Had it not been for Pope John Paul II, the Cuban people would still be barred from publicly celebrating Christmas. Now he needs to bring his message of tolerance to Israel as well. This past Christmas all crucifixes and Christmas trees were banned from Israeli hotel lobbies because they were deemed offensive to Jews. It wasn’t the prime minister who... [Read more...]
January Chicago, IL – “The Madonna In Spite of Herself,” billed as a spoof on the Nativity, continued its Christmas season run at the Sweet Corn Playhouse. According to a review in the Chicago Tribune, the play depicted Mary as “a big-haired, gum-chomping resident of Berwyn, Joseph (a.k.a. Joey)” as “a genial sexual... [Read more...]
1999 Off The Wall, a greeting card subsidiary of West Graphics, featured a Christmas card with a parody of the Nativity scene transposed onto a modern-day talk show. Joseph is seated next to Mary, who is holding the baby Jesus, as an audience member says to Joseph: “You never slept with her, she gets pregnant and you blame it on God. Joseph,... [Read more...]
January 28 – February 20 New Haven, CT – The program for the Yale Repertory Theatre’s presentation of Shakespeare’s “Measure for Measure” was filled with Scriptural references and Catholic imagery, juxtaposed with lewd images and what appeared to be commentary about the impeachment of President Clinton. February New York, NY –... [Read more...]
January Watchtower, the official website of Jehovah’s Witnesses, published an article falsely accusing Pope Pius XII and the Catholic Church of “silence” during the Holocaust. The article sought to contrast this “silence” with the suffering of Jehovah’s Witnesses who were persecuted for denouncing Nazi brutality. The article... [Read more...]
On December 21, the NBC show “Dateline” did a segment on a mental institution in Quebec (St. Julien’s) that was operated by the Catholic Church in the first half of this century. Some of those who were assigned there were reportedly abused by the nuns who ran the facility. Catholic League president William Donohue did not question the... [Read more...]
The new millennium actually doesn’t begin until the year 2001, but I don’t want to quibble with conventional wisdom, so I’ll pretend that we are now finishing the 20th century. The serious question that needs to be addressed is, “What is the state of anti-Catholicism at the end of the century”? There are two genres of anti-Catholicism,... [Read more...]
Three network television shows this week featured lines that were offensive to Catholics. In the December 13 episode of the CBS sitcom, “Becker,” there was a segment about a Christmas pageant that revolved around Joseph and Mary. Dr. Becker, played by Ted Danson, at one point told the man dressed as Joseph, “You told the ‘Virgin... [Read more...]
by Sister Margherita Marchione, Ph.D. Author: Yours Is a Precious Witness: Memoirs of Jews and Catholics in Wartime Italyand, forthcoming, Pius XII: Architect for Peace An extraordinary new book, a scholarly compedium of vital historical documents, Pius XII and the Second World War: According to the Archives of the Vatican (Paulist Press, 1999)... [Read more...]
We live in strange times. A high school student from suburban Detroit has sued her school arguing that she has a constitutional right to wear the symbol of her faith on campus—the practice of witchery. The ACLU, naturally, is defending the witch, Crystal Siefferly. It should be known that the ACLU opposes the right of nuns in habit to teach at a public... [Read more...]