I interviewed David Rabinovitch today, producer and director of a four-part series about the Inquisition that will be broadcast in the USA for the first time May 9 and 16 on PBS stations nationwide.
The series is amazing in how it details one of the darkest moments in religious history, when Catholic clergy for 600 years hunted down people considered to be heretics and, in order to prevent them leading other people astray, often sentenced them to death. Many victims were burned at the stake.
Rabinovitch used the actual transcripts from the trials that had been locked up by the Vatican until 1998, when Pope John Paul II ordered them opened on a limited basis. Although actors were used in this "docu-drama" to tell the story, the words are all genuine. "We made nothing up," Rabinovitch said in the interview.
After a lengthy discussion of his movie, I told him about my book. I don't usually make that leap, taking off my reporter/interviewer hat and talking about "Sin, Shame & Secrets," but in this case it just seemed natural. Rabinovitch is a journalist and a movie producer who has done extensive research on the Catholic church and reported his findings to the public. His Inquisition series has been seen by tens of millions of people around the world, although it's not been shown in the United States yet.
Anyway, I gave him a brief synopsis of the book and he said he was interested already, and added, "Let's make a movie." I'm going to have my publicist send him a copy.
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I know it's been a tough time for the Catholic Church in general, and the Toledo diocese has also been struggling. I've wrestled with the responsbility of reporting about many of these cases, from pedophile priests to the church covering up for a murderer to the lockout of parishioners at St. James in Kansas, Ohio, to an attempt to intimidate a priest who spoke out to the media.
So after all this, what do I get today but an email from someone saying that "some people think the Toledo diocese has a ring in my nose." In other words, the diocese pushes me around, with the implication that I don't write the tough stories.
My integrity and objectivity are essential to me as a person and a journalist. I don't particularly enjoy writing the bad news, but I feel it is my duty and mission as a religion editor to help clean up when churches abuse their power, and shine some light when there are coverups.
I prefer writing the good-news story, profiling good people and recording notable achievements. But the bad news is necessary and I am not afraid to write the truth.
I would be insulted if the "ring in my nose" comment came from someone I respected. Obviously whoever said it has not read the Blade nor has he or she read my book.
I've learned that such cheap shots come with the territory -- when you're in the public eye, you get arrows from all directions, including slings from ignorant people who are quick to speak even when they don't know what they are talking about. With that in mind, I just shrug it off and wonder where these people's heads are at. Actually, I don't really want to know...
Sylvania, Ohio, May 2, 2007