In 2003, the Catholic League celebrated its 30th anniversary. Founded in 1973 by Jesuit scholar Father Virgil Blum, the league is dedicated to defending individual Catholics and the institutional Church against discrimination and defamation.

That we spend much more time defending the Church against defamation than we do defending Catholic men and women against discrimination is evident in this report. It suggests that while Catholics have assimilated, the Church still struggles for cultural acceptance. This is not altogether bad: the cost of the Catholic Church being fully accepted by a culture marked by radical individualism would be too much to bear—it could only be achieved by selling out, the way other religious denominations have.

It is hard to dissociate the Catholic Church from the scandal these days. But in 2003, we witnessed the first real evidence that the Catholic Church had turned the corner on the sexual abuse crisis: it came in June when the bishops assembled in St. Louis for their semiannual meeting. Cardinal Francis George of Chicago put it best when he said, “What we promised to do a year ago, we’ve done.” In other words, the reforms were under way. This, coupled with the appointment of Sean O’Malley as the new Archbishop of Boston, sent a clear message to Catholics: the Church was on the move again.

But not so fast. What kept the Church from moving forward without delay were some victims’ lawyers, district attorneys, pundits and dissident Catholics.

Lawyers whose motive is justice are not the problem; the problem is those lawyers who are motivated by greed and malice. The same can be said of D.A.’s: some acted responsibly by simply following the letter of the law, while others exploited the scandal to make a name for themselves. Similarly, there were pundits who were rightly critical of specific instances of episcopal delinquency, but there were also those who used the scandal to score wide-ranging points on subjects having nothing to do with sexual abuse. As for dissident Catholics, the scandal may have compounded their alienation, but it remains true that there is a hard core of dissidents for whom no changes—short of dismantling the Church altogether—will ever satisfy.

Turning to the alleged victims, there were thousands of instances in 2003 of adult men who came forward claiming they had been molested by a priest many years ago. Indeed, the majority of reported cases involved allegations going back more than 20 years. That almost all the cases involved male-on-male sex with postpubescent men showed how utterly dishonest it is to say there is a pedophilia crisis in the Catholic Church: it’s been a homosexual crisis all along, though few have the courage to say so.

Nothing justifies molestation, but it is also true that nothing justifies suspending the rule of law to make it easier to prosecute priests. There is a reason why the law allows for a statute of limitations. There is a reason why grand jury records are sealed. There is a reason why the law protects the sanctity of the confessional. But time and again we saw in 2003 that attempts were made to subvert these rights when the accused offender was a priest.

In Long Island, Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota won the plaudits of many when he impaneled a grand jury to hear testimony on alleged instances of sexual abuse committed by priests in the Diocese of Rockville Centre. But he never cross-examined anyone; he never gave the diocese an opportunity to reply; and he leaked his report to the local newspaper, Newsday, before the diocese could respond. And he did all this knowing there would be no prosecutions because the statute of limitations had run its course! Worse, when asked to join me in supporting a bill that his colleague in Nassau County, District Attorney Denis Dillon, was backing, he balked: the bill would have mandated that every professional who learns of the sexual abuse of a minor report it to the authorities.

When steeple-chasing lawyers in California lost in their bid to retroactively change the statute of limitations as it affects criminal laws governing child molestation, they pursued their ambitions in the civil courts. Bad as they were, they were no match for Jay Milano. Milano is a victims’ lawyer from Cleveland who has been more open about his hatred of the Catholic Church than any of his peers. Always reaching for the jugular, Milano sought to invoke the notorious RICO statute to prosecute the Church. He also libeled all Catholic judges by saying they were unfit to preside over cases involving the Catholic Church.

Then there are the victims’ lawyers who grease victims’ advocacy groups. Take Jeffrey Anderson, Larry Drivon and Michael S. Morey. All have made themselves veritable millionaires suing the Church. And all contribute generously to victims’ groups like SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests) and Linkup. Dan Lyons broke this story wide open in the pages of Forbes; it is not hard to conclude that those who have this kind of vested interest in the scandal will not let it die too quickly.

Among those who don’t want the scandal to end are men who walked away from either the seminary or the priesthood. They include such quitters as ex-seminarian Dick Ryan, ex-seminarian Garry Wills, ex-priest Eugene Kennedy, ex-priest James Carroll, ex-priest Daniel Maguire and ex-priest Richard Sipe. All are deeply embittered men who believe the scandal has vindicated them. Angry and aging, they are not unlike ex-cons who have been locked up most of their lives and shudder at the thought of being set free: they have no stomach for a life without the possibility of despair.

We have said all along that the guilty must pay, but we have also stressed that in this frenzied climate it is important to protect the innocent. In this regard, no bishop in the U.S. has been more unfairly treated than Bishop William F. Murphy of the Diocese of Rockville Centre, New York.

Newsday and the Long Island chapter of Voice of the Faithful have led the charge against Bishop Murphy. And what exactly is it that Murphy did to anger them? He served in Boston under Cardinal Bernard Law. Do they—or anyone else—have evidence that Bishop Murphy moved predators from parish to parish? No. Indeed, the report issued by Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas Reilly was specific about who was culpable in Boston, but not among the guilty was Murphy: the section on him in the report was less than two pages long, and the worst that could be said was that Murphy “supervised” the infamous John Geoghan. What the report did not say is that Murphy supervised Geoghan’s dismissal from ministry and ultimately from the priesthood. It was dishonest of Reilly not to mention it, but even so, the report said nothing incriminating about Murphy.

But to those who like the politics of McCarthyism, as Newsday and the local chapter of Voice surely do, it is enough to say that since Boston was the epicenter of the scandal, and since Murphy worked there and must have known what was going on, he’s guilty. This is on the order of saying that everyone at the New York Times who knew Jayson Blair was a rogue should be canned for allowing him to continue with his delinquency. This isn’t justice—it’s mob rule.

Regarding Newsday, it is not the newspaper’s reporting on the scandal that the Catholic League finds objectionable—reporters have a duty to write about wrongdoing in the Church—it is the relentless condemnatory articles written by its columnists and contributors. Of all the newspapers in the United States, Newsday is by far the most anti-Catholic. Not only have its writers savaged the Catholic Church, top officials have allowed Jimmy Breslin to spew lie after lie about Bishop Murphy.

On July 24, the Long Island chapter of Voice of the Faithful put forth a statement calling on Bishop Murphy to resign. On July 25, the Catholic League announced a petition drive in support of Bishop Murphy on Long Island; Newsday ran a story on it. On September 25, we issued a news release saying we had amassed more than 6,000 signatures. But there was no mention of this in Newsday. Yet on the day our news release was issued,Newsday ran a piece about an upcoming meeting of Voice of the Faithful that was nothing more than an announcement blown up into a news story.

It wasn’t just some pundits and Catholic activists who took advantage of the scandal to beat up on the Church; state lawmakers chimed in as well. Their target—the confessional.

In several states in 2003, legislation was introduced that would have compromised the sanctity of the confessional. The bills were nominally aimed at preventing the sexual abuse of minors: it was maintained that this could not be done without changing the law on priest-penitent relations. The Catholic League successfully fought these bills everywhere they were introduced. We pressed lawmakers in Kentucky, New Hampshire, Maryland, Iowa, West Virginia, Florida, Ohio and Nevada not to proceed with such bills: it was a red herring, we argued, to contend that child sexual abuse could not be stopped without violating the priest-penitent privilege.

In fairness to some of the legislators, not all of them were aware of the importance of the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the nature of the confessional. Once appraised of it, they yielded to our concerns. What is disturbing about this, however, is the fact that in some instances it was Catholic activists who pushed for these bills. In New Hampshire, for instance, it was an active member of Voice of the Faithful, Ann Coughlin, who lobbied for a bill that would have thrashed the confessional.

We noted in last year’s annual report that by and large the major media outlets were quite fair in their reporting on the scandal. This was true in 2003 as well, the exception being CBS. In August, CBS reported that the Vatican issued a document in 1962 that “lays out a church policy that calls for absolute secrecy when it comes to sexual abuse by priests—anyone who speaks out could be thrown out of the church.”

On the same day, August 6, on CBSNEWS.com, it was reported that “For decades, priests in this country abused children in parish after parish while their supervisors covered it all up. Now it turns out the orders for this cover up were written in Rome, at the highest levels of the Vatican.”

All of this is a lie. The 1962 document had nothing to do with any purported cover- up. It specifically dealt with solicitations that a priest might make in the confessional to a penitent. Indeed, it prescribed penalties for any priests who, “whether by words or signs or nods of the head” (my emphasis) might convey a sexual advance. The ultimate penalty—being tossed from the priesthood—was possible.

The good news is that almost all media outlets refused comment on the 1962 document. That’s because there was nothing there to indict the Church. Thus did CBS stand alone in its deception. I had the occasion to blast CBS for its dishonesty on Paula Zahn’s CNN show.

It should be noted that when CBS was asked to explain its conduct, it made matters worse by acting defensively. Both Jim Murphy, the executive producer of CBS Evening News, and Andy Silvers, publicist for the network, stuck by their flawed story without offering a shred of evidence to support their extravagant claims. When they ran a follow-up story seeking the opinion of Catholic radio show host Jeff Cavins, they literally twisted Cavins’ words to make it look like he took their side.

The scandal provided occasion for Catholic bashers in the entertainment business as well, and no one insulted Catholics more than Bill Maher. He opened on Broadway for a short stint, slandering all priests as molesters and mocking the Eucharist. His filthy commentary was well received by those who fancy themselves educated and tolerant. In his presentation, “Bill Maher: Victory Begins at Home,” he made sure not to offend Jews and Muslims, even going so far as to say that “99 percent of the people who live in the Middle East are not terrorists.” Even though more than 99 percent of priests have never been charged with sexual abuse, don’t look for Maher ever to acknowledge this.

Bill O’Reilly has a need to show how independent he is, and in doing so he often engages in overkill. For example, he loves to attack Pope John Paul II: “I have never liked this pope. I have always felt he was an autocrat who had no vision about how people live in the real world.” O’Reilly sees the Catholic Church as a monolithic institution headed by a tyrannical pope who always gets what he wants. This isn’t Catholic bashing so much as it is a grand display of ignorance.

O’Reilly’s ignorance was also evident when he went after the pope for not damning Saddam Hussein by name. Anyone who knows anything about the way the Vatican operates knows that publicly condemning public figures—no matter how despicable—is not the preferred method of opprobrium. While it is perfectly fine to disagree with this approach, it shows an appalling arrogance to suggest that the pope is soft on terrorism because he doesn’t treat leaders like Saddam the way O’Reilly treats some of his guests.

Finally, it should be noted that our criticism of O’Reilly led him to brand the Catholic League a “witch hunter” in his latest book. Not only does this demonstrate how thin-skinned he is, it is untrue: we don’t have to hunt him down to show how unfair he is—all we need do is quote him.
As this annual report indicates, there are many sources of anti-Catholicism. Perhaps most troubling is that which emanates from government. On this score, 2003 was not a good year.

The U.S. Constitution prohibits a religious test for public office. This means that no one can be barred from holding public office because of his religious affiliation. The good news is that there are no blatant examples of this happening to any aspirant to public office, regardless of religious identity. The bad news is that subtle attempts to screen for religion are being waged, and many of those affected are Catholic.

Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor was nominated to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. His bid was stopped by Democrats who said they were dissatisfied with his record on constitutional issues. But there was something else lingering, and that something else was Pryor’s Catholicism.

Among those opposed to Pryor were Senate Judiciary Committee members Dick Durbin, Edward Kennedy and Patrick Leahy. Responding to charges that their opposition to Pryor was based on his religion, they said this was ludicrous given their own Catholicity. Now it is true that Durbin, Kennedy and Leahy are Catholic, but it is also true that they—unlike Pryor—reject the Church’s teaching on abortion.

Here’s how it works: a practicing Catholic who is opposed to abortion is shot down for his beliefs while Catholics who reject the Church’s teaching are given a pass. While it is true that nominally speaking there is no ban against Catholics serving on the federal bench, the reality is that no Catholic not in rebellion against the Magisterium’s teaching on abortion can expect to be appointed.

Senator Charles Schumer showed there was more than one way to skin a cat. He was ever so clever when he said that Pryor’s beliefs “are so deeply held that it’s very hard to believe that they’re not going to influence” him. “Deeply held beliefs,” in this context, is code for religious beliefs. Add Schumer’s tactic to the one employed by Durbin, Kennedy and Leahy, and the result is a de facto religious test.

Senator Rick Santorum got a taste of what it’s like for a Catholic politician to express his misgivings about sodomy rights. Prior to the high court ruling that legalized homosexuality, Santorum said that “If the Supreme Court says you have the right to consensual [gay] sex within your home, then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery.”

For this Santorum was blasted by those who said he should keep his religious views to himself. Much of the criticism was vintage boilerplate, and not a few comments were ad hominem. In any event, soon after the Supreme Court delivered its gay-friendly decision in Lawrence v. Texas, a polygamist from Utah filed suit claiming discrimination—he wants the law to recognize his sexual preference as well. Thus was Santorum vindicated.

Catholics have every right to expect that both political parties will shun alliances with anti-Catholics. Unfortunately, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) continued in 2003 to maintain its alliance with the Catholic-bashing group Catholics for a Free Choice. By providing a link on its website to Frances Kissling’s well-funded letterhead of an organization, the DNC shows that its support for abortion rights is so fanatical that it will even work with anti-Catholic bigots. Given the fact that the Democrats have been hurt by the Catholic League’s non-stop public relations campaign against them, it is risky business to be so bold.

The Catholic League filed an amicus brief, in tandem with the Thomas More Law Center, in the case before the Supreme Court on the Pledge of Allegiance. The fact that the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals stood by a decision made by three of its members banning the words “under God” in the public schools shows how extreme the anti-religious crusade has become.

What happened in Rockford, Illinois over Labor Day weekend in 2003 did not capture national attention, but it was important nonetheless. That was when some members of the Winnebago County Board designed a plan to tear down a Catholic Church, St. Mary’s Oratory, and replace it with a county jail. We jumped into the fray immediately, as did Rockford Bishop Thomas Doran, and the plan was scratched. But had it not been for a tip provided by the Rockford Institute, the bureaucratic bullies may have pulled off a fast one.

The debate over school vouchers kept the Catholic League hopping in 2003. It is our position that criticism of vouchers no more makes someone an anti-Catholic bigot any more than criticism of Israel makes one an anti-Semite. But it is also true that some who oppose vouchers, and some who criticize Israel, are bigots. Take the case of Wisconsin state legislator Gwendolynne Moore.

Moore has been on the losing side in the Milwaukee voucher program from the beginning. In 2003, she sought an amendment to a school-choice bill that would require background checks of voucher-school employees. Those who objected to her amendment were accused of protecting “rapists.” Worse, she said voucher schools would become a magnet for pedophile priests. Not able to sustain a rational argument against vouchers, Moore went to the gutter. This, unfortunately, is not an isolated instance: Catholic bashing often accompanies public debates over school choice.

The Catholic League filed two briefs before the Supreme Court in 2003 in cases that will determine the future of school choice in the U.S. Gerard Bradley of Notre Dame Law School entered a brief for us in a case that seeks to stop low-income students attending failing public schools from switching to private or parochial schools. Rick Garnett, also of Notre Dame Law School, wrote a brief for us in a case involving a student from Washington state who won a partial scholarship but was later denied because he wanted to attend a college affiliated with the Assemblies of God. In both instances, the notorious anti-Catholic Blaine Amendments—operative in 37 states—are the issue.

Anti-Catholicism in the schools—evident in K through graduate school—kept us busy in 2003. Take Princeton University. It sponsored “Ricanstructions,” an art exhibit by Juan Sanchez that included a display called “Shackles of the AIDS Virus.” It featured such devotional items as scapulars and images of the Virgin Mary arranged in a circle. Another display showed naked female torsos arranged in the shape of a cross; it was labeled “Crucifixion No. 2.” And there was a display of torn images of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

When complaints were made to Dr. Anne-Marie Slaughter, Dean of the Woodrow Wilson School of International Affairs (the school that sponsored the exhibit), she admitted that a display that offended Islam would not be tolerated on the campus. But she had no problem standing by “Ricanstructions,” saying it had “educational value.” When I challenged her to a debate on her campus, asking that she instruct me on the educational value of hate speech, she declined the offer. She also declined to debate me on the MSNBC TV Show “Scarborough Country.”

Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas also dumped on Catholics. School officials allowed an outdoor sculpture of a Catholic bishop wearing a hat that resembled a phallic symbol. The offending exhibit also featured an obnoxious inscription mocking the confessional. Our protest led to considerable controversy on the campus and even led to a robust discussion among the school’s Board of Regents. The school was eventually sued by the Thomas More Law Center.

