NBC apologizes for article title which portrayed Pope as child molester

New York City, N.Y., Apr 1, 2010 / 00:50 am

The Catholic League has accepted NBC’s apology for a section headline which said Pope Benedict XVI molested children.

On the website of MSNBC under the article, “Losing Their Religion? Catholicism in Turmoil,” the related content subsection linked to an article title reading, “Pope Describes Touching Boys: I Went Too Far.”

According to the Catholic League, this article said nothing about the Pope but discussed a homosexual German priest who had sexual relations with males in the 1980s.

On Tuesday Catholic League president Bill Donohue charged that the headline painted Pope Benedict as a child molester and called for an apology.

Later that day NBC apologized for the article.

In response, Donohue said:

“NBC says the attributed quote was erroneous and they have corrected the error. An apology was also extended. The apology is accepted. We hope that whoever was responsible for this outrageous post is questioned about it and that appropriate measures are taken. We look forward to hearing the outcome.”