An anti-Catholic incident at Columbia University began with an apology that William Donohue deemed “inadequate” and ended with one he declared satisfactory. On September 21, at a Fordham-Columbia football game played at Columbia, a band announcer at the Ivy League school commented during the half-time show that “Fordham’s tuition is going... [Read more...]
VATICAN WANTS REVISIONS
The Catholic League was delighted to defend the Vatican’s response to the sexual abuse policy passed by the U.S. bishops in Dallas. All the Vatican wants is for certain revisions to be made before final approval is granted. “Fair-minded observers of the Catholic Church were hardly astonished to learn that the Vatican would encourage the process... [Read more...]
NOTHING COVERT ABOUT ANTI-CATHOLICISM
“I regard the prejudice against your Church as the deepest bias in the history of the American people.” This comment was made by historian Arthur Schlesinger, Sr. to Msgr. John Tracy Ellis. It was first published in 1956 in a book written by Ellis. Little has changed since that time to make Schlesinger’s remark dated. If anything, the virus... [Read more...]
THE PEDIGREE OF AN AMERICAN DOCTRINE
Philip Hamburger’s Separation of Church and State By Joseph A.P. DeFeo In defending school choice or God in the Pledge of Allegiance, it is too easy to find oneself on the wrong side of the “wall of separation” between church and state. But as Professor Philip Hamburger reveals in his timely and well-researched tome, Separation of Church and State,... [Read more...]
DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE REFUSES TO DROP KISSLING
As we went to press, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) was still refusing to budge on its relationship with Frances Kissling’s anti-Catholic organization, Catholics for a Free Choice (CFFC). The DNC has taken a lot of heat over the past few months, forcing it to change strategies, but at the end of day it has yet to drop CFFC from the “links”... [Read more...]
MESSIANIC MADNESS
A group called Queens College Messianic Group brought a peculiar brand of anti-Catholicism to Queens College this fall. The group is related to Chosen People Ministries, an organization that is similar to Jews for Jesus. Their antics at the New York City campus managed to anger both Catholics and Jews. No sooner had the new school year begun when Queens... [Read more...]
NEW HAMPSHIRE WITCH HUNT
Mark A. Abramson, a New Hampshire attorney, went to court in October seeking all Catholic clergy personnel and probation files, archives and complaints of sexual abuse made to the Diocese of Manchester. The names of the alleged victims were not released by Abramson. This, in turn, led diocesan lawyers to file a motion forcing the release of the names. Mark... [Read more...]
ANY MINISTERS OR RABBIS?
A District Attorney from Massachusetts, Bristol D.A. Paul F. Walsh, Jr., has released the names of 20 priests accused of sexual misconduct in complaints to the Fall River Diocese. Walsh admitted that his decision to name priests facing accusations too old to prosecute would be heavily criticized. He said he did so because he was angry at the way diocesan... [Read more...]
FACT OR FICTION: IT’S CATHOLIC BASHING JUST THE SAME
Whether it’s based on fact or fiction, or whether it’s portrayed on the stage or on the screen, the Catholic bashers are a busy lot these days. They are as good at twisting the facts as they are at developing fictional accounts. Truth doesn’t matter. What matters is results. In 1858, Church authorities in Bologna learned that a 6 year-old Jewish... [Read more...]
EQUAL PLAYING FIELD PROVES ELUSIVE
The Catholic League is often criticized for commenting on exhibitions, movies or plays before they have opened. We are also condemned for protesting bigoted portrayals of Catholics on the screen and for trying to punish the offenders. But none of this seems to apply to others. We protested the Museum of Sex before it opened, and rightly so: we took... [Read more...]