January Medford, NJ – The parents of Zachary Hood, now eight, filed an appealafter a federal court upheld a teacher’s decision to bar their son from reading aBible story in his public school class. Two years earlier, when he was six, Zachary’sfirst grade class had been instructed by their teacher to bring one of their favoritestories to school... [Read more...]
January Washington, DC – Members of Congress received a letter from the leagueopposing the nomination of James Hormel as U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg. Theleague’s objections were based on Mr. Hormel’s tacit endorsement, during the1996 San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Parade, of the Sisters ofPerpetual Indulgence—a group... [Read more...]
Movies April 3 New York, NY – Neil Jordan’s “The Butcher Boy” opened in select theaters, complete with Sinead O’Connor playing a foul-mouthed Virgin Mary uttering the F-word. In defending the scene, O’Connor opined that “if Mary was around right now she might say something like fuck!” For his part, Jordan believed that... [Read more...]
1998 Lodi, CA – Is the Virgin Mary Dead or Alive? published by Modern Manna Ministries, accuses the Catholic Church of leading people “to regard Mary as the most important being there is, greater than Jesus himself.” Deploring Pope John Paul II’s popularity with young people, the book declares, “Obviously, the pope of Rome is... [Read more...]
William A. Donohue For the past five-and-a-half years, I have had to reason by analogy with the media, educators, activists, artists and others, just to get my basic point across. Unfazed by anti-Catholicism, our adversaries generally respect the rights of gays, blacks and Jews. Even when they don’t, they generally know enough to keep their mouths... [Read more...]
Every school year we get legitimate complaints from our members about school calendars that recognize Jewish holidays by name but not Christian ones. This year is no exception as complaints have been fielded from Cincinnati, Ohio, Peekskill, New York and other parts of the country. The way it usually works is like this. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur... [Read more...]
When people talk about the commercialization of Christmas, they usually mean the extent to which material indulgence has overwhelmed the celebration of a sacred event. But there is a secularizing trend going on that is, on many counts, even more offensive than the empty-headed pursuit of profit: the introduction of ersatz nativity sets. It used to be... [Read more...]
Testimony of William A. Donohue, Ph.D., President, Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights before the United States Civil Rights Commission on May 20, 1998 during a Public Hearing on Schools and Religion. I very much appreciate the opportunity to testify today on the subject of schools and religion. As president of the nation’s largest Catholic... [Read more...]
by Sister Margherita Marchione With the issuance of the Vatican document, “We Remember: A Reflection on the Shoah,” voices adversely judging Pope Pius XII’s alleged “silence” have increased. Some writers are igniting flames of hatred by claiming that the Catholic Church is responsible for the Holocaust. The evidence is overwhelmingly... [Read more...]
Sister Margherita Marchione Catalyst, June 1998 With the issuance of the Vatican document, “We Remember: A Reflection on the Shoah,” voices adversely judging Pope Pius XII’s alleged “silence” have increased. Some writers are igniting flames of hatred by claiming that the Catholic Church is responsible for the Holocaust.... [Read more...]