about Just B16

Just B16 is MercatorNet’s contribution to clearing the air about the sex abuse scandal enveloping Pope Benedict XVI and the Catholic Church. Last year, in our “Our public intellectual A-list” we described Benedict as “the world's leading voice for human dignity founded upon the divine creation of man” – which he undoubtedly is. We feel that ill-informed, unjust and vicious attacks on Benedict’s credibility will ultimately undermine the credibility of human dignity itself.

MercatorNet is not a Catholic publication, although the editor and the deputy editor are both Catholics. We have always steered clear of ecclesiastical disputes and doctrinal quibbles. But our rule of thumb has always been to cover religious issues if they appear on the front page of the New York Times. Since the sex abuse scandal has sent the Times into a feeding frenzy worthy of the most lurid tabloids, with front-page articles nearly every day (at least in March), we feel that Just B16 is hardly compromising our editorial principles.

We are unencumbered by starry-eyed naïveté. We accept, with great shame and chagrin, that there are paedophile priests and that there are delinquent bishops and cardinals. But we will try to put these in context and we will refuse to be cowed by bullying, abuse and perverse misinterpretation.

The site will feature reports on developments, positive and negative, links to informative and balanced articles on the internet, and reflections on the crisis and the coverage. We welcome suggestions. 

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