There are bigots on every campus, but few schools seem to harbor student associations that offend year after year. Columbia University does—its band annually engages in a bigoted assault on Catholicism. Having extracted an apology in 2002 from its president, Lee Bollinger, I thought the message had been received. I was wrong. I got another apology in 2003, this time from the band manager by way of the dean of Columbia College. During the halftime festivities of the football game between Columbia and Dartmouth, an announcer for the Columbia College Marching Band invited the crowd to join the band in their “Celebration of Partial-Birth Abortion.” This was followed by some ranting against the pope and what the announcer described as the pope’s “drooling and stuttering speech.” Forget about the ridicule of the pope for a moment: it is astonishing that college students at an Ivy institution would celebrate the killing of a child who is 80 percent born. It will not do to say this is preppy comedic behavior: it is sick. And the fact that no other Ivy League college—or any college for that matter—engages in this kind of behavior suggests there is something seriously wrong at Columbia.

As the cases of Central Michigan University and Indiana University make clear, anti-Catholicism on the campuses is not confined to students: administrators and faculty contribute as well.

At Central Michigan University we learned that the school’s affirmative action office had published a “Warning” on the school’s website informing Christians how to celebrate Christmas. For December, the calendar listed the holidays of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Las Posadas. An asterisk was curiously put next to Christmas: it read, “Warning of Holiday Decorations.” The document admonished Christians to be careful how they celebrated Christmas, being ever wary of the way non-Christians might react.

What to make of this? One conclusion is that Christians cannot celebrate Christmas without sticking it to Jews and Muslims. Another is that Jews and Muslims are anti-Christian bigots who can’t stand Christmas celebrations. A third conclusion makes more sense: the affirmative action dons at the school were acting like a Multicultural Gestapo.

We registered a complaint and I went on Fox News Channel blasting the school. The response by the university was incredible—incredibly positive. First Rick Morrison, the school’s spokesman, called us to apologize, explaining that the “Warning” document was posted unbeknownst to the president and other senior officials; it was immediately taken down. Then the president, Michael Rao, issued a forthright statement disapproving of the document. To get such a quick, responsible and sincere response from an educator is not commonplace. We immediately dropped the issue, but not before praising Rao in the media and in the school’s student newspaper.

The officials at Indiana University were not so responsible. A law professor, Florence Roisman, registered a complaint about a Christmas tree on the campus and succeeded in getting it removed; there were no religious ornaments on the tree. Roisman, who is Jewish, said, “To honor one religion and not honor others is exclusionary.” But this is a ruse: had a menorah been placed on the campus, this wouldn’t have satisfied her—her goal was to sanitize the campus by censoring Christmas.

When we protested, Dean of Students Tony Tarr replaced the tree with two smaller ones, along with a sleigh. He called the first tree a “denominational” tree, and the new ones “a normal Indiana scene.” We called it cowardice. Roisman, ever the zealot, wasn’t happy with the so-called non-denominational trees either.

This year’s annual report lists many other examples of anti-Christian bigotry that took place in December. Whether it was the ACLU going into federal district court filing suit over a nativity scene, or Americans United for Separation of Church and State seeking to neuter Christmas, the result was still the same: to gut our culture of its religious foundations.

The crusade to stamp out Christmas is now big business. Diversity specialists in the corporate world do the business of the ACLU in the workplace. Their goal is to protect the 15 percent of Americans who are not Christians by instituting a censorial policy against the holiday celebrations of the 85 percent who are. In the name of diversity, they destroy it.

If there was one big issue for the Catholic League in 2003, it was the defense of Mel Gibson. Had a young, rookie, traditional Catholic tried to produce “The Passion of the Christ,” the movie would have been dead on arrival and the reputation of the person destroyed. The only reason this film survived is due to Mel: he is a well-known and respected veteran with a steely determination. It does not exaggerate to say that many of Mel’s critics are positively ruthless. Some are notoriously anti-Catholic, and others are egomaniacs; the latter arrogantly assume that their understanding of the Passion is the only legitimate one—and beware those who differ!

The real problem for many is the New Testament. They don’t like what it says, so—like federal judges who don’t like what the Constitution says—they reinterpret it to fit their ideological mold. In doing so they show that they are as dishonest as they are anti-intellectual. And they are vicious: it was not enough to attack Mel for being a “traditional” Catholic—they had to go after his elderly father by accusing him of being a Holocaust denier.

The charge is a lie. What Hutton Gibson said in the article that gave rise to this accusation (the “Sunday Magazine” section of the New York Times, March 9) was to question the number of Jews killed in the Holocaust. He thought the figure was closer to 5 million—not 6 million—something noted Jewish scholars have voiced as well. In any event, what Mel’s father had to do with the film was never explained. But never mind, the point was well taken: Mel is an old-fashioned Catholic; his father is even more retro; ergo, they’re bigots and the movie is hopelessly anti-Semitic. That’s exactly the way these people think.

After defending Mel on TV in June, he called to meet with me. He allowed me to see a rough cut of the film in my office on July 6; Bernadette Brady, the vice president, and Father Philip Eichner, chairman of the board, were also there. On July 22, I saw the movie again, this time at Sony studios in New York; accompanying me was Louis Giovino, director of communications.

The public will make up its own mind about the film. For the record, I believe it is the most powerful movie ever made about Jesus Christ. It was absolutely breathtaking—look for it to spark a renewed interest in Christianity. If I thought it was anti-Semitic, I would have nothing to do with it, except to condemn it.

It would be patently unfair to say that all those who criticized the movie in 2003 were anti-Catholic bigots. Some were motivated out of fear that the film would feed the base appetites of Jew bashers. Now it is true that the sickest of the bigots may find something to chew on, but it is reckless to think that the film is about hate: it is about love, sacrifice and redemption. In the end, the movie must be judged on how it moves most people—not a few twisted souls.

Finally, the purpose of this annual report is not simply to demonstrate the vitality of anti-Catholicism in American society, it is written with the hope that Catholics, and others, will take steps to stand up to this ancient prejudice. Our society loses when the voice of Catholicism is muted, and there is too much at stake to allow this to happen.

William A. Donohue, Ph.D. 
President

January
On its webpage, the Feminist Majority lists under “Feminist News” news articles of interest to its members. For instance, at the end of January it drew attention to articles titled “Women Sue AT&T for Contraceptive Coverage,” “Title IX Commission To Meet on Final Recommendations: Women’s Groups to Hold Rally,” etc. It also drew attention to a piece that had absolutely nothing to do with its mission: “Alleged Victims Call for Resignation of New Hampshire Bishop.”

January
The Freedom from Religion Foundation considers its mission as keeping America free by defending separation of church and state. On its webpage it lists various thematic issues of interest to its allies, most of which make sense given its goal: “The Case Against School Prayer,” “Abortion is a Blessing,” and “What’s Wrong With the Ten Commandments?” There was one listing, however, that didn’t make sense from a First Amendment perspective: “The Scandal of Pedophilia in the Church.”

January 30
Honolulu, HI—McKinley High School dropped its code of honor, which included the phrase “love for God.” This was done as part of a settlement with the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii, which sued the school on the grounds that the code violated the separation of church and state.

February
Las Cruces, NM—The New Mexico chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State sued the city of Las Cruces (which means “the crosses” in Spanish) over its city logo: three crosses in front of a sun burst. They claimed it violated the separation of church and state. The highway department announced the logos would be removed, but Governor Bill Richardson ordered the agency not to remove any of the signs from state roads.

April
Madison, WI—Madison Metro System printed a picture of Mother Teresa on its April bus pass. Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-founder of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, condemned it as a violation of church and state. A spokeswoman for Metro said Mother Teresa was selected because she made Time magazine’s list of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century. The May bus pass features a picture of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.; Gaylor did not criticize this selection.

April 9
U.S. Secretary of Education Roderick Paige came under fire by secular extremists for extolling Christian values; his comments were made during an interview with the Baptist Press.

“All things being equal,” Secretary Paige said, “I would prefer to have a child in a school that has a strong appreciation for the values of the Christian community, where a child is taught to have a strong faith.” He also compared public schools unfavorably to Christian schools because of the latter’s emphasis on values. He was criticized by Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the Anti-Defamation League, the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Education Association, the Islamic Networks Group of San Jose and the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network.

The harshest criticism came from Congressman Gary Ackerman of New York, who accused Paige of sponsoring “the Taliban approach to education,” and from Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen, who charged Paige with seeking to mainstream the Christian faith into the public school curriculum.

April 12
Augusta, GA—A protest criticizing the Augusta National Golf Tournament for not allowing women included a man dressed as a nun, calling himself Sister Georgina Z. Bush. He was a member of the San Francisco-based Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a group of homosexual men who dress as nuns. He claimed to be the president of the “Ministry of Propaganda, Inc.” for the group. According to the Scripps Howard News Service, “His headdress and shirt had an American flag color scheme and were complemented by tights and rhinestone-studded boots.”

April 16
Framingham, MA—Robert Meltzer, a Jewish attorney, filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking to render the practice of putting voting booths in churches unconstitutional. He explained his reaction to voting in a Methodist church: “In order to vote, you basically had to bow before the cross. I was sick for a week.” Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-founder of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, agreed with him: “Asking a feminist to vote in a Roman Catholic Church is like asking a black man to vote in a KKK hall.”

April
Charlotte, NC—People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) sponsored a billboard on Interstate 40 featuring a pig with the saying “He Died for Your Sins. Go Vegetarian.” Outdoor Ink! was the only company in NC that would display the billboard. The same billboard also appeared in Springfield, MO; Savannah, GA; and Pensacola, FL.

April 28
Lexington, VA—The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Virginia Military Institute (VMI) must bar cadets from saying a voluntary, nondenominational prayer before they eat. Americans United for Separation of Church and State backed the decision. The judges ruled that because VMI emphasizes discipline, there was nothing voluntary about the prayer.

May
Chester County, PA—The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed suit against the county, maintaining that a Ten Commandments plaque on the façade of the courthouse is an unconstitutional imposition of religion.

May
Barstow, CA—The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sued the Mojave National Preserve over the right to keep a large cross on public property. As a tribute to veterans, a large cross was erected in 1934 in the park. A battle has been waging over the cross since 2001.

May
Erie, PA—The northwestern Pennsylvania chapter of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) embarked on an aggressive campaign, posting signs on the front doors of Catholic schools throughout Erie County urging people to come forward with the names of molesting priests. Erie Bishop Donald Trautman labeled the unauthorized campaign “reprehensible.” He accused those involved of invading private property and of scaring children. The regional group admitted that it cannot name one priest in Erie County who has been accused of abusing children

May
San Diego, CA—Mount Soledad Park, in a tribute to war veterans, has long been home to a 43-foot cross. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sued the park to remove the cross. The controversy has gone on since 1991.

June 23
Washington, DC—Judicial Watch, a conservative legal organization, issued a press release in the wake of the resignation of Frank Keating as the head of the National Review Board appointed by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to monitor clergy sexual abuse. It objected to having Robert S. Bennett and Leon Panetta as board members.

Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton accused the two of qualifying as “a ‘who’s who’ of cover-up experts, not for membership on the bishops’ National Review Board for combating sexual abuse, or maybe that’s the point?” The Catholic League’s principal objection was the unwarranted nature of it: whom the bishops appoint to any committee was none of Judicial Watch’s business.

June 26
San Francisco, CA—At the city’s gay pride parade, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a group of gay men dressed as nuns, had a float called “Weapons of A– Destruction.” It portrayed a rocket with a phallic tip and the name “Cheney” painted on it, pointing at a man’s buttocks. A man sat beside it simulating sex acts. The crowd gave it a big reception.

July
Pittsburgh, PA—A U.S. District judge ordered a teacher’s aide to be allowed to return to work after being suspended without pay by the ARIN Intermediate Unit 28 for refusing to cover up or remove a 1 ¼ inch cross that she wore. The judge wrote that the agency’s policy was “overtly averse to religion.” Americans United for Separation of Church and State had supported punishing the teacher based on an 1895 anti-Catholic law that prohibits teachers from wearing religious symbols or garb. The law was originally written to stop Catholic priests and nuns from teaching in the public schools.

September
Annapolis, MD—American Atheists and the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers filed a complaint with the Chief of Naval Operations and the Secretary of Defense to halt the practice of allowing chaplains to lead a prayer at each weekday lunch for midshipmen.

September
San Francisco, CA—The Board of Super-visors voted to curtail the free-speech rights of prolife protesters. Previously, before the police could cite demonstrators for harassment, women seeking an abortion had to inform protesters to cease their expression; alternatively, women had to instruct them that they want to be left alone. Under the new law, the onus is on the protesters: they must first get the consent of women seeking an abortion before exercising their free-speech rights. Mayor Willie Brown signed the legislation.

The Catholic League called the ACLU asking what they were going to do about it. The ACLU had no interest in challenging this gag rule.

September 8
Washington, DC—The Catholic League and the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty filed a brief before the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Locke v. Davey. The brief argued that it is unconstitutional for the state of Washington to disqualify a student “from an otherwise available government benefit, only because the student would use the benefit for a religious purpose.” The brief took aim at those who seek to legitimate religious discrimination; especially the American Jewish Congress. “It is nothing short of amazing,” the Catholic League said in a news release, “that the American Jewish Congress would file a brief in the year 2003 that argues that some of the fears expressed by 19th century anti-Catholic bigots were real.” The brief by the American Jewish Congress said that anti-Catholic laws “were undertaken in response to positions of the Catholic Church as authoritatively enunciated by consecutive Popes in well publicized encyclicals,” prompting “a legitimate fear” of Catholic domination.

September 9
New York, NY—American Atheists again protested the cross memorial that is on the site of the destroyed World Trade Center. Ellen Johnson, president of the group, called the Ground Zero cross “Christian religious advertisement, and allowing it to stay there is an insult to everyone who doesn’t believe in that particular religion.”

October 29
Norwood, MA—The Massachusetts Chapter of Amercians United for Separation of Church and State asked the Norwood School Committee not to display a nativity scene on the lawn of Balch Elementary School during the coming Christmas season. Local residents had erected the scene for the past few years.

November 4
Tipton, IA—The Iowa Civil Liberties Union sent a letter to Cedar County objecting to a crèche on the courthouse lawn that has been there every Christmas for the past 30 years. The display included a disclaimer that the county does not endorse or sponsor it.

November 10
Elizabeth, CO—The American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado and the Anti-Defamation League threatened to sue the Elbert County Charter School unless it removed all references to Christmas in the school’s holiday concert, including the song “Jingle Bells.” The letter from both groups alleged that “Jewish students no longer feel safe or welcome” at the school. The principal refused to acquiesce, and with the help of the Alliance Defense Fund, the groups backed off.

November 17 
Tallahassee, FL—Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist announced that a Florida State Lottery practice of donating items to a fund-raiser for a Catholic high school would be reviewed to see whether it violates the separation of church and state. Americans United for Separation of Church and State brought the charge. For two years the Florida Lottery supplied 100 packages of golf balls with the lottery logo on them to a charity golf tournament held to raise money for John Paul II Catholic High School.

November 25
Baldwin City, KS—The American Civil Liberties Union of Douglas County, Kansas told the Baldwin City School District that it violated the separation of church and state by allowing a minister dressed as Santa Claus to talk to students about the meaning of Christmas. He also referred students who needed guidance to Christian resources. It is legal to explain Christmas in schools. The main objection in this case was that the instructor was a member of the Christian clergy.

December
New York, NY—In the “Q and A” section on the website of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) dealing with the Christmas season, the ADL stated that the courts have said that Christmas decorations such as Santa Claus or Christmas trees are secular symbols but warned, “Nevertheless, their inordinate usage is inappropriate.” The remainder of the text did not indicate what constituted an inordinate number. It was recommended that parents suggest to teachers “alternate winter decorations, including snow flakes, gingerbread houses, and mittens that may be more inclusive.”

December 1
Washington, DC—Catholics for a Free Choice (CFFC) commenced a “Good Catholics Use Condoms” public education campaign that condemned the Vatican for its opposition to condoms. The group’s director, Frances Kissling, accused the Catholic Church of promoting a culture of death. It included an ad campaign in Washington, D.C. and overseas.

December 1
Providence, RI—A billboard sponsored by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) featured a portrait of the Virgin Mary holding a dead chicken. Next to this was the inscription, “GO VEGETARIAN: It’s an Immaculate Conception” (a cross was placed inside the letter O, making it resemble the Celtic cross).

December 22
Cranston, RI—The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island filed a lawsuit against the city of Cranston challenging the display of a life-size nativity scene and a menorah in front of the city hall as well as the new city policy allowing holiday displays. The city had implemented a policy allowing the mayor to approve of “appropriate holiday” decorations from December 5 to January 1. During this time the lawn of the city hall was designated a “limited public forum open for the purpose of appropriate seasonal and holiday displays.”

