On December 11, 1999, American Catholics lost a good one when John P. Hale died in Larchmont, New York. He was a member of the Catholic League’s board of advisors and former special counsel to Catholic Charities of the New York Archdiocese. Jack was a distinguished attorney who worked tirelessly to defend the Catholic Church from defamation, putting... [Read more...]
LEAGUE JOINS AMICUS BRIEF IN JOHNSON CASE
On January 12, the Center for Law and Religious Freedom filed an amicus brief which the Catholic League joined as a co-amicus in Johnson v. Economic Development Corporation of the County of Oakland; it is being appealed to the sixth circuit. The district court rejected the constitutional challenge to the municipal issuance of tax-exempt bonds to pay... [Read more...]
LOCKWOOD JOINS LEAGUE
At the end of 1999, Robert Lockwood resigned from his position as president of the publishing division of Our Sunday Visitor. Lockwood, who sits on the board of directors of the Catholic League, began 2000 by accepting a new post at the Catholic League, Director of Research. Bob brings to the league considerable strengths in publishing, writing and... [Read more...]
LT. BERRY PROMOTED
Last summer, the Catholic League took up the case of Lt. Ryan Berry, the Air Force officer who cited his Catholic conscious as the reason why he refused to work with a female officer in a small underground silo; the Air Force threatened to punish Berry for his position. We held a press conference on Capitol Hill on his behalf and asked our members to... [Read more...]
THE MANY FACES OF PREJUDICE
Most of us can easily identify prejudicial statements when sweeping generalizations of a negative kind are made. But prejudice has many faces, and not all of them are readily apparent. Take the “Dateline” example that is mentioned in this issue of Catalyst. Does the Catholic Church have dirty laundry? Of course. What institution or group... [Read more...]
PAROCHIAL SCHOOL DEBATE EXPLODES
The debate over public funds for parochial schools exploded at the end of 1999 when the courts addressed the issue forthrightly. The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in December in what may be a landmark decision. The case, Mitchell v. Helms, involves the question of whether the Constitution permits the use of public money to put computers and... [Read more...]
Quotable:
After listening to William Donohue comment on the double standard that surrounds Catholicism and politics, Chris Matthews, on Hardball (MSNBC, Dec. 15) had this to say: “You know what you are, Bill? You are my gut talking.” Read More →