COLUMN RIGHT : ‘Catholic Bashing’ Isn’t Only by Press : The most news worthy conflict, till recently, was what’s going on inside the church.

Cardinal John O’Connor of New York recently wrote in his archdiocesan newspaper that “Catholic-bashing” had become the “in thing” in America. Editors and columnists who are censured “for ethnic slurs or attacks on virtually any other people,” he added, “can romp all over the place at the expense of Catholics who dare to publicly uphold their faith.”

His comments were published a few days after the controversial St. Patrick’s Day Parade in New York, when a number of newspaper columnists blamed either Catholicism, or the cardinal himself, for the hostility encountered by a homosexual group that had belatedly been invited to participate.

Since then, the cardinal’s criticisms have been coincidentally endorsed by a new study, “Media Coverage of the Catholic Church,” by S. Robert and Linda Lichter of the Center for Media and Public Affairs in Washington. In the major news media over the last 30 years, the study finds, the church has been portrayed as “oppressive and anachronistic,” and media coverage has overwhelmingly taken the side of church dissidents.

Journalists “are less fact collectors than storytellers,” the study continues, and the “story” is as likely to be about political disputes as about religion. Increasingly, the authors conclude, “the story line revolves around a beleaguered authority struggling to enforce its traditions and decrees on a reluctant constituency.”

It’s true that journalists today do tend to take the progressive side of policy questions, especially when such matters as abortion, homosexuality, birth control and the role of women in the church are at issue. Nor is it surprising to read that “on most controversies involving Catholic teachings, the church came out on the losing side of the issue debate reported in the media.” The Catholic Church is inherently not a progressive organization, after all, and if it is to be judged by the standards of progressivism, it might even relish the prospect of being intellectually unfashionable--if only for a while.

It doesn’t get us very far, however, to blame journalists looking for “story lines.” (Anything without one probably wouldn’t get published.) The problem is that, until the last few months at least, the newsworthy conflict has been more within the church itself than between church members and outsiders.

Last fall, to give an example, the U.S. Catholic bishops met in Washington and adopted a document declaring that homosexuality “is not freely chosen” and therefore “is not sinful.” The Vatican’s 1986 judgment that homosexuality is “an intrinsic moral evil and objective disorder” was relegated to a footnote after San Francisco Archbishop John Quinn argued that it might be “misunderstood.” The headline in the next day’s San Francisco Chronicle, “U.S. Catholic Bishops Say Homosexuality Isn’t a Sin,” hardly reflected anti-Catholic bigotry in the newsroom. Who came out “on the losing side” of that story?

It is true that lately, members of ACT-UP--a militant homosexual group--have undertaken a real hate campaign, including vandalism of church property, the desecration of the Communion host and numerous vile mockeries. And these outrages have not received the press attention that they deserve--especially considering that we now have hate-crime laws. Then again, when archdiocesan buildings in San Francisco were defaced a few months ago, the decision was made to erase the evidence rather than call in the media.

The problem may be that in its prolonged attempt to ingratiate itself with progressive opinion, an important segment of the U.S. Catholic hierarchy has shown weakness rather than tolerance, at the same time conveying the impression that it is reluctant to defend its core beliefs. Far from being mollified by this show of goodwill, militant homosexuals have responded as though they believed that the church could be captured doctrinally. One more demonstration, perhaps, and the bishops might finally surrender, promulgating the long-hoped-for endorsement of homosexual acts (not mere neutrality toward homosexual “orientation”).

The Mormon Church proceeded somewhat differently a few years back, when a dissident member, Sonia Johnson, attempted to change the church’s position on the equal rights amendment. This brought her a lot of favorable attention, but it abruptly came to an end when she was excommunicated. She then ceased to be a “dissident,” working legitimately within the organization to change it, becoming instead a powerless outsider. By contrast, Catholic bishops today are reluctant to excommunicate anyone. Indeed, many adopt positions that until recently would have been considered heterodox. The resulting Babel of Catholic dissent is catnip for journalists.