January 
Seattle, WA—An art exhibit at the Roq la Rue Gallery called “Gods and Monsters” featured a work called “Frankenkreist,” which depicted Christ as Frankenstein’s monster; and “Naughty Guadalupe,” which depicted a topless Our Lady of Guadalupe. Shortly after the show started, a piece depicting the Koran with a Buddha carved in it was withdrawn for fear of violent reprisals from Muslims. Gallery owner Kirsten Anderson, when asked about why she didn’t remove the art offensive to Catholics, responded, “Christians can take it.”

January 10
Boston, MA—Singer/comedian Stephen Lynch performed at Club Passim. One of his songs is “Priest” from his 1998 album “A Little Bit Special.” He said he hoped to get an enthusiastic reaction when “I dedicate that one to the cardinal.” He said he was “offending the hierarchy of the Catholic Church.” Lyrics of the song include: “I cannot control myself/ It rips my soul apart/ for one small sheep among my flock has/ Stole the shepherd’s heart. Altar boy, altar boy/ confess your sins to me/ You will find the grace of God/ Inside my rectory…You can play my organ all night long/ If you promise never to tell.” Lynch also brought his show to Minneapolis, MN; Austin, TX; and Chicago.

January 16
Las Vegas, NV—Magicians Penn and Teller performed a skit in front of 400 people at the World Magic Seminar held at the Las Vegas Riviera. A nearly-naked Teller appeared on stage dressed as Christ on a full-sized cross. Then a midget dressed as an angel performed a simulated sex act on him. Penn unveiled the scene by pulling away a “Shroud of Turin” that covered the cross.

February 1
San Diego, CA—The play “Nuevo California” by Bernardo Solano and Allan Havis premiered. Set in 2028, it features a Mexican-American pope who becomes a pop-star and distributes condoms. The pope is gunned down while on a visit to Las Playas beach and spends the rest of the play dreaming in a coma.

March 10
Boston, MA—Two plays by Jeremy Goldstein premiered at the Black Box Theater: “Pope and Anti-Pope,” and “The Confession of Emmanuel.” The former chronicles seven anti-popes fighting over their claims to the papacy. Goldstein said, “It’s about the absoluteness, the black-and-white mentality of the Catholic Church, and hinting that it doesn’t have to be that way.” The second play is about a Jewish man who goes to confession to spite his mother. The play was described as poking “fun at religious conventions that, according to Goldstein, no longer apply to today’s world.”

April
Princeton, NJ—The Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University hosted “Ricanstructions,” an art exhibit by Juan Sanchez. Included in the exhibit was a display called “Shackles of the AIDS Virus,” a 1996 work by the artist that features such devotional items as scapulars and images of the Virgin Mary arranged in a circle. Another display showed naked female torsos arranged in the shape of a cross; it was labeled “Crucifixion No. 2.” There was also a display of torn up images of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

May
New York, NY—”Bill Maher: Victory Begins at Home,” a one-man show, opened on Broadway. While talking about Islam he said, “What’s the reason for this insanity? One word: religion. The Catholics got away with f—ing kids.” There was a mixed reaction from the audience and nervous laughter. He started to goad the audience, saying, “Oh come on! Get the rod out of your a–!” Then he imitated a priest speaking to an altar boy: “Put some more lotion on Father.” He picked up his water bottle and said “Holy Lubricant, Father!” There was still shocked laughter at this. He said, “Come on people! It’s not a few bad apples here: it’s systemic! Where have you been for the past two years? They had a big meeting and said, ‘Well, we had a good run….'”

While talking about Islam, he said that their problem is when a religious leader says something, they believe it. “When the pope says something, we just don’t pay attention.” He imitated the pope, saying, “No masturbation,” and then imitated a dismissive reaction: “Yes, thank you very much….” When the topic turned to “religion can be dangerous,” he talked about the beliefs of Muslims, saying, “Where will it stop? Why not sacrifice virgins? Or have sex with boys outside the church?” “Don’t regulate drugs: regulate religion. I was raised Catholic and I was not molested. I’m a little insulted. Apparently I wasn’t attractive enough.” “The problem is they drill religion into your head when you are very young. Well, when you are four years old you believe in Santa Claus, too. Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, the Virgin Birth, sure! When you’re a priest everyday spewing this bulls— about the apple and the snake etc. You can see him just saying, ‘Ah, F— it, just blow me, kid!'” (There was very shocked, nervous laughter from the audience).

“How does a human being with a brain no bigger than yours know more about the world?” He then imitated the pope saying, “Don’t masturbate. Why? Because I have a robe and pointy hat!” “Come on, it’s so gay, the Church! With the robes and the smoke and kneeling in front of the priest with your mouth open [he imitated this] eating God.” (Shocked laughter again). Maher did not mock Jews or blacks. He mocked Muslims but qualified it by saying things like: “99% of the people who live in the Middle East are not terrorists,” or, “My Muslim friends get mad at me when I point out the failings of Muslim countries.” Even when he spoke degradingly about women, he still had disclaimers. No such treatment was afforded Catholics.

May 14
New York, NY—Emerging Artists Theatre Company performed the play “Screaming in the Wilderness,” by Vanda Wark, a professor at Metropolitan College in New York. The play began with a parody of the Mass in garbled Spanish, during which a young priest proclaims himself to be Christ returned. The Church was portrayed as corrupt. The poster for the play stated, “The media makes up stories so that we are entertained…religious institutions are corporations with a product to sell…who will come along to guide us?”

May 15
Cambridge, MA—The MIT Community Players, sponsored by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, presented the play “The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told,” by Paul Rudnick. The play, a gay retelling of the Bible, featured full male frontal nudity, filthy language, discussion of body parts, butch lesbians, effeminate gay men, ranting against nature, and damning God for AIDS.

May 17
Chicago, IL—The Athenaeum Theatre hosted the Chicago Improv Festival featuring Second City cast members. “Tiny” Tim Kazurinsky did a sketch in which he went through a list of school closings, one of them being “Our Lady of the Rancid Heart.” George Wendt “inhabited a corrupt Cardinal mixing homages to Mayor Daley…and God,” according to the Chicago Tribune.

June 5
Miami, FL—City Theatre presented “Summer Shorts 2003.” Included was a play titled “First Communion” by Mary Gallagher. The play deals with a remembrance of that event capped by a rebuke from a “ghastly caricature of an insensitive nun,” wrote the Sun-Sentinel. The Miami New Times described the play as “an obvious, tedious exercise in Catholic-bashing.”

June 6
San Francisco, CA—The Museum of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender History began featuring an exhibit on Harvey Milk, the deceased gay San Francisco supervisor. It was the inaugural exhibit of the Museum of GLBT History. Included in the exhibit was a portrait of Milk by Robert Lentz called “Saint Harvey.” It pictured Milk in the style of saint iconography with a halo behind his head and holding a lit candle.

June 12
Cincinnati, OH—The Know Tribe Theatre presented Terrence McNally’s “Corpus Christi.” The play depicts Jesus having sex with the 12 Apostles. The theatre receives operational money from the city of Cincinnati.

June 25
Alexandria, VA—Dominion Stage presented “Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?” by John Powers. The play features stereotypical parodies of Catholic nuns and Catholic school students, and trivializes the Sacrament of Penance.

July
Shepherdstown, WV—Shepherd College’s Contemporary American Theater Festival featured Lee Blessing’s play, “Whores.” The play centers on a Salvadoran general’s fantasizing about three American nuns and one Catholic social worker raped and killed by his soldiers; it is based on a true story. The Washington Times called it “loaded with anti-Catholicism,” and said that the nuns and social worker lose their humanity again at the hands of the playwright.

August
St. Louis, MO—Out of Line Productions staged David Dillon’s play, “Party.” It revolves around a bawdy party game in which gay men enact their fantasies in various stages of undress. One of the main characters playing the game is a gay priest—”Father Ray.”

August
Los Angeles, CA—Debra De Liso, adjunct professor of acting and playwriting at the University of Southern California, wrote the play “Cock Tales” billed as a “male ‘Vagina Monologues.'” It contains 13 monologues about the male member. All are non-fictional except two, one about a transvestite, and one about a pedophile priest.

September 3
San Francisco, CA—The play “Scabaret!,” a “shock-rock cabaret,” was part of the San Francisco Fringe Festival. It included a “near-naked, tap-dancing female pope with a strap-on sex toy performing an exceptionally sacrilegious mass.”

September 9
Philadelphia, PA—The rock musical “Altar Boy,” by Michael Macomber, premiered at the Philadelphia Fringe Festival. It is supposedly based on the author’s experience of being abused by his stepfather, who was also the janitor for a Catholic school. The first song of the production has the lyrics, “I confess I’ve got no use for priests. Churches just give me the creeps….” One character, Fr. Dominic, is described as a “leering priest.”

November 14
New York, NY—Anthony J. Wilkinson’s play “My Big Gay Italian Wedding” opened at The Actor’s Playhouse. It includes the character of a Catholic priest whom the mother of one of the gay characters insists should perform the wedding. Because there are no same-sex marriages in the Catholic Church, a Unitarian pastor performs the wedding. Anita Gates of the New York Times wrote, “Take away what [the play] borrowed from ‘Father of the Bride,’ ‘The Birdcage,’ ‘The Sopranos’ [and] the pedophile priest scandals…and there is not much left.”

November 28
New York, NY—During a Thanksgiving night comedy act by Paul Mooney at Caroline’s Comedy Club, Mooney said of Michael Jackson, “If Michael was a priest and not a pop star, he’d have been transferred to another parish.” Richard Johnson of the New York Post reported that Eddie Murphy, friend of Jackson, “laughed the loudest” at this remark.

December 3
Meriden, CT—Officials of Meriden Public Library banned five images of Jesus from display in the library. The paintings, all of which were reverential, were deemed violative of a policy that disallows “inappropriate” and “offensive” fare. The paintings portrayed a nativity scene, Jesus carrying the cross, His crucifixion, resurrection and a portrait of Christ with a halo. Children, library officials argued, might be disturbed to see these images. The rest of the exhibit, “Visions, Hopes and Dreams,” was declared acceptable, but artist Mary Morley canceled it when she was told to censor Jesus. Portraits of Pope John Paul II, Mother Teresa, Moses with the Ten Commandments, as well as the prophet Elijah, were deemed acceptable. After the Catholic League protested, the library’s board of directors voted unanimously to allow Morley to display all her images.

December 4
Boston, MA—Ryan Landry’s play, “Who’s Afraid of the Virgin Mary?,” a parody of Edward Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” premiered at Machine. The lead roles of the arguing couple were played as St. Joseph and the Blessed Mother. Landry, a drag queen, played Mary. They are visited in the stable on Christmas Eve by Kris Kringle and his wife (also played by a man). Landry said, “I consider myself a Christian. I see nothing wrong with ‘playing’ the Virgin Mary in drag or (suggesting) that she has a drinking problem.”

San Francisco, CA—Divine Interventions sells sex toys with a religious theme. On its website it offers sex toys that are in the shape of a crucifix, the Blessed Mother, baby Jesus, a nun, Judas, Moses and the Devil, as well as Buddha and the Grim Reaper. Product descriptions include: “Hail Mary! Virgin Mary, like most smart women, knows there is a Second Coming. And a Third. And a Fourth. (Where’s my counting beads?) So give the Lucky Virgin what she wants. And with the Holy Lube, you betcha these ain’t gonna be immaculate. This mother is…superior”; Baby Jesus: “Slap him on the dashboard. Use him as the ultimate pacifier or make Baby Jesus the centerpiece of your magnificent Dildo Crèche. What would Jesus do?”; Jackhammer Jesus [in the shape of a crucifix]: “Jesus was a carpenter. Now he’s the powertool. He’s the baddest and the best in all of Nazareth”; Diving Nun: “Slap this suction lady of Lordy-Lourdes on your convent wall! She sticks! She sucks! The Diving Nun will take you with her into the Grotto of Never Ending Delight!”

Rochester, NY—Among greeting cards offered by Shade Tree Greetings was one that depicted a photograph of two girls in Communion dresses with the inscription, “We were good little Catholic girls.” On the inside it reads, “The emphasis is on WERE.”

January
New York, NY—HSBC USA apologized for altering the religious imagery of a fifth-grader’s holiday card submission. Gregory Paladino, a student at Our Mother of Sorrows outside of Rochester, New York, had won $1,000 for his school when his card was declared the winner of the HSBC holiday card contest. But the card the student submitted—showing a dove hovering over a village—was declared objectionable by the bank judges because it also showed a church with a steeple and a cross. Instead of rejecting the card because it violated the HSBC policy of prohibiting religious imagery, HSBC decided to print the winning card after they had removed the steeple and cross; by excising the church, it was intentionally made to look like other houses in the scene. An apology for altering the card was granted by Youssef A. Nasr, chief executive of HSBC. He added that the card should never have been chosen as the winner since it violated the bank’s policy regarding religious imagery.

March
Washington, DC—”Between Friends,” a club that hosts after-hours dance parties for homosexuals, advertised for a party called “Sunday Mass.” The advertisement showed a picture of Christ with the inscription, “Get on your knees, say your prayers, and beg because, boi…God has spoken.”

September
Michigan—Enlightenedspartan.com sold t-shirts for a football game between Notre Dame and Michigan State University. T-shirts for the Michigan State Spartans featured the slogan “Whip The Goddamn Catholics.”

October
Rock Island, IL—Bruce Millage and Jeffrey Guthrie turned a former synagogue into a sports bar by the name “Hail Mary’s Last Chance.” Local Catholics objected, including Bishop Daniel Jenky of Peoria. The Catholic League wrote to the owners to ask them to reconsider the name. A few days later Bruce Millage called to say there was never any intent to offend Catholics, and that they would drop the name “Hail Mary” from the bar.

December
American Greetings offered many tasteless Christmas e-cards on its website. For example, there was one in which elves working with Santa’s laundry hold up his underwear and exclaim, “Man! You think that a guy who can deliver toys all over the world in one night could at least learn to wipe himself a bit better!” There was also a “Risqué” set of cards, one of which showed a woman stripping suggestively and displaying S&M gear; at one point she’s dressed like an angel, saying, “Ever make an angel in the snow?” At the end, the animation says, “Now that I’ve got your attention, Merry Christmas!” There was also a category of “Rude” cards, such as the one that listed all the annoying parts of the holiday season, with the comment, “It’s Christmas. Hope yours doesn’t suck.” There was a total absence of tasteless Hanukkah and Kwanzaa cards. Similarly on Yahoo! Greetings, of the 33 Hanukkah cards in 2003, 26 displayed a Star of David or menorah. Of the 443 Christmas cards, 9 were religious.

December
Salt Lake City, UT—Fraser Nelson, executive director of the Disability Law Center, advised clients not to have Christmas decorations in their workplaces. Nelson, self-identified as Jewish, was against any religious holiday in the workplace. She said she was “personally offended” when she saw a Christmas tree in the rotunda of the Utah State Capitol.

December
Susan Dunn, an emotional intelligence coach, warned against linking December with Christmas, counseling not to forget about Bodhi Day (a Buddhist holiday, a.k.a. Rohatsu). In order to have a true multicultural holiday party, Dunn advised that employees should be encouraged to bring various ethnic foods. “But remember,” she observed, “it’s counterproductive to ask the Hungarian to bring goulash, etc.”

December
Minneapolis, MN—ProGroup advises about diversity in the workplace. Myrna Marofsky, the president, referred to the Christmas season as the “December Dilemma” (the term used by the Anti-Defamation League). She wrote, “Consider scheduling celebrations or sending cards before or after the holiday season.” She added that “Santa Claus can be surprisingly divisive,” and suggested that employers “invite a magician instead.” She recommended singing “Frosty the Snowman.” She concluded, “There’s [sic] a lot of nice Christmas songs that don’t have anything to do with Baby Jesus.”

This cartoon by Pat Oliphant (syndicated, 2/22/03) equates the charge of pedophilia against Michael Jackson with abuse by priests. Besides accusing all priests of being molesters, it continued the false perception that the abuse crisis in the Church involved pre-pubescent boys. Most of the abuse was homosexual, occurring with post-pubescent teenagers.

This cartoon by Allan Innman appeared on St. Patrick’s Day (3/17/03) in the newspaper of the University of Mississippi, The Daily Mississippian. It grossly insults all priests and makes a mockery of the Lenten practice of mortification.

This cartoon by Ann Telnaes was nationally syndicated (7/30/03) after the Vatican released its document on the Church’s opposition to gay marriage. It attempted to show the Vatican as hypocritical because of the abuse scandal.

