Archbishop Raymond Burke Chastizes World's Largest Catholic News Organization - an Organ of the USCCB - from Rome

Pewsitter - Washington DC, USA (MetroCatholic)

Catholic News Service (CNS) – an agency of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops - is the world’s largest Catholic news organization of its kind. It was created in 1920 in order to serve as a reliable voice for communicating the Church’s message to a global audience, and today CNS generates news items and editorial pieces that are reprinted in more than 200 Catholic publications worldwide.

A success story? Not exactly.

In a piece published on the popular web portal Catholic Exchange, [full Story available here: http://catholicexchange.com/2009/06/11/119389/ ] author and columnist Louie Verrecchio outlines “CNS’ failure to consistently apply reliably Catholic editorial standards” throughout the tenure of Editor-in-Chief and Director Anthony Spence who joined CNS in 2004.


Earlier this year, Verrecchio notes, the situation at CNS “had become so problematic that Archbishop Raymond Burke, Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura at the Vatican, was moved to take the extraordinarily bold step of criticizing CNS from Rome, saying, ‘The bishops need to look at our Catholic News Service; they need to review their coverage of [the Church’s moral and social teachings] and give some new direction.’”

Among the problems Verrecchio documents is CNS’ syndication and distribution of columns written by Douglas Kmiec, the Catholic Pepperdine Law professor who campaigned for Barack Obama and recently applauded a proposal by NIH to fund embryonic stem cell research in his CNS column.

“How can anyone explain why Catholic News Service – an organ of the USCCB - would grant Kmiec’s opinions a de facto Imprimatur by syndicating his columns for distribution to Catholic publications all over the world,” Verrecchio asks?

“Reasonable observers cannot help but conclude that Tony Spence has made a conscious decision to throw down the gauntlet and is now daring the USCCB to hold him and CNS to accountability.”

After numerous attempts over a two week period prior to publication to solicit a response from Archbishop George Neiderauer, whose committee has oversight of CNS, Director of Media Relations for the USCCB, Sr. Mary Ann Walsh, ultimately stated that she had been unable to get in touch with the Archbishop. Anthony Spence has also, to this date, declined to respond.

“How will the USCCB respond to the challenge of CNS’ apparently unbridled hubris,” Verrecchio asks? “Stay tuned.”

“As responsible media consumers,” Verrecchio tells readers, “we must force publications like our local diocesan newspaper, and news outlets like CNS, to earn their keep by offering real value in the marketplace of authentic Catholic content.”

“Catholics, many of whom would never knowingly choose to underwrite Douglas Kmiec’s syndicated columns or the other kinds of questionable content CNS produces. They deserve to know exactly what kinds of activities their hard earned money is going to support,” Verrecchio said.

Louie Verrecchio founded Salve Regina Publications, Inc., based in Hampstead, MD, USA, specifically for the purpose of promoting and distributing the Harvesting the Fruit of Vatican II faith formation series (www.harvestingthefruit.com) . Bearing an Imprimatur, the conciliar document study guide that he authored has been enthusiastically endorsed by Cardinal George Pell, Fr. Peter F. Ryan, S.J., S.T.D., Fr. Peter Stravinskas, S.T.D., Ph.D., Dr. Marcellino D’Ambrosio, and others, and it has been in use by parish based faith formation groups and individuals worldwide since 2004.