Editorial: Joe Feuerherd's Attack on Deal Hudson: Who is 'Dealing from the Bottom of the Deck?'

This recent article is not journalism, it may even be sin. Ironically, it is Joe Feuerherd who is 'dealing from the bottom of the deck.'

WASHINGTON, D.C. - (Catholic Online) On February 2, 2010, Joe Feuerherd, the Publisher and Editor of the National Catholic Reporter, unleashed a barrage of verbal bullets aimed directly at my friend Deal Hudson in an NCR blog posting entitled "Dealing from the Bottom of the Deck". I cannot let it go without a response.

Let me be clear from the outset. I do not know Joe Feuerherd. I also have no "dog in this fight" as they say down here in Southeastern Virginia, the chosen home of this former Bostonian. However, out of a sense of both justice and charity, I cannot sit back and let this kind of scurrilous attack go without a response. This was certainly not journalism. It was definitely not the way that fellow Catholics should treat one another.

This is not the first time I have decided to enter into this nasty verbal war that Mr. Feuerherd has unleashed against my friend. Back in February of 2009 I responded to another volley of verbal missiles against Dr. Hudson from the same author. In a piece entitled "Ready, Shoot, Aim: Did the National Catholic Reporter try to Harm Deal Hudson?" I took issue with a very similar approach. It was a personal attack which also purported to be journalism. However, this recent volley of verbal bullets is far more lethal.

Anyone who has read my reporting, writing, opinion, or commentary over the years knows that I am not always in agreement with Deal Hudson on some important public policy matters. However, I have great respect for his efforts to follow the admonition of our Church to engage the culture with the values informed by our shared Catholic faith. When we have disagreed - as we did over the initial incursion into Iraq (Iraq 2) and whether it fit the criteria of a "Just War" analysis - we have both experienced the meaning of the Proverb: "As iron sharpens iron, so man sharpens his fellow man." (Proverbs 27:17)

There is a proper way to disagree. Even to disagree passionately! After all, Dr. Deal Hudson and I are Catholic Christians together. We share a common Baptismal and Eucharistic bond which gives us the highest of obligations toward one another. And, along with that primary bond, I happen to really like the man. He is an intelligent, winsome and ever interesting fellow with a sincere faith, a wonderful family, and a true love for the Lord, His Church and her mission. I also believe in all that that we profess together in our shared Catholic Christian faith.

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For example, I believe that we are all invited into a life of continual conversion and that all of us have matters in our past which required a Savior. Thank God He sent one, Jesus Christ! The question is not whether we have sinned or made mistakes but whether we have repented of past sin and corrected past errors. Have we sought sacramental absolution where needed - and allowed time to become a tutor, leading us toward the future?

In short, are we are making progress in growing into the Image of the Lord as we receive the graces which come to us, mediated through the Sacraments? Are we making progress in our life within the Church by responding to our specific vocation as participants in her ongoing mission? I know Deal has done, and continues to do, all of these things.

I also believe that the Catholic Church has the authority to pronounce on whether a relationship in one's past was ever a valid marriage. Further, that the finding of nullity by a Tribunal of that Church is trustworthy and final.

I believe in the grace of all of the Sacraments. I believe that the absolution granted in every Sacramental Reconciliation is always efficacious and enables us all to begin again. Thank God for this truth! That is part of why we call it "Good News."

Finally, I believe in trying to follow the admonitions contained in our shared Catechism, particularly in our relationships with one another. For example, following the clear direction contained in the following paragraphs of the Catechism, found within "Life in Christ" and entitled "Offenses against Truth":

"Christ's disciples have "put on the new man, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. By "putting away falsehood," they are to "put away all malice and all guile and insincerity and envy and all slander."(#2475)

"Respect for the reputation of persons forbids every attitude and word likely to cause them unjust injury. He becomes guilty: - of rash judgment who, even tacitly, assumes as true, without sufficient foundation, the moral fault of a neighbor; - of detraction who, without objectively valid reason, discloses another's faults and failings to persons who did not know them; - of calumny who, by remarks contrary to the truth, harms the reputation of others and gives occasion for false judgments concerning them."(#2477)

"Detraction and calumny destroy the reputation and honor of one's neighbor. Honor is the social witness given to human dignity, and everyone enjoys a natural right to the honor of his name and reputation and to respect. Thus, detraction and calumny offend against the virtues of justice and charity." (#2479)

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"Dealing from the Bottom of the Deck" cannot pass without a response. It violates the clear direction found within these paragraphs of the Catechism. What apparently provoked Mr. Feuerhard's vicious verbal attack against Dr. Hudson was a series of articles on Inside Catholic which reported on a matter that originated from the claims of an ad hoc group called the Reform CCHD Now Coalition.

These articles concerned John Carr, the Executive Director of the Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. It is not my intent to comment on the substance of these articles. Rather, it is to oppose the denigrating personal attack against Deal Hudson by the Editor in Chief of the National Catholic Reporter.

Joe Feuerherd's scurrilous article did not respond to the issues raised by the claims of the Reform CCHD NOW Coalition concerning John Carr. It did not seek to refute the points raised in the articles in question. It did not even attempt to defend John Carr, at least beyond a brief reference to his skills and Feuerherd's assertion that the claims in the articles are "calumnies". These would have all been an entirely appropriate use of Feuerherd's journalistic platform as the Editor in Chief of a Newspaper which bears the name "Catholic".

Instead, he used this newest controversy as another opportunity to try to personally destroy Dr. Deal Hudson's reputation, hurt his family, demoralize his staff, and undermine his work. He brought up past matters in a manner which directly contravened the clear examples of everything the Catechism paragraphs cited above address.

He personally attacked Dr. Deal Hudson in a manner which appears to have been intended to harm him, his reputation and his future. By writing and publishing this article, Joe Feuerherd, a Catholic himself, also ended up questioning some of the basic premises of our shared Catholic faith. For example, the efficacy of sacramental absolution and the authority of the Church in matters concerning the marriage bond.

After reading this latest piece - on top of his past article which precipitated my February of 2009 response - I have come to a conclusion. Joe Feuerherd is attempting to destroy the reputation of a fellow Catholic Christian, Dr. Deal Hudson. He is intentionally trying to hurt a friend of mine, and hurt his family. That is why I must oppose his efforts. His recent article is not journalism, it may even be sin. Ironically, it is Joe Feuerherd who is "dealing from the bottom of the deck."

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