This cartoon by Jim Morin appeared in the Miami Herald (7/31/03) after the Vatican released its document on the Church’s opposition to gay marriage. The cartoon charged that the Church should have nothing to say about any moral issue because of the crimes of a few.

This cartoon by Mike Keefe appeared in the Denver Post and other newspapers (8/2/03) after the Vatican’s declaration of opposition to gay marriage. It asserts the Church should not speak out on moral issues because of the abuse scandal.

This cartoon by Mike Keefe appeared in the Denver Post and other newspapers (8/2/03) after the Vatican’s declaration of opposition to gay marriage. It asserts the Church should not speak out on moral issues because of the abuse scandal.

This cartoon by Jim Day appeared in the Las Vegas Review-Journal and other newspapers (11/23/03). Referring to Michael Jackson’s arrest for alleged sexual abuse, it takes a cheap shot at the Catholic Church.

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January
Westfield, MA—Students at Westfield High School who were suspended in December 2002 for distributing candy canes with messages attached filed suit in federal court claiming school administrators violated their constitutional rights to free speech and expression. The message with the candy canes explained the candy canes’ shape and colors, and included Bible verses and a prayer to Jesus. The U.S. Department of Justice filed a friend-of-the-court brief on the students’ side.

January 23
Grand Rapids, MI—Terrence McNally’s play “Corpus Christi” was performed at the Spectrum Theater at Grand Rapids Community College. The play depicts Jesus having sex with the twelve apostles. The play is patently offensive to Christians

February
Ithaca, NY—An anti-war poster at Cornell University read: “We Live In a Country Founded By Cheats, Murderers, Rapists, Thiefs [sic]…Terrorists. Whom [sic] Captured, Killed, Enslaved Millions of Africans. Whom [sic] Killed More Natives Than Nazis Did Jews. While the Catholic Church is Behind the Altar Justifying Molestation—God Bless Amerikkka.”

February
Knoxville, TN—Terrence McNally’s play “Corpus Christi” was performed at the University of Tennessee’s All Campus Theatre. The play depicts Jesus having sex with the twelve apostles. The play is patently offensive to Christians. In October 2002, the school suspended a fraternity for dressing in blackface at an off-campus social event.

March
Miami, FL—The administration of Varela High School did not allow the Choose Life Bible Club to have a picture in the yearbook because it said the picture would violate separation of church and state. The principal said the term “Choose Life” might offend students who support abortion. When threatened with a lawsuit, the school allowed the picture.

March
Pierre, SD—Parents of Catholic school students in South Dakota were told the state would no longer provide busing for their children. Public schools that provided busing to parochial school students were told they could no longer do so and still be covered by insurance. Citing a South Dakota law and an attorney general’s opinion from 1992, school authorities said they had no choice but to curtail service to Catholic students. In 1992, then-Attorney General Mark Barnett said that the South Dakota constitution does not permit funds for any sectarian or religious institution due to the 19th Century anti-Catholic Blaine Amendment aimed at prohibiting any funding for Catholic institutions. The state moved to enforce this provision, and the sitting Attorney General, Larry Long, backed the decision. Lawmakers, however, quickly came up with a compromise. Busing for parochial school students could be continued as long as the school districts do not spend any extra money as a result.

March 17
Oxford, MS—The Daily Mississippian, the student newspaper of the University of Mississippi, published a cartoon by student Allan Innman that showed a bishop talking to a priest. The bishop asks, “What are you giving up for Lent?” The priest replies, “Molesting altar boys.”

March 18
Westfield, MA—U.S. District Judge Frank Freedman ruled that students at Westfield High School, who had distributed candy canes with religious messages and were suspended for it, were denied their right to free speech when school administrators sought to punish them for their expression.

April
Madison, WI—At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Professor Benjamin Dykman was teaching a course on Abnormal Psychology. During a lecture he showed slides illustrating different abnormalities. As an example of a pedophile he showed a picture of a Catholic priest with a child.

April
Princeton, NJ—The Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University hosted “Ricanstructions,” an art exhibit by Juan Sanchez. Included in the exhibit was a display called “Shackles of the AIDS Virus,” a 1996 work by the artist that features such devotional items as scapulars and images of the Virgin Mary arranged in a circle. Another display showed naked female torsos arranged in the shape of a cross; it was labeled “Crucifixion No. 2.” There was also a display of torn up images of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Dean Ann-Marie Slaughter admitted that a display that offended Islam wouldn’t be tolerated on the campus. But she still defended the anti-Catholic art for its alleged “educational value.” A letter challenging the dean to debate the issue was never answered.

April 4 
Columbia, MO—Colin Wright, a student at Rock Bridge High School and “design editor” for the school newspaper, The Rock, wrote a column titled “Vatican City is somewhat similar to Iraq conflict.” He stated that Iraq under Saddam Hussein and Vatican City “aren’t so different.” He wrote “Christianity has long been opposed to different religions…Christianity slaughtered men, women and children to further the domination of their religion”; “When Iraq attacked Kuwait…Saddam’s goals were similar to the Pope’s”; “It’s not necessary to allow a despot absolute power over a people but be consistent. If President Bush thinks it pertinent to dethrone one dictator, it’s necessary for him to dethrone them all, if he’s a hypocrite.”

April 8
Storrs, CT—The University of Connecticut’s newspaper, The Daily Campus, published an article by student Mike Kapralos, titled “Catholic Church a Mockery of the Ten Commandments.” Kapralos detailed how he thinks the Church fails the Ten Commandments. Here are some examples. The Third Commandment, on the Sabbath: “the church does not really break, per se, but it definitely trivialize it [sic] with their ‘Holy Days of Obligation.’… These are not days with any basis in the bible [sic]. I believe they are days artificially created through church-doctrine to raise more money and instill more guilt on the people who, because of other obligations, are unable to attend them.”

On not having false gods: “I have seen many ‘pagan-type’ acts when I see pictures of the pope…. Every time, without fail, is [sic] some person genuflecting and/or kneeling…. This looks a tad to the untrained eye as idolatry, but according to Catholic dogma, it is acceptable.”

On not stealing: “Every time you or your neighbor gives money into the church collection plate on Sunday, it goes to places you are unaware. Some may say this stealing [sic] by the church’s upper hierarchy.”

On not killing: “During World War II, Pope Pius XII largely ignored the plight of the Jews. He would and did not publicly decry the actions of the governments of Germany and Italy, both heavily Catholic countries. Most recently, Pope John Paul decried the war in Iraq as only a last resort…the pope is lying to the world and allowing the further murder of scored [sic] of innocent people and several genocides.”

April 16
Williamstown, MA—A Williams College student group, Voice for Choice, invited Frances Kissling, president of Catholics for a Free Choice, to speak on campus during Holy Week. A letter pointing out Kissling’s anti-Catholic bigotry was sent to the college president, Morton Owen Schapiro. Schapiro was not asked to bar her from speaking but to speak out “to challenge what is incorrect and to denounce what is bigoted.” Schapiro responded that he agreed with this principle and that the “students and faculty would have no trouble making their feelings known.” He promised a “spirited exchange” in the school paper.

April 18
Lawrenceville, NJ—The play “The Children of Fatima” opened on Good Friday at Rider University. Written by Rider faculty member Michael Friel, the plot revolves around a Catholic schoolboy in the 1960s who fears that the world will end when the pope reveals the third secret of Fatima. According to the Princeton Packet, a local newspaper, Friel admits that a friend of his called the play “Catholic bashing,” to which Friel replied, “I’m really going for the way that all institutions, whether it’s religion or government or even your parent, use fear to get what they want. By instilling fear in you, they can control you.” The play features a drunken Irish priest and a “hard-assed Sr. Regina Coeli.” Bart Luedeke, president of Rider, issued a statement distancing himself from the play and saying he was sorry that some found it offensive.

May 15
Cambridge, MA—The MIT Community Players, sponsored by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, presented the play “The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told” by Paul Rudnick. The play, a gay retelling of the Bible, featured full male frontal nudity, filthy language, discussion of body parts, butch lesbians, effeminate gay men, ranting against nature, and damning God for AIDS.

May 30
Dover, PA—Andy Apgar, a choral music teacher at Dover Intermediate School, led a chorus of school staff called “Rockin’ Sisters.” He and the others were dressed in drag as nuns.

June
Santa Rosa, CA—On the website of Santa Rosa College was a listing for “Lutherans on Campus.” It contained the assertion that Martin Luther was a “recovering Catholic.” After the league wrote to President Robert Agrella, the offensive reference was removed, an apology was issued and school officials scheduled a meeting with the offending students.

June
New York, NY—A professor at Hunter College who specializes in Catholic mysticism and psychology and received the highest recommendations from her department was denied tenure. In a Tenure Appeals Committee meeting, the professor was asked direct questions about her religious faith. It was later revealed that she is Jewish. The committee approved her for tenure, but she was subsequently refused by the full committee. This committee was not privy to the information about her faith.

June 4
Oshkosh, WI—After threatening a lawsuit, a student at Winneconne High School was allowed to sing the song “He’s Always Been Faithful” at graduation ceremonies. She had initially been barred from singing it because it makes mention of God.

July 1
Pittsburgh, PA—A U.S. District judge ordered a teacher’s aide to be allowed to return to work after being suspended without pay by the ARIN Intermediate Unit 28 for refusing to cover up or remove a 1 ¼ inch cross that she wore. The judge wrote that the agency’s policy was “overtly averse to religion.”

August 27
Egg Harbor, NJ—The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of an elementary school that forbade a boy from giving out pencils with the message “Jesus loves the little children” with a heart symbol substituted for the word “love.” The Rutherford Institute, which represents the boy, plans to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.

October 2
Topeka, KS—Professors and students on the Washburn Campus Beautification Committee chose and displayed a piece of sculpture by Jerry Boyle called “Holier Than Thou.” It depicted a Catholic bishop wearing a hat that resembled a phallic symbol. The inscription on the base read: “The artist says, ‘I was brought up Catholic. I remember being 7 and going into the dark confessional booth for the first time. I knelt down, and my face was only inches from the thin screen that separated me and the one who had the power to condemn me for my evil ways. I was scared to death, for on the other side of that screen was the persona you see before you.'” The piece provoked protest from area Catholics, including Archbishop James Keleher of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas.

William Donohue wrote to university president Dr. Jerry B. Farley to take action, pointing out that he once rebuked a school newspaper editor for making disparaging remarks about nontraditional students. David Monical, Executive Director of Governmental and University Relations, replied that “No one involved…intended for any viewers to experience pain or hurt.”

October 25
Hanover, NH—At the Columbia-Dartmouth football game at Dartmouth University, the announcer for the Columbia band uttered some disparaging remarks about the Terri Schiavo right-to-life case in Florida and about Jeb Bush. The announcer then introduced the Columbia half-time show by inviting the crowd to join the band in their “Celebration of partial-birth abortion”; this was followed by some ranting against the Pope and what the announcer described as his (the Pope’s) “drooling and stuttering” speech. This was the second year in a row that the Columbia band exploded in an anti-Catholic rant. Each year, the Catholic League received an “apology.”

November 13
Eau Claire, WI—Aaron Brewster wrote an article in The Spectator, the newspaper of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, called “‘Catholicism Wow!’ Vatican needs to modernize stance on issues.” The writer took issue with “the Vatican under the current fascist pope.” The issues he objected to were abortion, birth control, divorce etc., stating, “Another group that banned abortion and birth control was the Nazis.” The article ends with: “On a final note, the bread and wine do not actually turn into the body and the blood, or else people would be getting food poisoning from eating raw meat.”

December
Richland Center, WI—A public school told its students to substitute “religious” words in Christmas songs with “secular” words for their concert. Any song mentioning Jesus or God was prohibited.

December
Cedar Springs, MI—A public school removed all books dealing with the religious aspects of Christmas or Hanukkah from its library and placed them in an out of view area.

December
Dahlonega, GA—A public school instructed its teachers that they could not read Christmas books in class, make Christmas decorations or use red and white candy canes because of their religious origin. Some teachers were told they could not wear Christmas-related attire.

December 8
Bloomington, IN—Indiana University law professor Florence Roisman issued a complaint about a Christmas tree on campus. She said the 12-foot tree celebrated Christmas. Roisman, who is Jewish, stated, “To honor one religion and not honor others is exclusionary.” (The tree had no religious ornaments on it.) The dean of students, Tony Tarr, acceded to her demands and had the tree replaced by two smaller trees, along with a sleigh stuffed with red and green poinsettia plants. He declared the first tree to be a “denominational” tree and the new ones to be “a normal Indiana scene.” Roisman objected to the new display as well.

December 11
Bethel, WA—Mark Denison, music teacher at Clover Creek Elementary School, replaced the word “Christmas” with “winter” in Dale Wood’s “Carol From An Irish Cabin” at the school’s concert. The same concert included Hanukkah songs with lyrics about the “mighty miracle of Israel’s ancient days.” School officials said, that the teacher went too far in his decision, but left it in place. A spokesman said, “In the past there has been a lot of sensitivity to not giving preference to one religion over the other.”

December 12
Mount Pleasant, MI—Central Michigan University’s affirmative action office published a calendar online that denoted various holidays. For December it listed Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Las Posadas. Next to Christmas was an asterisk that read, “Warning of Holiday Decorations.” The “Warning” pointed to a document titled “How to Celebrate Christmas Without Offense.” There were no asterisks next to the other three holidays. The document stated, “During the December Holiday season it is important to realize what may be offensive to others within a place of employment…. It is inappropriate to decorate things with Santa Claus or reindeer or other ‘Christmas’ decorations…. Good ideas for decorations during this time are snowflakes, snowpeople, poinsettias to give a feeling of the winter.” After protest by the Catholic League, the university removed the warnings. One of the top officials said the university had been unaware of the document.

December 12
Plano, TX—A student at Thomas Elementary School was refused permission to hand out candy canes at a school party along with an explanatory booklet called “The Legend of the Candy Cane.” Among other explanations, the booklet said that candy canes are hard because Jesus Christ is the “Rock of Ages.” School officials said district policy forbids students from handing out such materials.

December 14
Medway, MA—Memorial and Burke Elementary School canceled its holiday concert. Said Principal Scotti Finnegan, “Medway has become more diverse. One of the things we were finding is the holiday concert, as wonderful as it has been here at Memorial and Burke, the focus has really been Christmas.” No Christmas decorations were allowed in the school. Finnegan said that they would be “inappropriate,” excluding children who do not celebrate Christmas; and that “this is not always a happy time for kids.”

December 14
Spring Hill, FL—Powell Middle School did not allow Christmas trees or Santa Claus visits on campus. Principal Michael Ransaw said, “I just really don’t want to offend anyone. We have something for everyone. We don’t promote religion or the meaning of Christmas. We’re celebrating everyone.”

December 15
Southfield, MI—Adler Elementary School did not allow any Christmas decorations in the school. Principal Janet Jones stated, “We’ve never done Christmas trees and Santa Claus or anything because we want to be sensitive.” The holiday concert was of patriotic songs.

December 18
Horsham, PA—Karen Davis, principal of Dorothea Simmons Elementary School, removed a nativity scene placed in the school by parents, but left a menorah. “I felt that the nativity scene was definitely promoting Christianity,” she said. When asked why she allowed the menorah, which is a religious symbol, she replied, “Judaism is not just a religion, it’s a culture.” The Catholic League threatened a lawsuit on the grounds of religious discrimination. Shortly after, Dr. William A. Lessa, Superintendent of Schools for the Hatboro-Horsham School District, ordered the nativity scene put back. He said, “To even begin to imply that the acknowledgment of a nativity is inappropriate doesn’t sound right to me.”

January
Hightstown, NJ—Town Councilman Eugene Sarafin, known for his atheism and inflammatory remarks about religion, twice used obscene terms to describe his Catholic critics. He labels them “Catholic s—.” After a complaint by the Catholic League, Sarafin was censored by the town council on March 3 by a vote of 5-1.

January
New Hampshire—Lawmakers began debating whether to end the priest-penitent privilege as it currently exists in law. A bill was introduced and eventually stalled in committee. A prime motivator for the bill was Ann Coughlin, an active member of Voice of the Faithful.

Coughlin said her actions were “a defense of a Catholic institution.” She admitted she has no evidence whatsoever to show that priests in New Hampshire are being told in the confessional of crimes against children: “I can’t prove that ever happened. But I’m absolutely convinced that it has.”

January
Kentucky—Lawmakers debated whether to end the priest-penitent privilege as it currently exists in law. It eventually stalled in committee.

January 8
Albany, NY—After Bishop Howard Hubbard of Albany delivered the New York legislative session’s opening prayer, New York State Senator Thomas Duane sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno demanding that no priest be allowed to open the senate sessions with a prayer. He cited the sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church as justification for his request.

