The board of directors of the Boys Choir of Harlem voted unanimously January 14 to keep director Walter J. Turnbull, even though he engaged in a cover-up of child sexual molestation committed by one of his employees, Frank Jones Jr.; Jones is now in prison, having been convicted of 24 counts of sexual abuse and three [...]
Laura A. Ahearn held a press conference on February 11 in Stony Brook, Long Island, the purpose of which was to charge Rockville Centre Bishop William F. Murphy of conspiring to squash a criminal investigation of child sexual abuse. Ahearn, director of Parents for Megan’s Law, says she spent a week in Boston researching Bishop Murphy’s [...]
Catholic League president William Donohue explained in a news release why a report on Newsday and Voice of the Faithful was sent to every pastor on Long Island (the report is available on the league’s website): “The Catholic League tracks anti-Catholicism in all 50 states. In doing so, we learn where Catholic bashing is most rampant and who is [...]
on misrepresentations in Dan Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code (Catalyst 3/2004) The Dan Brown book, The Da Vinci Code, is a best-selling work of fiction that discusses a real-life Catholic organization, Opus Dei. To help separate fact from fiction, we asked officials at Opus Dei to write a short article on this subject. Herewith their reply. [...]
Joaquín Navarro-Valls, the Director of the Holy See’s Press Office, said yesterday that “The Passion of the Christ” was “a cinematographic transcription of the Gospels. If it were anti-Semitic, the Gospels would also be so.” He added that the pope would have criticized the movie if it were bigoted against Jews, but, he declared, there is [...]
In the March 10 edition of Education Week, there is an article by Caroline Hendrie, “Sexual Abuse by Educators is Scrutinized,” that suggests that the degree of sexual abuse in the public schools is at a crisis level. Hofstra University professor Charol Shakeshaft was commissioned by the Bush administration to do a literature search of existing studies [...]
Cardinal Edward Egan and several other high-ranking Catholic clerics appeared in Albany yesterday to lobby against same-sex marriage. Brooklyn Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio spoke bluntly about the Church’s opposition to gay marriage on Fred Dicker’s talk-radio show. Noting the absurdity of permitting two people of the same sex to marry, Bishop DiMarzio questioned the wisdom of allowing [...]
Catholic League president William Donohue notes today how critics of “The Passion of the Christ” continue to rant: “In a Knight Ridder column, Rev. John Pawlikowski, director of the Catholic-Jewish Studies Program at the Catholic Theological Union, wrote the following: ‘Christians who react favorably to Gibson’s film are shamefully evading their religious responsibility.’ Thus did he [...]
The following quotes are from the critics of “The Passion of the Christ”: —Rev. Andrew Greeley calls it “sadomasochistic and pornographic.” —Christopher Hitchens dubs it “an exercise in lurid sadomasochism.” —Ex-priest John Dominic Crossan labels it “pornographic.” —David Edelstein of Slate finds it an “exercise in sadomasochism.’ —Rabbi James Rudin brands it “a sadomasochistic film.” —David Denby of The [...]
On “The 700 Club” today, TV evangelist Pat Robertson ran a segment on celibacy in the Catholic Church. Invited to appear with Robertson was therapist A.W. Richard Sipe. Sipe used the occasion of the latest report on sexual abuse by priests to challenge the wisdom of celibacy. Responding to what was said is Catholic League president [...]
