Viewers Sound Off About Deal Hudson and the National Catholic Reporter

Dear Mr. Shea of Catholic Exchange:

Thanks for the article on today's Catholic Exchange dealing with the National Catholic Reporter. Your critique of them was overdue and appropriate.

One question I have in this whole matter was the relationship between CRISIS and Mr Hudson. Of course he has the right to privacy with the general public but as an employee and director I believe he should have informed the CRISIS board of his past. He certainly knew the catastrophic effect of an expos&eacute. If the CRISIS board knew of his past, they would have been better prepared to defend him now. Many successful converts (to Christianity or Catholicism) are quite open about their criminal or sinful past. The other issue that bothers me is the secrecy of him moving from a Catholic University to CRISIS. While the legal structure of both organizations is quite different than a diocese and parish arrangement, the moving without disclosure by Fordham has a shade of moving the problem somewhere else in the Church and not telling anyone.

As a parent, I would not have hesitated in sending my children to a conference if CRISIS was sponsoring one. Perhaps the sad events of the past month prove again that even conservative and traditional Catholic organizations need as much scrutiny as any other.

Thank You,

Paul Hillebrand

Cincinnati, OH

Dear Paul:

I quite agree. Hudson was, in my view, reckless to expose CRISIS to such danger and should have made his past clear to them so they knew what they were dealing with in hiring him.

Mark Shea

Senior Content Editor

Catholic Exchange

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Dear Mark,

Your attack on NCR rather misses the real lesson, for it does nothing to dispute the principle that some sins by some persons require a different form of penitence, precisely for the reasons that have led to Hudson's resignation.

Hudson rolled the dice back in '94 that the scandal of his making would not become public knowledge. Now, thanks to NCR, we all pay the price, but especially his closest associates on the board and at the magazine. CRISIS magazine and Deal Hudson have done alot of good for the Church in America…until the disclosure by NCR, which forever tarnishes his work. This whole sad affair demonstrates, once again, the essential merits of public confession by public figures. Although NCR is a pit of vipers, they would have had no opportunity to spit their venom if not for Hudson's lack of candor. We are all sinners, to be sure. But, Hudson did not choose the proper penance for a person in his position. This is the real moral of the story.

Sincerely,

Rick Cross

Leominster, MA

Dear Rick,

I agree that Hudson rolled the dice and that he should have warned both CRISIS and the Bushies of his baggage. But since the vast majority of us are not high-rolling political operative sinners, but merely lowly ordinary schlep sinners, my focus was on the deep insult that was rendered to the sacrament of reconciliation and the Church's teaching on mercy. NCR, by its exposure, has not helped the Church and has not even helped Kerry. All they have done is make the world a little less safe for every other sinner who comes to Christ and His Body hoping for haven, mercy, succor and grace.

They have behaved like excellent American journalists. They have behaved like wretched Catholic journalists. They've sold their baptismal birthright for a pot of message and told every penitent “'We believe in the forgiveness of sins' means essentially nothing, so watch your back!”

Mark Shea

Senior Content Editor

Catholic Exchange

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Good morning!

The first time I read NC Reporter, I was looking for NC Register and thought I'd found it, but one look at the editorials convinced me that I could not possibly be reading a Catholic publication that was faithful to the magisterium.

In a way, it's just too bad that a bishop is not required to give an imprimatur for anyone publishing something that has “Catholic” in the title.

Peace!

Mickey

MICKEY ADDISON, Lt. Col., USAF

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Dear Catholic Exchange:

Carlina

Dear Carlina:

Beware of turning this into a partisan discussion of Compare the Sin. The issue is not Mr. Hudson per se, but the meaning of “We believe in the forgiveness of sins” and of respect for the sacrament of reconciliation. I was not writing to compare Hudson with Clinton, nor to claim him to be innocent. I was writing to defend the sacrament and somebody whom the Reporter article itself described as a sinner who had made reparation for his sin.

That's the key issue.

Mark Shea

Senior Content Editor

Catholic Exchange

[Editor's Note: Viewers can read Catholic Exchange's initial response to situation with Deal Hudson by clicking here.]

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