Catholic League president Bill Donohue commented today on efforts to make Easter disappear: “Last year, the tolerant folks who run the malls in Palm Beach, Florida decided to rename the Easter Bunny ‘Baxter the Bunny,’ etc. Not that such sensitivity is new: John Leo reported in 1995 that the annual Easter Egg Roll at the Bronx [...]
On his April 5 CBS radio show, Penn Jillette commented on the rumor that Paris Hilton may play Mother Teresa in a movie. He said Mother Teresa “had this weird kink that I think was sexual” about seeing people suffer and die. He also said that “Paris Hilton is so far above Mother Teresa on the [...]
The Catholic League is seeking a disclaimer from the director of "The Da Vinci Code," Ron Howard, that would inform the audience that what they are about to see is based on fiction, not fact. An open letter to Howard making this request was published in the March 6 New York Times (see p. 13). What necessitated this [...]
Recent attempts to smear Chicago Archbishop Francis Cardinal George and Los Angeles Archbishop Roger Cardinal Mahony were met with a strong response from the Catholic League. Mary Gail Frawley-O'Dea, a psychologist who addressed the bishops in 2002, recently sent Cardinal George a letter saying he might be considered "an accessory to soul murder" because he didn't [...]
William A. Donohue When Dan Brown's book The Da Vinci Code was originally published, we ignored it. We did so because we are generally dismissive of novels. But things began to change when we learned that Brown was selling his work as an authentic historical account. In October 2003, ABC-TV invited the Catholic League to send a staff [...]
By Eugene J. Fisher Patrick J. Gallo, editor, Pius XII, the Holocaust and the Revisionists: Essays. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co, 2006. 218 pages. PB. NP. Sister Margherita Marchione, Crusade of Charity: Pius XII and POW's (1939-1945). New York: Paulist Press, 2006. 284 pages. Ronald J. Rychlak, Righteous Gentiles: How Pius XII and the Catholic Church saved Half a Million [...]
In the last edition of Catalyst, we reported that Colorado lawmakers were considering three bills that would lift the statutes of limitation for child sexual abuse lawsuits as they apply to Catholic priests. The three Colorado bishops, led by Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput, fought these measures, as did the Catholic League. Bill Donohue wrote to all members [...]
The March Catalyst contained a story about a New Hampshire bill that would have mandated Catholic priests to reveal to state authorities information learned about child sexual abuse in the confessional. Subsequently, by a vote of 208-111 it was sent to interim study for the next year. Bill Donohue wrote to every New Hampshire lawmaker who sits on [...]
The Connecticut legislature's Public Health Committee is considering a bill that would require all hospitals in the state, including four Roman Catholic ones, to provide emergency contraception to rape victims. The Connecticut Catholic Conference asked for a religious exemption for Catholic hospitals, and it was seconded by the Catholic League. William Donohue wrote the following letter [...]
On March 14, the Boston Globe ran an editorial criticizing Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney for endorsing a bill that would allow Catholic Charities to continue providing adoption services without servicing gay couples. In a related development, San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom said he would not attend the installation ceremony of former San Francisco Archbishop William Levada as a [...]
