First Things Considered

The mighty Atrios and his intrepid readers have uncovered some interesting information (Post One, Post Two) about the recent coverage of Senator Kerry and Catholicism by National Public Radio's Barbara Hagerty. In an April 30 report, Hagerty attends an 8.00 a.m. Mass and interviews three Catholic parishoners there who deem Senator Kerry unfit for for political office. What Hagerty does not disclose is that those three individuals -- Ted Flynn, Phillip Munoz and Carrie Gress -- are (or share names with) rabid-right Catholic authors, academics and think-tank employees.

And there are still more ties -- ties between Gress and Munoz and Father Richard John Neuhaus, who is interviewed in the report and identified only as an editor of First Things magazine. (First Things is a publication of the Institute On Religion and Public Life, a regular recipient of wingnut largese.) In the NPR piece, Neuhaus lumps Kerry in with "politicians ...[who] openly, publicly, persistently and defiantly say, in effect, 'I don't give a damn what the church teaches. Here's the position I'm going to take.'"

In addition to his job as editor-in-chief of First Things, Neuhaus is also a director of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, where Gress is a Program Manager. In fact, Gress is the Program Manager of the EPPC's Catholic Studies Project, which "[w]orks with world-renowned Catholic scholars and writers like William J. Bennett, Avery Cardinal Dulles, S.J., Robert P. George, Mary Ann Glendon, Russell Hittinger, Richard John Neuhaus, and Michael Novak" to produce works that "have helped shape the engagement of the Catholic Church in the United States with the great international and domestic issues of our time." The EPPC's website states, with apparent modesty, that "The Catholic Studies Project is also a prominent Washington reference point for government officials, Members of Congress, and journalists seeking to understand the social doctrine of the Catholic Church and its application to public policy questions."

Meanwhile, Gress's immediate boss at the EPPC, George Weigel, is on the Editorial Board of First Things. And Vincent Phillip Munoz has been published in First Things.

Small world.

Interestingly, tomorrow morning the EPPC is holding a panel discussion, entitled Kerry-Bush (sic) and the Faith Factor, "to talk about the media's coverage of the candidates' faith." Maybe someone will ask about the ethical considerations and spiritual ramifications of cherry-picking.

Update: The EPPC panel will air tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. on C-SPAN3, which is available to approximately 5 television sets in the country, but is also available online.

Update II: Corrected the spelling of Hagerty's name. My apologies.

Update III: In comments, Bolo advises that all three interviewees have confirmed their identities.