January 30
Washington, DC—Superior Court Judge Mildred M. Edwards convicted three Catholic homosexual activists for unlawful entry and then refused to sentence them. Her decision not to sentence them was based on her expressed sympathy for the activists.

The three were arrested on November 12 for an illegal protest they held in a D.C. hotel. They were protesting a decision made by a priest not to give them Holy Communion the day before at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. The priest denied them Communion because he was aware that they belonged to Soulforce, a group that condemns the Church’s teachings on sexuality.
Judge Edwards told the activists that by denying them Communion, the priest had committed “tremendous violence” against them. The judge, who claimed to be Catholic, asked the protesters to forgive the Catholic Church and closed her remarks by saying, “Go in peace.”

February 10
Albany, NY—Attorney John Aretakis, a lawyer with three suits against the Albany Diocese, asked the presiding judge, State Supreme Court Justice Joseph Teresi, to recuse himself because he is a practicing Catholic. The judge refused. When Aretakis commented that Teresi often goes to weekday Mass and is a “deeply religious and spiritual person with a great deal of faith in his Catholic Church,” Teresi said this was pure “hyperbole”; he scoffed at the “deeply religious” claim. Eventually Teresi did recuse himself.

March
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected an appeal to reconsider a ruling made in June 2002 by a three-member panel of judges that held the Pledge of Allegiance to be unconstitutional because of the words “under God.” The three judges slightly altered their earlier ruling which had banned the Pledge in all public forums; they decided to limit their ban to recitations in schools.

March
Annapolis, MD—State legislators considered a child abuse reporting bill that would do away with the clergy-penitent privilege of the confessional. After objections by Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington and the Catholic League, the bill was shelved in committee. State legislators in Iowa and West Virginia dropped similar bills even before scheduled debate began.

March
Topeka, KS—Lawmakers considered a child abuse reporting bill that would do away with the clergy-penitent privilege of the confessional. After protest from Catholics, including the Catholic League, the bill was withdrawn.

March
Frankfort, KY—Lawmakers considered a child abuse reporting bill that would do away with the clergy-penitent privilege of the confessional. After protest from Catholics, including the Catholic League, the bill was withdrawn.

March
Carson City, NV—State Senator Dina Titus introduced legislation for clergy reporting of child abuse designed to end the priest-penitent privilege. She was persuaded to rethink her proposal after receiving a letter from William Donohue of the Catholic League. She wrote to Donohue thanking him for his “thoughtful message,” saying she cancelled a hearing on her bill. Titus wrote that “we want to preserve the sanctity of the confessional.”

March 12
Mineola, NY—At the sentencing of a Catholic priest convicted of sexual abuse, Nassau County Judge Donald DeRiggi said, “The Catholic Church is so vehement in its stand against fornication and homosexuality and adultery, how someone in the church can violate those things is hard to understand.” DeRiggi, a Catholic, added that priests who can’t keep their vow of celibacy should leave. He also raised questions about celibacy itself: “Maybe the assumptions we have about priests have to be reevaluated.”

April
Fort Lauderdale, FL—An exhibit at the Mizell Cultural Center, operated by Fort Lauderdale Parks, included a charcoal drawing by Ronald Rodney titled “Pseudo Charity.” It depicted a religious figure resembling Pope John Paul II crouching over an emaciated child, with a vulture looking on. The recreation center’s director removed the work after complaints from employees that it was offensive.

April 23
New York, NY—On the Fox News Channel show “Hannity and Colmes,” Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York was questioned about Sen. Rick Santorum’s remarks about homosexuality. Nadler implied that the Catholic position on homosexuality is bigoted. The Catholic League demanded an apology. On April 25, before an appearance by William Donohue on MSNBC TV, the league contacted Congressman Nadler’s office to see if he wanted to issue a statement. Nadler quickly sent a note saying, “I regret if anyone reading an account or a quote of only one or two sentences mistakenly gets the impression that I was referring to the Catholic Church or to its position on sin.” The apology was accepted.

May 28
Bryan, TX—A Lutheran father sued his daughter’s Catholic grandparents for custody of her; his attorney noted disparagingly that the child was taught not to receive Communion in non-Catholic Churches. Judge Steve Smith included in his closing comments his opinion that the child, a baptized Catholic, should attend Lutheran services with her father and receive Communion there. He acknowledged that he should not comment on religious matters from the bench, but said that he would do so anyway.

June 11
Washington, DC—The Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings on the nomination of Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor, who is Catholic, to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. It was the position of the Catholic League that those opposed to the nomination of Bill Pryor were not guilty of applying a de jure religious test to his nomination; this means that technically speaking, no religious test was being applied. We contended, along with some prominent constitutional scholars, that Pryor’s leading critics were guilty of applying a de facto religious test; in other words, the effect of what they are doing was the application of a religious test. For example, on abortion it was no secret that Pryor’s personal convictions are also the convictions of Catholicism. Indeed, he spoke of abortion in the most plain language, branding it “the worst abomination of constitutional law in our history.” But he also understands that civil law must be guided by precedent. So when a broadly written Alabama law surfaced that banned partial-birth abortions, Pryor noted the statute’s unconstitutionality and advised state officials not to enforce it. In short, he is utterly capable of making critical distinctions between civil and ecclesiastical law. But this was of no consequence to his opponents; they still objected to him because of his personal animus to abortion.

Senator Charles Schumer of New York questioned Pryor about his “deeply held beliefs.” He said Pryor’s beliefs “are so deeply held that it’s very hard to believe that they’re not going to influence” him on the bench. (This, of course, was code for questioning Pryor’s deeply held religious convictions). Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois, a Catholic who sat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, asked Pryor whether he understood that a statement of his raised “concerns of those who don’t happen to be Christian, that you are asserting…a religious belief of your own, inconsistent with the separation of church and state.” Durbin accused Pryor of wanting to “condone by government action certain religious beliefs.” Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts declared that “Mr. Pryor is simply too ideological to serve as a federal court judge.”

The Committee for Justice and the Ave Maria List sponsored pro-Pryor print and television ads depicting judicial chambers with signs reading “Catholics Need Not Apply.” Reaction to this charge was strong. Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont called it “Religious McCarthyism.” Durbin called it “Shameful…disgusting…[and] unacceptable.” As of the end of 2003, Pryor’s nomination was still blocked in the Senate. After one of the votes, Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, remarked, “It’s getting so that a pro-life Catholic can’t serve in the federal judiciary.”

August
Sacramento, CA—A new California law prevented the sale of Church-owned health facilities if the seller prohibits the new owner from offering services such as abortion and sterilization. It thus prevents Catholic hospitals from requiring their buyers to follow directives that forbid procedures that are against Catholic teaching. Rev. Michael Place, president of the Catholic Health Association of the United States, called the law “an invasion of the government into the freedom of the private sector in carrying out business in accordance with its beliefs.”

September
Kansas City, MO—The Thomas More Law Center filed suit on behalf of a Missouri student who had been barred from receiving state scholarship money for a theology degree. Eleven other states prohibit state funds for theology degrees.

September 2
Rockford, IL—Over the Labor Day weekend, members of the Winnebago County Board designed a plan to tear down a Catholic Church, St. Mary’s Oratory, and replace it with a new county jail. St. Mary’s is the second-oldest church in Rockford and one of the only churches in the nation to offer the Latin Mass twice daily. After being informed of the hasty action of the board, the Catholic League issued a protest and was joined by Bishop Thomas Doran of Rockford and Scott Richert of the Rockford Institute. On September 3, county officials decided not to go ahead with the plan to raze the church.

September 24
Seattle, WA—The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) filed suit against St. Edward State Park on behalf of a couple who donated an inscribed brick that said, “Thank you Jesus, Daria and Evan Buchanan,” for a playground. When the playground was opened, the brick said only “Daria and Evan Buchanan.” Two other bricks use “God” and “Angels,” so the ACLJ asked why the one with “Jesus” on it was singled out. Americans United for Separation of Church and State opposed the brick.

October 3
New York, NY—Judge Luther V. Dye was censured by the Committee on Judicial Conduct for two incidents involving bias. One was against a Catholic. In the summer of 2002, the judge rejected a woman’s request that money being held by the court be used for her teenage daughter’s Catholic school tuition. Judge Dye said he wouldn’t send his kids to a Catholic school, given the scandal in the Church. The woman contacted the Catholic League, which immediately filed a complaint against the judge. This led to the censure and assurance from the judge that he would step down from the bench when his term ended in a few months.

October 5
Milwaukee, WI—The Wisconsin state legislature considered an amendment to a school-choice bill that would require background checks of voucher-school employees. State Senator Gwendolynne Moore, who pushed for the measure, said she wanted to vest this authority in the Milwaukee Department of Public Instruction. (The Milwaukee Archdiocese already conducts background checks.) State Senator Moore repeatedly cited the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church. Those who objected to her amendment were accused of protecting “rapists.” She said the voucher schools would become magnets for pedophile priests. She also said that because private (non-Catholic) schools are not required to conduct background checks, predatory men who are thinking about entering a seminary might elect instead to teach in one of these schools.

October 23
Balch Springs, TX—Liberty Legal Institute filed a lawsuit against the city of Balch Springs charging the city with religious discrimination against its senior citizens in its senior center. Because the center was a public building, the city told the seniors that they could no longer pray before their meals, sing Gospel music, or post inspirational messages.

November 19
Fort Lauderdale, FL—A federal judge ruled that Calvary Chapel could display a cross and a sign saying “Jesus is the reason for the season” as part of a holiday lights display in a Broward County park. The county issued a policy on holiday displays in October 2002 discouraging nativity scenes and crosses but allowing menorahs.

November 29
Sacramento, CA—The California Supreme Court heard arguments in a lawsuit brought by Catholic Charities of Sacramento challenging a California state law requiring employers who offer prescription drug plans to have coverage for artificial contraception. State Senator Jackie Speier, one of the authors of the law, said, “My experience with the Peoples Temple and Jim Jones makes me prickly on this issue. Sometimes in our zeal to protect the First Amendment right of freedom of religion we allow organizations to not be subjected to the law.”

December 1
Troy, MI—A policy that would allow a nativity scene to be displayed in front of city hall was voted down by the city council. During Christmas the city displays a “Season’s Greetings” sign, a green and red garland in the shape of bells and a flagpole draped with lights. Cindy Stewart, the city’s community affairs director said of the display, “We have so many different nationalities and cultures in Troy, it’s a catch-all for everybody’s holiday.”

December 4
Birmingham, MI—A man paid a fee for a permit to erect a nativity scene in Shain Park intending to use the city’s figures. However, the city had sold them off. He then paid for a new set, which he erected. The figure of Jesus was then stolen. He replaced it and immediately it was stolen again. City officials emailed him notifying him that if he did not replace the missing pieces of the crèche it would be have to be dismantled. He replaced them again at his own expense.

December 2
Albany, NY—State Justice Dan Lamont dismissed a lawsuit brought by Catholic Charities of Albany that challenged a New York state law requiring employers who offer prescription drug plans to have coverage for artificial contraception. Lamont said he found no evidence of “animosity” towards the Catholic Church in the law.

December 16
Palm Beach, FL—Two women asked a federal judge to overrule the city’s refusal to display a nativity scene in Bradley Park. A Christmas tree and a menorah were allowed. Both women sued for religious discrimination, saying, “If Jewish people are represented with a menorah, we want to be represented as Christians.” John Randolph, the town attorney said, “The case law we have researched indicated that when a symbol such as a menorah is placed next to a Christmas tree, the religious symbol is neutralized and becomes a secular display. The menorah then is not strictly a religious symbol.”

December 22
Glenview, IL—Some residents complained to village officials that they could see Christmas lights, a Christmas tree and a Santa Claus inside Glenview’s Fire Station No. 7 when they drove down Glenview Road. Village officials declared that they wanted “to make sure that our public buildings remain neutral.” They ordered the firehouse to remove the decorations from inside the building.

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MOVIES

January 16
The Irish movie “Song for a Raggy Boy” made its United States premiere. Although billed sometimes as a true story, it is a fictionalized account of an Irishman who fights against Franco in Spain and returns to Ireland in 1939, where he teaches at a Catholic reform school. The boys there are subjected to verbal and physical abuse from the brothers who run the school. Roger Ebert, while praising the film, admited it “continues the rewriting of Irish history,” and predicted “Bill Donohue of the Catholic League…will implode after this one.”

January 24
Constantin Costa-Gavras’ movie, “Amen,” opened in select theaters. Based on Rolf Hochhuth’s fictional play, “The Deputy,” the movie posited that there was a Jesuit priest who endlessly lobbied Pope Pius XII to do something about the Holocaust. The Catholic Church is indicted for passivity. The film also suggested that only Jewish converts to Catholicism were saved by the Vatican when the Nazis invaded Rome. (However, nowhere in Europe were more Jews saved—85 percent—than in Italy.) The fictional priest as well as other elements are combined with historical facts and persons. The result is that the story is presented as fact, when it is fiction.

August 1
“The Magdalene Sisters,” a movie by Peter Mullan, opened in the United States. Its U.S. distributor was Miramax. A work of historical fiction, the film was about the alleged abuse of wayward girls by nuns in Ireland. Mullan was quoted as saying: “There is not much difference between the Catholic Church and the Taliban”; “The film encapsulates everything that is bad about the Catholic Church”; “The worst thing about the Catholic Church is that it imprisons your soul, your mind and your d—.” When the film was first released, two members of the board of directors of the Venice Film Festival called it anti-Catholic propaganda. Jack Mathews, movie critic for the New York Daily News wrote, “Mullan has been criticized for condensing the extreme abuses of asylums into an overloaded melodrama, and he does, but I don’t fault him for it….The whole system was sadistic and indefensible, and the church…deserves the scorn that Mullan and his fine cast heap on it.”

September 5
20th Century Fox released “The Order,” directed by Brian Helgeland. The movie revolves around a priest who is a member of a secret society. He travels to Rome to investigate the murder of his mentor and encounters the “sin eater.” This is a rouge who for a fee “eats” the sins of people who die outside the Church. Movie critic Michael Medved described the movie in USA Today as “a virulently anti-Catholic horror picture…about a secret, demonic cult within the church and a Satanic, perverted candidate for pope.”

October 23
The Hamptons Film Festival screened “Little Kings,” written and directed by Marylou Tibaldo-Bongiorno. One of the characters is a Catholic high school teacher. Variety said, “Just about every scene is rife with priests and/or looming Catholic symbols, and everyone is choking on free-form guilt.”

November 26
“Bad Santa,” distributed by Miramax Films, opened. The title character is portrayed as a chain-smoking, drunken, foul-mouthed, suicidal, sexual predator. He is shown soiling himself in Santa’s chair, vomiting in alleys, having sex with a woman bartender in a car, and performing anal sex on a huge woman in a dressing room. His commentary in front of kids was replete with the “F-word.” While the Catholic League did not find it blasphemous, per se, it is nonetheless offensive. George M. Thomas of the Akron Beacon Journal said of it, “The trailer shows this as an anti-holiday film and it could be the much-needed antidote to that good-will-to-man feeling that permeates the season.”

NEWSPAPERS

January 7
New York, NY—In the Daily News, Michael Musto’s column “La Dolce Musto” was a retrospective of 2002. It included the following: “CHURCH OF THE POISONED BEHIND: Shock jocks Opie and Anthony were pulled off the air after featuring a blow-by-blow account of a couple having sex at Saint Patrick’s. The church was expectedly outraged—probably because it was two adults engaging in a consensual act. Ba-dum-pum.”

February 20
Birmingham, AL—Leigh Anne Monitor, a reporter for the Birmingham Post-Herald, wrote a story about a strip-club owner that began, “The naked truth is surprising: a chain of Deep South strip joints is run by a one-time Catholic schoolgirl from Alabama.” The story was picked up by the Associated Press (AP), which ran it on the Alabama state wire. The Catholic League registered a complaint with an AP official, Mike Silverman, asking him to explain why it was necessary for AP to report that the woman had gone to a Catholic school. The league asked, “How is this fact relevant to an article about a strip club?” Mr. Silverman agreed that the reference to Catholic school was gratuitous. He regretted that AP let this get by and explained that it was actually in violation of AP policy to do it.

February 22
Syndicated cartoonist Pat Oliphant published a cartoon showing Michael Jackson chasing a swarm of young boys past “St. Paedophilia’s Catholic Church.” Two priests are observing the chase, and one comments, “I have nothing against Brother Jackson but I must admit to a twinge of nostalgia mixed with envy.”

March 9
New York, NY—Gossip columnist Cindy Adams of the New York Post wrote in a column about Michael Jackson, “An adult male performer who favors little boys shouldn’t be a performer. He should be a bishop.”

