Reporting around a hole

The Wisconsin State Journal reported that the local bishop had sent out a letter warning of penalties for those who spread rumors and gossip. I gather this has to do with a dispute about some priests the locals don't like (the priests insisted on rules like boys-only for altar service and rubbed some people the wrong way). If you read the article you glean all sorts of details--except what exactly the bishop meant by "rumors" and why he came down hard on the subject.

I wonder why they ran with a story that never got around to getting a statement from the bishop. I can easily imagine him saying that he didn't want to give the rumors any further publicity by quoting them, which would probably be translated into "no comment" by the editor, but to have nothing at all is very odd.

I'm protestant, without a dog in the hunt about "lay ministers" in Catholic services. I don't think there are any other kind of ministers (alternatively, all ministers are holy), but I find the spokes-Catholics who think the same way to be uncongenial company. Maybe this is a spokes-critter bias (the noisy shout down the kind), or maybe it is a Madison-esque clustering of attitudes.