term

for this behavior is ephebophilia. But even that term clouds the truth.

Almost exclusively, the abuse aligns with classic homosexual youth obsession.

The best data on Catholic clerical

sexual abuse is found in a comprehensive study conducted by the Archdiocese

of Chicago in 1992. The study found that of 2,252 priests serving over

a 40-year time period, there was only one case of pedophilia, that of

a priest molesting his nieces. The media, however, doesn't seem particularly

inclined to draw this distinction. By continuing to maintain that the

abuse is pedophilic in nature, sympathizers can deflect the arrows of

blame away from homosexuality with reasonable success.

Even when homosexuality is

mentioned, reporters find extraordinary ways to avoid implicating the

lifestyle in the crisis. Recently, New York Times reporter Laurie Goodstein

wrote: "The assumption that homosexuality has anything to do with

this crisis has arisen largely because a disproportionate number of those

abused were male."

A more noncommittal analysis

is hard to find.

In another example, although

numerous books documenting the Church's problem with homosexual abuse

have been available since the mid-1990s, writer Jon Meacham chose to ignore

such research in Newsweek's May 6 cover story. He takes all of three paragraphs

to reveal his ideological myopia.

"Some Catholic traditionalists

are trying to manage the scandal's fallout by arguing that the sexual

predation of children and teens is largely a homosexual issue," he

writes. "By pointing their fingers mainly at homosexuality, these

church leaders are avoiding discussion of the questions that should be

front and center: the roots and costs of a culture of sexual repression

and secrecy. [T]he Catholic crisis should prompt a broader conversation

about how far Christianity still has to go to resolve its complexes about

the larger issue of sexuality."

Meacham later examines three

of Christianity's supposed complexes in detail refusal to embrace homosexuality,

mandatory celibacy, and rejection of female priests and frequently cites

the latest Newsweek poll to prove his points.

It shouldn't surprise anyone

that the media would have a difficult time reporting the true nature of

this abuse. Homosexual groups like the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against

Defamation (GLAAD) and the Human Rights Campaign have long enjoyed favorable

coverage in the news. The current scandal changes nothing.

Like Meacham, many of the most

prominent "experts" outlining the causes of the abuse seem to

parrot the theme of a recent press release by the National Gay and Lesbian

Task Force.

"Catholics across this

country are challenging the doctrine of the Catholic Church in many ways,

including how it pertains to homosexuality, divorce, celibacy, and the

priesthood, birth control, the right to choose and the ordination of women.

We encourage the hierarchy of the Catholic Church in the U.S. and the

Vatican to examine all of these issues and to end outdated, discriminatory

and oppressive policies," the statement said.

Oh, if only priests were able

to marry and divorce their homosexual partners and female fellow priests,

use birth control, and abort their unwanted children, we wouldn't be in

this mess.

All of this predictably misses

the point and misses it badly. It was the rejection of Catholic doctrine

in the first place that led to the sexual abuse and resulting cover-up.

As Fr. Richard John Neuhaus

of "First Things" put it, "If the bishops and priests had

been living according to the teaching of the Catholic Church and had been

faithful to their own sacred vows, there would be no scandal."

Faithfulness to one's journalistic

vows to tell the whole story truthfully and accurately would be a welcome

development as well.

[Daniel L. Weiss is a social

research analyst for Focus on the Family, a nonprofit, evangelical ministry

based in Colorado Springs.]