March 30
New York, NY—Linda Stasi of the New York Post wrote a column titled “Church of the Good Intention.” She noted that the Archdiocese of New York was beginning background checks on church employees. She expressed her cynicism that this would work: “For decades, or maybe centuries, disgusting pervert priests have been preying on kids and nothing was done about it.”

March 30
Daytona Beach, FL—Bruce Beattie published a cartoon in the News-Journal depicting a couple in bed. The man is cowering under the covers while the woman says, “Soon we won’t have to worry about Saddam anymore. That leaves the Ebola virus, global warming, Catholic priests, al-Qaida sleeper cells….”

May 4
New York, NY—New York Post gossip columnist Cindy Adams wrote a column about smoking in New York. She wrote, “Last year, a couple was arrested for having sex in St. Patrick’s Cathedral. A privilege reserved for the clergy.”

May 13
Union City, NJ—A Spanish-language newspaper, El Especial, ran the notoriously anti-Catholic “Earth’s Final Warning” advertisement from the Eternal Gospel Church. The ad, among other things, depicts the Catholic Church as the “Whore of Babylon” and talks of a plan between the United States government and the pope to achievement world domination.

June 12
Wauwatosa, WI—The Wauwatosa News Times published a cartoon by Flint depicting the church of “St. Pete Afelia,” whose sign reads, “Altar Boys Wanted”; outside, an elderly man comments, “Convicted sexual predators housed in neighborhoods with kids & daycare centers.” The elderly woman with him says, “Good thing we don’t have that in our neighborhood.”

June 17
Boston, MA—The Boston Globe published a cartoon by Dan Wasserman. It shows three bishops reading a newspaper with the headline: “Gov. Keating says church silence like ‘Cosa Nostra.’ One bishop says, “This is outrageous!” Another says, “Let’s whack him!”

July 28
Washington, DC—The Washington Times published a full-page ad paid for by the Everlasting Gospel Ministry. The advertisement called the Church the Whore of Babylon, working in league with Satan to undermine the separation of church and state.

September 11
Washington, DC—The Washington Post ran a column by Marc Fisher about the vote in the House of Representatives that approved vouchers for the District of Columbia. He wrote, “What we have here is a charity program in which the American taxpayer hands over millions of dollars to the same wealthy institution that has hundreds of millions to pay to victims of sexual abuse by wayward clergymen.” Catholic League policy analyst Joseph De Feo answered with a letter to the editor calling this a “potshot against the Catholic Church” that is “entirely gratuitous and mean-spirited.” “Name-calling and cheap shots,” De Feo concluded, “are the tactics of someone who won’t bother to formulate a rational argument.”

September 13
A cartoon by Pat Oliphant published in various newspapers referred to the recent settlement with plaintiffs by Archbishop Sean O’Malley of Boston. It depicted a priest tossing a check for $85 million to a boy while saying, “You can use it to buy back your childhood.”

October 17
Los Angeles, CA—The Los Angeles Times published a column by Marquette University professor of moral theology and former priest Daniel C. Maquire called “A Papacy’s 25 Years of Unfulfilled Potential.” He wrote, the pope has “squandered his moral authority on issues in which he has no privileged expertise.” The pope has “silenced the voices of many Catholic theologians and arrogantly asserted his own unique teaching prerogatives in ways that cut the legs out from any true ecumenism.” He continued, “Two areas especially signaled his inadequacy as a moral world leader: his demeaning view of half the human race—women—and his obsessive concern with what can be called pelvic orthodoxy.” He wrote the reason why Mother Teresa was elevated to sainthood was because she “was a firm defender of male dominance.” The Vatican, he wrote, holds an “unduly privileged perch” at the U.N., “even though it strains credulity to ponder how 110 acres with no women and children could be considered a ‘nation.'” And its opposition to condoms is “murderous.” Finally he wrote that it smacks of a “naïve mythology” to see the pope as “almost single-handedly bringing down Soviet communism.”

November 21
Los Angeles, CA—A letter in the Daily News by Bruce Jones stated, “It’s a sorry state of affairs when pop stars, like Michael Jackson, start behaving as badly as the Roman Catholic hierarchy.” The letter writer did not compare Jackson to a particular offender such as John Geoghan, but to the entire Catholic hierarchy.

November 23
A cartoon by Bill Schorr, syndicated by United Media, depicted a priest pointing to Michael Jackson while asking a bishop, “He wants to know if you will reassign him to a different parish…?”

November 23
Richmond, VA—In an editorial, “On the Brits, the French, the Church, AIDS, ‘Moderates,’ Etc.,” which appeared in the Richmond Times Dispatch, Ross MacKenzie wrote, “In the past week or so, let’s see…Michael Jackson charged with diddling boys (Question: If guilty, did Jacko take his cues from the offending priests who have done such things in the Catholic Church?).”

November 27
Tulsa, OK—The readers’ forum of the Tulsa World, “Call the Editor,” published the following: “Double standard likely for Jackson. Remember all of the people calling in defending the Catholic Church and its priests? I wonder if these same people will call in and defend Michael Jackson. I doubt it. We will witness another obvious double standard for how people are treated in the United States of America.”

November 28
Tallahassee, FL—In a section of the Tallahassee Democrat called “Zing,” the following was written: “If Michael Jackson had a different career and had been a priest, he could have gotten away with it.”

PERIODICALS

February
The February issue of Esquire included an ad parody by Joe Zeff that showed a priest in a cassock in the background. The text read: “Next fall on ABC, THE BACHELOR PRIEST: 1 man. 25 boys. Who will get the final candy bar?”

February
Philadelphia, PA—The Philadelphia Trumpet included an article by Ron Fraser, titled “A Union of Church and State.” He wrote of an “agenda” by the Vatican to turn Europe into another Holy Roman Empire. He wrote that the Church only appears to be in a crisis. Fraser illustrated the impending “Catholicization” of Europe, by writing the pope has close ties with the European Union; he travels all over the globe to mobilize the “troops.” He claimed the Church has moved ideologically to the center-right as has the rest of Europe. Stephen M. Hill wrote a sidebar column saying that the image of a woman riding a beast appears on some coins and in other places in the E.U. He said the beast is Europe and the woman is the Catholic Church. It actually represents the ancient Greek myth of Europa riding Zeus transformed into a bull. Hill concluded, “In one last spectacular, gruesome revival of the Holy Roman Empire, this ominous force will take the world by storm, provoking a Third World War so terrible it defies the imagination to envisage the horror.”

March
The March issue of Gourmet was about the city of Rome. It included an article by Frank McCourt in which he recounts having a crisis of conscience while meeting the pope: McCourt believed the Catholic Church is responsible for world starvation because of its position on birth control. John Guare wrote about his regret that most of the museums in Rome are churches and still remain so. And Joshua David wrote of Wendy Artin and her disdain for large numbers of nuns at fruit stands who inappropriately squeeze the fruit.

May
Philadelphia, PA—The Philadelphia Trumpet included an article by Ron Fraser, titled “From Communism to Catholicism.” Predicting that the Vatican and the European Union would come together to control Cuba, he called Pope John Paul II the “key diplomat of the E.U.” who will become Cuba’s “patron.” Fraser concluded, “Watch for careful but overt initiatives from Vatican City to consolidate the church’s power through winning the loyalty of its Cuban parishioners.” He claimed that the U.S. will be in danger and will become fodder for the Vatican, “the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.”

May
The May issue of Esquire included a section by Brian Frazer titled “(This Way Out) Other Endangered Species.” One panel depicted a nervous-looking altar boy with the caption, “Unfondled altar boys.”

July
The July edition of the Marvel Comics series, “The X-Men,” told a tale of good and evil, using Catholicism as a backdrop. Along the way, many teachings of the Catholic Church were ridiculed. Among them were the Church’s pro-life position and its belief in the Eucharist as the Body and Blood of Christ. At one point in the comic, the pope was revealed as the Antichrist; at another, a former Catholic nun who was raped by a priest was cast as the pope.

July
The July issue of Playboy had a picture of Hugh Hefner praying with the three stars of “Charlie’s Angels 2.” Lucy Liu, Cameron Diaz and Drew Barrymore were dressed as nuns in full habit. There was also a picture of Hefner with his arm draped around a large statue of the Virgin Mary.

RADIO

March
Pagosa Springs, CO—A local dentist wanted to pay for an advertisement on a local National Public Radio (NPR) station saying, “Gently Restoring the Health God Created.” NPR would not allow it because it used the word “God.”

April 30
Lansford, PA—WLSH aired an editorial by Mark Marek. Marek, a former Catholic, took umbrage with the pope for his Holy Thursday statement reaffirming Catholic doctrine on marriage, Holy Communion and other matters. In his remarks, Marek not only challenged the wisdom of these teachings, he also accused the pope of “stirring up anger” in the U.S. and abroad. “Instead of issuing a letter promoting peace and words of comfort,” Marek said, “the Vatican boys conjure up this fire and brimstone encyclical that drives another spike into an already weakened Catholic Church.”

May 21
San Antonio, TX—200 Catholics asked the national evangelical Christian radio network, K-LOVE, to rescind its policy against promoting Catholic musical events. The president of the network said that its policy does not single out Catholics; it prohibits advertising from any group that does not comply with the network’s statement of faith. (Catholic Television of San Antonio does not exclude evangelicals from advertising).

TELEVISION

January
The 2003 calendar of “The Osbourne Family” TV show depicts the family holding dogs in imitation of a statue of the Blessed Mother holding Jesus placed in the middle of the family.

January 6
New York, NY—On the “Donahue” show on MSNBC, the topic was media bias. One of the guests, radio talk show host Jeffrey Whitaker, said to host Phil Donahue, “You’re like the Catholic Church. See for years the Catholic Church told people not to—listen, they kept their parishioners from reading the Scriptures.” The remark was gratuitous, as there had not been any previous mention of the Catholic Church. Another guest, former New York governor Mario Cuomo, responded, “Oh, no. That’s ridiculous.”

February 5
An episode of the NBC show “Law and Order” centered on a priest who murdered a drug dealer. Here are three examples where the Church’s teachings were twisted: When questioned by police about the initial suspect in the murder, Father Hogan said, “Until the Vatican tells me otherwise, any conversation I have with a congregant remains between him, me and God.” After confessing to the crime, Father Hogan says, “Killing is not a crime when it is God’s will.” Father Hogan justifies killing the drug dealer by citing Exodus, saying this book of the Bible exculpates him.

February 24
New York, NY—On the MSNBC show “Donahue,” host Phil Donahue interviewed Rosie O’Donnell. In discussing the sex abuse scandal in the Church, O’Donnell said: “And you know what? It needs to be out in the forefront. I really hope that the Catholic Church gets sued until the end of time. Maybe, you know, we can melt down some of the gold toilets in the pope’s Vatican and pay off some of the lawsuits because, you know, frankly, the whole tenet of Christianity, of being pious, of living a Christ-like life, has been lost in Catholicism, I believe.” As it turned out, this was the very last show Phil Donahue did. MSNBC cancelled the show due to poor ratings.

August 6
“CBS Evening News” reported that the Vatican issued a document in 1962 that “lays out a church policy that calls for absolute secrecy when it comes to sexual abuse by priests—anyone who speaks out could be thrown out of the church.” That same day, on CBSNEWS.com, the report said, “For decades, priests in this country abused children in parish after parish while their supervisors covered it all up. Now it turns out the orders for this cover up were written in Rome at the highest levels of the Vatican.” The 1962 document had nothing to do with any purported cover up. It dealt specifically with solicitations that a priest might make in the confessional to a penitent. It prescribed penalties for any priests who, “whether by words or signs or nods of the head” might convey a sexual advance. The ultimate penalty—being tossed from the priesthood—was possible. After the Catholic League complained to Jim Murphy, executive producer of the CBS Evening News, he responded that CBS stood by the report. No other major news organization reported on this document. The Boston Herald, one of the only newspapers to report on it, dismissed most of CBS’s accusations.

August 28
New York, NY—At the MTV Video Music Awards, host Chris Rock said “Our next presenter is being sued by more people than the Catholic Church. Give it up for P. Diddy!”

November 6
On Comedy Central’s “The Man Show,” members of the cast were dressed as Catholic bishops and nuns in a combination of black clerical garb, nightgowns and lingerie. They engaged in a parody of the Sacraments of Baptism and Penance.

December 25
New York, NY—WCBS-TV aired a story about a menorah that was vandalized on Christmas Eve in Pearl River, NY. In the course of the story, reporter Lou Young mentioned “the menorah shares the small park here with a nativity scene and a Christmas tree in a town that is heavily Irish Catholic.” He also said, “It is probably worth noting that there are a half-dozen bars within a hundred yards of this park. That by way of explanation, not an excuse.” He also said, “Last month it was a statue of Jesus Christ in nearby Monsey that was knocked over and destroyed at St. Zita’s Convent there.” There was no mention of who lived in that neighborhood. After the Catholic League registered a complaint with the station, the news director Diane Doctor and the reporter, Lou Young, both apologized for the report.

INTERNET

January
Poynter.org is a website that journalists tap into for information. It puts in one spot news accounts on select subjects that have been collected from around the country. Since 2002 it has featured a section called “Clergy Abuse Tracker”; information on the clergy—from any religion—implicated in sexual abuse is to be found in this spot. It failed to report some highly notable cases of clergy abuse committed by non-Catholic clergymen; it never fails to catch a priest who was in the news. Matthew Hale made a front-page section of the Chicago Tribune for his appearance in a federal courthouse on charges of soliciting the murder of a federal judge. Hale is not only one of the nation’s most notorious white supremacists, he is also the head of the World Church of the Creator. Poynter, however, failed to list this story. Two days before Poynter excluded the story on Hale, it included a story on Galileo.

January 26
Hilary Brown and Matt McGarry wrote an article for ABCNews.com titled “Ireland’s Dirty Laundry: Wounds Still Fresh For Thousands of Women Enslaved by the Catholic Church.” It was about the Magdalene Laundries in Ireland, which were homes for delinquent girls. The article included statements like: “Over a period of 150 years an estimated 30,000 women were forced into this brutal penance”; “There have been no direct reparations from the Irish Catholic Church to the tens of thousands of women it used as slave labor. Nor has there been a formal apology.”

November 22
The news satire website brokennewz.com had an article by William Grim called “Catholic Church Confers Sainthood Upon Michael Jackson.” It was accompanied by a picture of Jackson in a priest’s cassock wearing a large cross. It stated that “John Cardinal Ratzinger [sic], chairman of the powerful Congregation of the Preservation of the Faith [sic],” conferred sainthood on Jackson. Cardinal Ratzinger is quoted as saying, “When we took a look at his record of personal ministry to young boys with soft skin and supple bodies we all said ‘He’s one of us.’ And I think it is fitting that Saint Michael will be the patron saint of plastic surgeons and child molesters.”

BOOKS

May
Revelation: Representations of Christ in Photography was published by Merrell Books. Nissan N. Perez, the curator of the Israel Museum, wrote the introduction. He wrote that the 195 illustrations range from the “sacred” to the “profane.” Nissan claimed that unlike secular art, the prime function of artistic expression in the Catholic Church has been to stifle independent thought. Works from the Dada and Surrealist movements (which Perez says were united in their “call for the eradication of all organized religion”) are included in the book. Many of them are pornographic. Included are Georges Hugnet’s “The Last Supper,” which featured a woman performing fellatio on a man standing in front of Jesus and his disciples at the Last Supper.

June 12
Peoria, IL—The Catholic Conference of Illinois, representing the bishops of the state, issued a statement about the popular Left Behind series of books by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. Mostly dealing with the Protestant concept of the “rapture” of Christians at the end of time, the books were called a “thinly disguised polemic against the Catholic Church.” The statement continued that the series is “anti-Catholic in content and form,” especially in its depiction of the pope establishing a new world order with the Antichrist.

September 9
The Catholic Girl’s Guide to Sex by Melinda Anderson and Kathleen Murray was published by Random House. The book claims to be a humorous look at Catholic sexuality. The back of the book contains a section for further reading called “Beyond the Bible.” Under the subcategory “For Better Sex” is listed a website described as “Sex toys for fallen Catholics only.”

VIDEO GAMES

May
A PC video game, “Postal 2,” the sequel to “Postal,” was released by Running With Scissors, Inc. The new action game allows the player to be “Postal Dude,” a character who kills anything in sight. The player can blow a priest’s head off with a shotgun and kick the bleeding head around the street like a soccer ball. It is also possible to wait in line for confession or kill everyone, including the priest, in the church.

Gays and lesbians can be killed (there is a “Fag Hunter” arcade), cops can be decapitated, Muslims can be shot, dogs can be set on fire and kittens can have their rectums blown to bits. It is also possible to urinate in a person’s mouth and watch him vomit.

Weapons of choice are abundant: shovels, tazers, rotting cow heads, pistols, shotguns, gasoline cans, rocket launchers, napalm launchers, Molotov cocktails, grenades, rifles, scissors, etc.

