The media coverage of Catholic sex abuse cases is a major aspect of the academic literature surrounding the pederastic priest scandal.
According to a study conducted jointly by the Project for Excellence in Journalism and the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, both of which belong to the nonprofit, nonpartisan Pew Research Center in Washington, D.C.:[2][3] However, it was not until early 2002 that the Boston Globe coverage of a series of criminal prosecutions of five Roman Catholic priests thrust the issue of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests into the national limelight on an ongoing basis.
After the number of allegations exploded following the Globe's series of articles, U.S. bishops felt compelled to formulate a coordinated response at the episcopal conference level.
The Globe was honored, according to the Pulitzer website, "for its courageous, comprehensive coverage ... an effort that pierced secrecy, stirred local, national and international reaction and produced changes in the Roman Catholic Church."
Paolo Rodari of the Italian newspaper Il Foglio, wrote: "The computer-generated English version would support the NYT's allegations against Bertone and Ratzinger, but that same conclusion is not possible if a correct review of the sources is done."
[16] Director of Apologetics and Evangelization for Catholic Answers, Jimmy Akin, also pointed out, "Back in 1996 the CDF did not have a mandate to handle cases of sexual abuse by priests...
"[17] In April 2010, there were reports of a letter signed by Cardinal Ratzinger in 1985, in which he allegedly dismissed a request to laicize a Father Stephen Kiesle, a California priest accused of molesting boys.
"[21] Law professor John Coverdale, in a letter to The New York Times, wrote, "The [Laurie Goodstein] story is so wrong that it is hard to believe it is not animated by the anti-Catholic animus that the New York Times and other media outlets deny harboring... My complaint here is not that the article misuses the word "defrock" but rather that by so doing it strongly suggests to readers that Cardinal Ratzinger delayed the priest's removal from the ministry.