January 4
Philadelphia, PA—The 2003 New Year’s Day Mummers Parade was to include a “parody” of the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church. To be performed by the Slick Duck Comic Brigade, it was to feature men dressed as priests and young men dressed as altar boys; cops were to be shown chasing after the priests. The parade was funded by the City of Philadelphia. WPHL, the station that was to televise the parade, announced in advance that it would not show the skit. The general manager of the station, Leslie Glenn, rightly dubbed this display “disgusting.” After public complaints were made by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, the Diocese of Camden, NJ and the Catholic League, the skit was dropped from the parade.

January 12
Newark, NJ—Vandals damaged three statues in the courtyard of St. Patrick’s Pro-Cathedral.

January 13
Los Angeles, CA—Actress Salma Hayek, who starred in the movie “Frida,” about bisexual Frida Kahlo, said, “I am a big advocate for the gay community. I think the church is not fair to women in general. How come a woman cannot be a priest? And I disapprove of their lack of acceptance of gay people as equals. I think that most gay women in Mexico won’t come out because it’s difficult on them. It’s very bad. I am very angry about the way gay people are treated around the world. I think religion has a lot to do with it. I think that God doesn’t make any differences—I think that we are all loved by God the same. He has accepted gay people. It’s part of creation but it’s a lot easier to judge than to learn.”

January 14
Newark, NJ—13 statues were damaged by vandals at St. Lucy’s Church.

January 15
Brooklyn, NY—A sign on Immaculate Heart of Mary church property was defaced. The sign read: “Abortion Stops A Human Heart From Beating…4000 Times A Day.” The word “bigot” was spray-painted in red on the sign.

January 17
Newark, NJ—The right hand of a statue of the Sacred Heart was smashed off by vandals at the Cathedral-Basilica of the Sacred Heart.

January 18
Newark, NJ—A statue of St. Michael the Archangel was decapitated by vandals outside St. Michael’s Hospital.

January 23
Brooklyn, NY—For the second time in a month, Immaculate Heart of Mary parish was vandalized because of its pro-life stance. One hundred metal hangers were thrown about the bushes in front of the rectory. A sign reading, “Happy 30th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade” was placed on the rectory door. It was signed, “local feminists.”

February 28
Port Jefferson, NY—A 20 year-old man stole a crucifix from Infant Jesus Church. He was arrested while walking down Route 25A carrying the large wooden crucifix.

March 28
Baton Rouge, LA—A man vandalized St. Joseph’s Cathedral, doing $10,000 in damage. Damaged were a marble sanctuary stand, statues of St. Joseph and St. Peter, the altar cloth, the celebrant’s chair, a flagpole, an alms jar, marble holy water fonts and candles. The man told workers at the cathedral that it was a “house of Satan and that he wanted to kill all Catholics.” The same man vandalized St. Bridget’s Church in Schriever the same day.

April 13
Hartford, CT—Members of the Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church protested outside St. Patrick-St. Anthony Church during Palm Sunday Mass. They claimed the parish supports same-sex marriages. Margie Phelps, daughter of Fred Phelps (who founded the Westboro group) yelled at parishioners, “Don’t bring your children in there to be molested! Read a newspaper, people!”

April 16
An anonymous writer sent a letter to the Catholic League criticizing a reference in Catalyst that referred to Divine assistance for Catholics. The writer states: “The Catholic Church is going to need a LOT of help from someone when GOD discusses the things you people put out in the name of GOD. The Bible fully explains GOD’s view of human behavior and what he expects from ALL of us. This book did not require re-writing to fit the Catholic point of view.” The letter was signed, “A Baptist concerned for your souls.”

May 1
Rockford, IL—Vandals spray-painted “Catholics will die,” derogatory statements about the Blessed Mother, and phrases in praise of Satan on the side of Boylan High School. The graffiti also included gang symbols, lewd phrases, pornographic symbols and the names of two female students. Local police classified it a hate crime.

May 3
Pascagoula, MS—Our Lady of Victories and Resurrection Catholic School were vandalized. Forty-seven glass windowpanes, nine glass and two screen doors, the chapel door, and candle vases and holders were damaged.

May 22
Omaha, NE—Police recovered the 40-pound head of a statue of St. Thomas More taken by a 16 year-old boy from the front of a church by that name. It was the second time in two years that the head was stolen.

May 24
Chicago, IL—The January-March 2003 newsletter of the Alamo Christian Ministries was found in local mailboxes. It included excerpts from Tony Alamo’s book, The Messiah. Alamo claims the Church is ruled by the Antichrist and “has been preaching a Jesus and a God who do not exist.” And, “Rome uses its influence over politicians to create war and rumors of war.…” He concludes, “These truthful statements have been made for centuries by millions of Roman Catholic defectors, including priests, nuns and laity, from what they call the wicked and demonic Roman Catholic religion.”

June 4
Bakersfield, CA—A massive coordinated attack shut down Catholic Online, the world’s largest Catholic Internet network, for 12 hours. More than 1,000 websites were affected, including that of the Catholic League.

June 7
Altoona, PA—Security guards were provided for the ordination of a priest for the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown. The priest had received hate mail along with two other priests of the diocese, demanding they leave the priesthood or “face the consequences.” The priests were known as critics of the diocesan policies on abortion, liturgy and homosexuality.

July 15
Roseville, MN—Two Roseville police officers noticed that a woman injured in an automobile accident called her priest before going to the hospital, and they questioned her about her religion. She was unable to lock her car doors, but the police promised to do so for her. When she returned from the hospital, she found two anti-Catholic Chick Publications tracts inside her locked car.

July 20
An anonymous writer sent a series of e-mails to the Catholic League, with such messages as “F— OFF BACK TO THE VATICAN, YOU CHILD-RAPING SODOMITES,” “F— THE POPE,” “F— THE NUNS,” and “F— THE ROMAN CATHOLIC NAZI SODOMITE CHURCH.”

July 26
Middletown, NJ—A group of teens charged with twice vandalizing St. Catherine’s Church were found to be members of a hate group, calling themselves Agnostic Neo-Nazis.

July 31
A torrent of hate mail was sent to the Catholic League in response to the Pope’s statement reaffirming the Church’s teachings on marriage. A few examples are as follows: “Why do you not keep your hands of [sic] the genitals of 12 year olds instead of speaking on gay marriages?”; “Who are they, the frikken’ Catholic Church, bastion of perpetual inhumanity and blatant subjugation of historically poor, uneducated peasants, to cast aspersions against those who overpopulate their own rectories?”

August 23
Lebanon, PA—Vandals spray-painted “kill the pope” on a wall of St. Mary’s Catholic Church.

August 24
New York, NY—In an interview with Deborah Solomon of the New York Times, tennis star Martina Navratilova was asked about gay marriage. She replied, “So many distinguished priests were part of the antiwar movement. And look at them now! You see the Catholic Church denouncing gay marriage when they have been doing worse in their own church. And never mind how they behaved during World War II! The Holocaust didn’t bother them. But gay marriage bothers them. I think they should clean their own house before telling me how to clean mine.” When asked if she was a “lapsed Catholic,” Navratilova replied, “I am not any religion. I don’t know if my mother is Catholic or not.”

August 25
New York, NY—Three weeks after the theft of a donation box from a votive candle rack at the Church of the Holy Cross, thieves made off with a 200-lb. plaster statue of Christ, which they removed from a crucifix.

August 28
New York, NY—New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind held a press conference outside News Corp. headquarters demanding that 20th Century Fox not distribute Mel Gibson’s film “The Passion of the Christ” Catholic League president William Donohue attended. A rabbi from Brooklyn charged that the story of the Passion was pornographic. When Donohue asked him if he was saying the Gospels were pornographic, he backed down. But then the rabbi told Donohue that he would hold him personally responsible if violence broke out. Donohue responded by saying, “I’ll be no more responsible than if violence broke out against Germans after you show a film on the Holocaust.”

September 1
East Alton, IL—St. Kevin’s Church and School were vandalized. The school was forced to close with $20,000 in damage. Statues and windows were broken, graffiti written in classrooms, the church’s altar was urinated on, and a life-size statue of the Blessed Mother was thrown down a stairway and broken. Non-religious items in the school were ignored.

September 6
Walnut Creek, CA—The Contra Costa Times published answers from readers to the question, “Where should sex offenders go?” Out of seven replies, four said either the Catholic Church or Vatican City: “The Vatican has a very long history of harboring pedophiles, so that way they would be among their own kind. Another thing, it’s the only place on the planet where there are no children. Except, of course, for their wall carvings and frescos, and they would probably enjoy them.” ; “I then thought who is most tolerant of child molesting predators? Hands down, the Catholic Church. There have been thousands of victims, hundreds, if not thousands of violators worldwide and more than a billion people still belong to this group.”; “Oh, but they might want to attend the Pope’s ‘World Youth Day.’ That’s the event the Pope himself came up with; it’s really a 10-day gathering of many priests with little ones in tow, many from Third World countries, without their parents. The pope says he loves children, and if the chief priest tells you he loves children, we should believe him. So, the Vatican would be all right; right?”

September 16
The Catholic League received a volume of hate mail and calls in response to its ad “Why are the Democrats Insulting Catholics?” on the op-ed page of the New York Times. Some examples are: “Its [sic] good to see that you are putting resources towards insignificant issues, rather that[sic] accepting responsibility for the culture of raping and torturing young boys.”; “You are superstitious, self-righteous, obnoxious, and hypocritical a–holes.”; “What I choose for my body is my business and GODS. [sic] Not yours. You sanctimonious pieces of crap.”; “Stop trying to force your vindictive and cruel ‘god’ on the free peoples of this world. More humans have been killed in the name of god than any other cause. (the inquisition, crusades etc.)”; “The Pope should mind his own business and stay out of US politics. The Church is rotting from the inside and the Pope is responsible.”

September 16
Columbus, OH—The Ohio Supreme Court threw out victims’ lawyer Jay Milano’s request that the Ohio Supreme Court disqualify any Catholic judge from presiding over his lawsuit against the Diocese of Cleveland. Milano sued the diocese for racketeering. Milano maintained that from the day Catholic youngsters enter a parochial school, they are taught that an attack on their Church is an attack on God.

“We believe it is too much to ask any judge to rule against their God, their diocese, their church and their bishops.” On September 5, William Donohue wrote to Jonathan Coughlan, Office of Disciplinary Counsel of the Ohio Supreme Court, seeking disciplinary action against him. Disciplinary Rule 1-102 of the Ohio Code of Professional Responsibility dealing with discrimination is the operative provision.

October 7
Savannah, GA—An armed man entered the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist and set fire to the bishop’s chair and the pulpit before being arrested by a SWAT team. The pulpit was badly damaged, and columns and walls nearby sustained smoke damage. When arrested the man responsible made a “statement” expressing his opposition to organized religion.

October 10
After William Donohue appeared on NBC’s “Today” to discuss a Vatican official who said that condoms do not completely protect against the AIDS virus, the Catholic League received a large amount of feedback. Some examples: “As with most Church propoganda [sic], it’s based on religious dogma which may have been appropriate 600 years ago when ghastly diseases were ravaging Europe.”; “Is this the very morality that forbade church officials from reporting pedophile priests?”; “If your religion really cared about third world countries you would cash in your VAST WEALTH and put it to use healing and helping those people.”; “You really think that god’s [sic] will is being served here? You think you f—ing morons have any idea what god’s will is? You met him lately? No, you heven’t[sic]. Nobody has. You, the f—ing pope, what a joke.”; “Thanks again for reinforcing that fact the Catholicism is a joke.”; “The Catholic Church is a fossil, a relic from the Dark Ages. People are not as stupid as they have been in the past. Your Hocus Pocus Mumbo Jumbo in churches every Sunday is losing its grip all over the world.”; “Well, if the morality of the catholic church [sic] involves pedophilia and covering up such acts by it’s[sic] priests, then the rest of the world has a lot of catching up to do.”

October 14
Sacramento, CA—Loretto Catholic High School was vandalized with graffiti that read “Die Catholic F——.” There were also pictures of genitalia and marijuana smokers. The damage was estimated at $3,100. Police investigated the vandalism as a hate crime.

October 24
Bellerose, NY—A statue of the Blessed Mother that had been on the lawn of a private house for 30 years was removed and thrown onto a neighboring lawn and damaged. The owners repaired the damage and put the statue back. Three days later the statue was again removed and thrown onto another lawn. This time it was damaged beyond repair. The police investigated the incident as a bias crime.

October 25
St. Paul, MN—Calvary Cemetery, the oldest Catholic cemetery in the city, was vandalized. Ninety headstones were toppled or smashed. Damage was estimated at $25,000.

November 2
Santa Ana, CA—Vandals stole a crucifix from Our Lady of La Vang Church and threw a statue of Jesus into the bushes. Within days the crucifix was replaced, and then it was stolen again.

November 6
Elkhart, IN—Roman Catholic families said that the Faith Mission, a Protestant homeless shelter, took away their rosaries and prayer books and refused to allow them to attend Mass. The director of development for the mission said that a staff member recently apologized to some Catholic clients for comments they found offensive.

November 6
Santa Ana, CA—At St. Barbara’s Church, vandals toppled an outdoor statue of the Blessed Mother, punched a hole in the sanctuary wall, broke windows and smeared feces on the faces of statues inside the church.

November 21
Garden Grove, CA—At St. Callistus Church a pew was set on fire.

November 22
Monsey, NY—At the convent of St. Zita’s Villa, a 40-year-old statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was toppled from its pedestal and heavily damaged.

December 9
Kalamazoo, MI—The city’s nativity scene in Bronson Park was destroyed by arson.

December 20
Manhattan Beach, NY—Vandals destroyed two statues of the Magi in the nativity scene outside of St. Margaret Mary Church.

December 22
Long Beach, NY—A sign saying, “Merry Christmas, Feliz Navidad and Happy Chanukah,” which was displayed for 15 years outside of St. Mary of the Isle Church, was torn down and stolen.

December 22
Sarasota, FL—A homeowners association told a family to remove a three-foot tall statue of the Blessed Mother from their front lawn that they had placed there a year before. The association said it violates deed restrictions, however the association’s covenant does not mention statues. The family refused to remove the statue.

December 27
Plainview, NY—A statue of the Infant Jesus was stolen from the nativity scene outside of St. Pius X Church. It was later found lying in a gutter.

December 31
New York, NY—The Infant Jesus statue was stolen from a nativity scene outside of St. Anthony of Padua Church.

The following is a list of some of the more incendiary remarks made in 2003 about the Mel Gibson movie, “The Passion of the Christ.” We do not maintain that it is anti-Catholic to criticize a film, even before it has been released, but we do contend that the hostility to Gibson and to his work is unseemly. The campaign against him has been ruthless, and that is why the Catholic League mounted a counter-offensive.

Organizational Responses

Ad Hoc Committee of Catholic and Jewish Scholars

The Jewish Week (NY), December 26, 2003; Father John T. Pawlikowski, Director of the Catholic-Jewish Studies Program, Catholic Theological Union:
[Fr. Pawlikowski, who has continuously responded to prelates’ endorsements of the film by demanding nothing short of papal approval, now comments on the pope’s approval of the film.] “…It is important to understand that this is hardly a magisterial pronouncement from the Pope that is above critique. I remain, as do others, very skeptical as to whether this ailing Pope was fully briefed about the concerns we and others have expressed.” [emphasis added]

The Jewish Week (NY), December 26, 2003; Michael Cook, Professor of Judaeo-Christian Studies, Hebrew Union College:
“The issue, I submit, is not Mel Gibson’s movie at all but the future of Catholic-Jewish trust. Either the Vatican and/or the bishops are not tuned into this reality, or they don’t care, or they do care but Jews are simply not as high on the priority list as Jews had hoped.

“The question to be posed to the Bishops and the Vatican and the Pope is not, ‘Say, is the movie great, or what?’ but rather, ‘If this film poses the threat of unraveling five decades of advances in Christian-Jewish relations, then what shall we say about it in that light?’

“In their own sense of abandonment, Jews may very well abandon the venture of Catholic-Jewish understanding [and turn toward Evangelicals] …a move I predict has already begun to spread nationwide.

“As many have said to me, ‘You know, it’s just like what happened to us in the Six-Day War. Evangelicals may want to end us by converting us, but at least they won’t abandon us.'”

Cybercast News Service, November 7, 2003; Sister Mary C. Boys, Professor of Practical Theology, Union Theological Seminary:
“I don’t believe that [given the divisive] result that he [Mel Gibson] could claim that the Holy Spirit is behind this. …

“Our concern is what happens after people see the film? Will anti-Semitic actions happen or will attitudes against the Jews be exacerbated by this film?”

Cybercast News Service, November 7, 2003; Paula Fredriksen, Professor of the Appreciation of Scripture, Boston University:
“Paula Fredriksen … believes Gibson’s production will prove to be “an inflammatory movie.’ …

“Fredriksen said the movie continues the ‘toxic tradition of blaming the Jews for the death of Jesus.

“‘A movie like this could very possibly elicit violence against Jews.'”

National Catholic Register, October 5, 2003; “The Passion: Still a Sign of Contradiction,” by Barbara R. Nicolosi:
“One of the scholars who started all the controversy by publicly lambasting an early version of the screenplay told me emphatically, ‘The New Testament is undeniably anti-Semitic.'”

The New Republic, September 29, 2003; Correspondence by Paula Fredriksen:
“I am still counting on the people in the pew who, when they view Gibson’s movie, will not recognize any gospel known to them.”

The Jewish Week (NY), September 19, 2003; Sister Mary C. Boys:
“‘One of the problems is people are going to see this film and are going to conclude that’s the way it is because they don’t know anything different, it’s part of the religious illiteracy in our country,’ Sister Boys said. ‘We really have to find ways to educate them about interpreting Scripture more thoughtfully.'”

The Times Union (NY), September 19, 2003; Sister Mary C. Boys:
“‘It’s not understanding,’ she said of Gibson’s script. ‘He wouldn’t know a scholar if he ran into one.'”

The New Yorker, September 15, 2003; Paula Fredriksen:
“He [Mel Gibson] doesn’t even have a Ph.D. on his staff.”

The Evangelist (Diocese of Albany, NY), September 11, 2003; Sister Mary C. Boys:
“The average Christian goes to see this film, which is going to be incredibly graphic, and [thinks] the people that do this to Jesus are the Jews. This does not do well for Christian-Jewish relations.”

National Public Radio, “All Things Considered,” September 3, 2003; Sister Mary C. Boys:
“Will this film exacerbate divisions between Christians and Jews? Will this film exacerbate differences between traditionalist Catholics and those who see themselves more in the mainstream? Will this film exacerbate divisions between, say, Catholics and evangelicals? And I think if it does any of those, then I find it difficult to believe that the Holy Spirit is at work.”

Philadelphia Inquirer, August 21, 2003; Paula Fredriksen:
“There is no plot, no character development, no subtlety. The bad guys are way bad, the good guys are way good.”

Associated Press, August 9, 2003; Sister Mary C. Boys:
“For too many years, Christians have accused Jews of being Christ-killers and used that charge to rationalize violence…. This is our fear.”

Kansas City Star, August 9, 2003; Sister Mary C. Boys:
“Our fear is that if the film is based on the script we read—which is possible but not necessarily the case—it could promote anti-Semitic sentiments.”

Beliefnet.com, August 7, 2003; Amy-Jill Levine, Professor of New Testament Studies, Vanderbilt University:
“I don’t know if the film is anti-Semitic—I have only seen a version of the script—but the reaction to the scholars’ objections could be interpreted as anti-Semitic. …

“Alas, fidelity, accuracy, and sensitivity were all lacking in the script I saw for Mr. Gibson’s production.”

ABC, “Good Morning America,” August 5, 2003; Paula Fredriksen:
“I don’t plan to pay money to see it. He’s gotten enough of my time for free already.”

Fox News Network, “The O’Reilly Factor,” August 5, 2003; Paula Fredriksen:
“And if you then say that the entire incentive for the action is at the motivation of the chief priest, and that the chief priest is leaning on Pilate, so that Pilate is very anxious, of course, to keep his Jewish subjects happy—I mean, it’s a colonial power. Pilot doesn’t have to run his office on popularity.

“Then you can foreground and overemphasizing you can foreground and overemphasize and distort [sic], and end up having all the heavy lifting done by the Jewish high priest and having it, it ends up being a fight between Judaism and Christianity.”

MSNBC, “Buchanan & Press,” August 4, 2003; Paula Fredriksen:
“I think it’s inflammatory.”

New York Times, August 2, 2003; Sister Mary C. Boys:
“When we read the screenplay, our sense was this wasn’t really something you could fix. All the way through, the Jews are portrayed as bloodthirsty. We’re really concerned that this could be one of the great crises in Christian-Jewish relations.”

New York Times, August 2, 2003; Father John T. Pawlikowski:
“This was one of the worst things we had seen in describing responsibility for the death of Christ in many many years.”

The New Republic, July 28, 2003 – August 4, 2003, “Mad Mel,” by Paula Fredriksen:
“We knew that we were working against his [Mel Gibson’s] enthusiasm, his utter lack of knowledge….

“Jews are the objects of anti-Semitism, but Catholics and other Christians, inspired by Gibson’s movie, could well become its agents. (Indeed, on the evidence of the anti-Semitic hate mail that we have all received since being named as critics of Gibson’s screenplay, this response is already in play.) …

“When violence breaks out, Mel Gibson will have a much higher authority than professors and bishops to answer to.” [emphasis added]

“Dramatizing the Death of Jesus: Issues that Have Surfaced in Media Reports about the Upcoming Film, ‘The Passion'”; by Mary C. Boys, Philip A. Cunningham, Lawrence E. Frizzell, John T. Pawlikowski, June 17, 2003:
“We understood from the outset of our review of the script that our report did not represent an official statement of the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops….

“Anyone who composes a script for a dramatic presentation of the death of Jesus must draw upon four distinct passion narratives in the four gospels in the New Testament. One cannot assume that by simply conforming to the New Testament that antisemitism [sic] will not be promoted.”

New York Post, June 13, 2003; Paula Fredriksen:
“Jesus was Jewish. But with this story, it’s easy to forget.”

The Jewish Week, March 28, 2003; Sister Mary Boys:
“As a member of the Catholic Church, I regard his [Mel Gibson’s] thinking as bizarre and dangerous, and suggest that Jews judge them similarly. …

“We seem to have at best fringe Catholics if not heretical with … a tragically twisted understanding of the relationship between Judaism and Christianity. It is compounded by the arrogance great wealth makes possible in producing a film that will reopen wounds of history.”

The Jewish Week, March 28, 2003; Michael Cook:
“Gibson’s film may reverse progress the Christian community has made [in reinterpreting anti-Jewish New Testament passages]. …

“Were Jesus today to witness the hatred exuded and directed against fellow Jews by this film, might Jesus not construe the theaters showing it as modern ‘temples’ most in need of his cleansing?”

The Jewish Week, March 28, 2003; Rev. John Pawlikowski:
“Those who might see the film without much or any background in recent biblical interpretation will be terribly misled.”

American Jewish Committee

Forward, September 26, 2003; Rabbi David Rosen, director of interreligious affairs:
“This is distressing because there is a battle between the more traditional and the more liberal wings within the Catholic Church, and the relationship with the Jewish community has become a football in this fight.”

The Jewish Week (NY), August 15, 2003; Rabbi James Rudin, senior interreligious adviser:
“I came away very troubled because this movie as it stands has the potential to harm Christian-Jewish relations in many parts of the world.”

Christian Science Monitor (MA), July 10, 2003; Rabbi James Rudin:
“Given that this is radioactive material—that’s the only way I can describe it—I’m urging Mr. Gibson to follow what others have done and consult prior to release.”

Anti-Defamation League

Cybercast News Service, November 7, 2003; Abraham Foxman, National Director:
“I think he’s infected—seriously infected—with some very, very serious anti-Semitic views. … [Gibson’s] got classical anti-Semitic views. …

“Hate crimes [against Jews] go up Easter week worldwide [because in many Christian churches] the sermon is given about the passion.”

Associated Press, September 19, 2003; Abraham Foxman:
“[Mel Gibson] entertains views that can only be described as anti-Semitic.'”

Daily News (NY), September 19, 2003; Abraham Foxman:
“We’ve been getting mail—ugly, ugly mail. If the debate has evoked such hate, what will that film do?

“[Mel Gibson]’s painting a portrait of an anti-Semite. This is anti-Semitic stereotyping.”

Daily Variety, September 19, 2003; Abraham Foxman:
“Foxman, who has requested to see but not yet screened the film, said of [Cardinal Hoyos’s praise for the film]: ‘It makes the film worse, more damaging, more threatening because what we thought we had eliminated with Vatican II is coming back in a film.’

“Foxman also charged that Castrillon Hoyos was attempting to appease traditionalist Catholics. ‘It seems to be a conscious policy to bring them closer at our expense,’ he said. …

“‘I guess we should now take this up with Rome,’ Foxman said.”

The Jewish Week, September 19, 2003; Abraham Foxman:
“‘When you put those things together [Mel Gibson’s statements],’ said Foxman, ‘that is a portrait of an anti-Semite. To me this is classic anti-Semitism.'”

Minnesota Public Radio, “Marketplace,” September 9, 2003; Abraham Foxman:
“Can you imagine, if this film is not changed and it begins to play around the world, what—what it may possibly trigger?”

Daily News (NY), September 7, 2003; Abraham Foxman:
“I think [Gibson] is on the fringes of anti-Semitism.”

National Public Radio, “All Things Considered,” September 3, 2003; Abraham Foxman:
“He said such things as he now understands what Jesus Christ felt like; he understands what it means to be persecuted. Well, finish that sentence. By whom? Or he says this will probably be the last film he’s permitted to make. Well, who’s going to stop him? It’s unstated. Or he made this film and at a tremendous cost, but for some this is a great opportunity to make money. And again, he’s talking about Jews, Jewish organizations.”

Houston Chronicle, August 18, 2003; letter by Mark S. Finkelstein, chair, Anti-Defamation League, Southwest Region, Houston:
“It [the film] threatens to set back the decades of progress that has been made in inter-faith relations between Christians and Jews since the Holocaust.”

Philadelphia Inquirer, August 13, 2003; Abraham Foxman:
“[If Gibson’s] message was tainted, [the movie] is dangerous. He is an icon. People will see this film without a guide, without their priest.'”

Anti-Defamation League Press Release, August 11, 2003; Abraham Foxman:
“We are deeply concerned that the film, if released in its present form, will fuel the hatred, bigotry and anti-Semitism that many responsible churches have worked hard to repudiate….
“We hope that Mr. Gibson and Icon Productions will consider modifying ‘The Passion,’ so that the film will be one that is historically accurate, theologically sound and free of any anti-Semitic message.”

Anti-Defamation League Press Release, August 11, 2003; Rabbi Eugene Korn, ADL Director of Interfaith Affairs:
“Many theologically informed Catholics and Protestants have expressed the same concerns regarding anti-Semitism, and that this film may undermine Christian-Jewish dialogue and could turn back the clock on decades of positive progress in interfaith relations.”

The Sun (NY), August 4, 2003; Op-Ed, by Abraham Foxman:
“In a world when anti-Semitism has undergone a frightening resurgence, one of the hopeful perspectives is the fact that the Church has changed so dramatically. We urge the makers of ‘The Passion’ to continue this important progress that has benefited Christians and Jews.”

Washington Post, July 22, 2003; Abraham Foxman:
“I find this sad. … Here’s a man who appeals to the mass audience, but he feels he has to surround himself with a cordon sanitaire of people who back him theologically and maybe ideologically and will stand up and be supportive when the time comes.”

Christian Science Monitor (MA), July 10, 2003; Abraham Foxman:
“We don’t have the arrogance to say, ‘You should make these changes,’ or to censor it…. We’d just like an opportunity to sensitize him [Mel Gibson] about what history has taught us.”

New York Post, June 21, 2003; Letter, Ken Jacobson, Associate National Director:
“We have good reason to be seriously concerned about Gibson’s plans to retell the Passion. Historically, the Passion—the story of the killing of Jesus—has resulted in the death of Jews.”

Daily News (NY), June 14, 2003; Myrna Shinbaum, spokeswoman: 
“‘Historically, treatment of the death of Jesus and the passion has led to the death of Jews,’ ADL spokeswoman Myrna Shinbaum said. ‘Since Vatican II in the 1960s, Catholics and Jews have worked very hard to move away from a literal interpretation [of the New Testament]. We would hope this film wouldn’t set us back.'”

The Jewish Week (NY), March 28, 2003; Abraham Foxman: 
“It’s very serious. … The ‘truth’ he [Mel Gibson] is talking about has been used for 2,000 years to buttress anti-Semitism and to give a rationale for persecuting Jews.”

Simon Wiesenthal Center

Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, August 24, 2003; Rabbi Marvin Hier, Dean: 
“It’s a headache we don’t need. …
“Now since the Romans are not here anymore, if you’re upset with how Jesus died, there’s only one people left to blame—and that’s the Jews.”

CNN, “CNN Live Sunday,” August 10, 2003; Rabbi Marvin Hier:
“Jews have a right to be concerned. We’re the ones that paid the bill in the last 20 centuries for the false charge of deicide causing millions of deaths.”
Forward (NY), August 8, 2003; Letter by Harold Brackman, Consultant:
“It is Christians who bear the responsibility, after 2,000 years of religious-inspired anti-Semitism, to inhibit rather than inflame the excesses of their own haters. When filmmakers with a Christological agenda fail to accept this responsibility, the blood that may result is indeed on their hands.”

Newsday (NY), July 22, 2003; Rabbi Marvin Hier: 
“This is a story for which millions of people throughout history paid with their lives. They were burned at the stake, killed in pogroms and the Inquisition, and it was also these ideas that served as the foundation of the Holocaust.”

Los Angeles Times, June 22, 2003; “Mel’s Passion; Gibson’s making a film on Jesus worries some Jews,” by Rabbi Marvin Hier and Harold Brackman: 
“Any film about such a sensitive subject would set off alarm bells. But a film by Gibson is particularly alarming. …
“At this tinderbox moment in our new century, we need to be especially careful about a movie that has the potential to further ignite ancient hatreds.”

MSNBC, “Scarborough Country,” June 11, 2003; Rabbi Marvin Hier:
Joe Scarborough, host: “Rabbi, if you read the four gospels—do the four gospels in the New Testament say about the crucifixion of Jesus?”

Rabbi Marvin Hier: “Well, first, let me go right to the point. That’s a lot of nonsense. Let me say…”

Scarborough: “What’s a lot of nonsense?”

Heir: “That the Jews—first of all, crucifixion is illegal according to Jewish law. According to (UNINTELLIGIBLE) law…”

Scarborough: “What’s a lot of nonsense, though?”

Heir: “To blame the—Christ was crucified. Crucifixion is not a Jewish method of punishment. Secondly, the event occurred on Passover night. If you could get one Rabbi to leave his Seder to participate in a judgment on Passover night, it would be like getting the Supreme Court to convene in the United States for a night trial. It is simply impossible.”

Rabbinical Alliance of America

Jerusalem Post, September 12, 2003; Letter by Rabbi Abraham B. Hecht and Rabbi Joshua S. Hecht, Rabbinical Alliance of America:
“The Rabbinical Alliance of America, representing the united voice of 500 Orthodox rabbis serving Jewish communities throughout North America, strongly opposes The Passion, produced by actor and director Mel Gibson.
“The message of this movie—as widely reported by the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles and by others who have reviewed the film—is highly problematic for its historical inaccuracy and its message of intolerance and overt anti-Semitic overtones.”

Commentary

Columnists

The State (SC), November 20, 2003; “Pass on Gibson’s Passion,” by Rabbi Marc Howard Wilson:
“The wacky perspective of a wacko Catholic will certainly not change their [Jewish] minds.”

Village Voice (NY), November 7, 2003; “Mel Gibson’s Jesus Christ Pose,” by Jessica Winter:
“It may instigate violence…”

Palm Beach Post, October 24, 2003; “Gibson’s film all about his own agenda,” by Steve Gushee:
“Sure, Mel Gibson’s film, The Passion, is probably anti-Semitic. The less obvious but more dangerous problem is that the movie about the death of Jesus is probably not Christian. …

“Any version of the Crucifixion that blatantly ignores the teaching of the church is both devious and probably servant to another agenda.

“Gibson says The Passion reflects his faith. That may well be, but it’s not Christianity.”

Philadelphia Daily News, September 24, 2003; “Jews Probably Did Do It—But So What?” by Steven Waldman:
“Christians who don’t understand Jews’ sensitivity to the misuse of Passion narratives are a bit dense. On the other hand, some of the comments from Gibson supporters smell rotten.”

New York Times, September 21, 2003; “The Greatest Story Ever Sold,” by Frank Rich:
“Clearly he [Mel Gibson] was looking for a brawl, and he hasn’t let up since. …
“What makes the unfolding saga of “The Passion” hard to ignore is not so much Mr. Gibson’s playacting fisticuffs but the extent to which his combative marketing taps into larger angers. The ‘Passion’ fracas is happening not in a vacuum but in an increasingly divided America fighting a war that many on both sides see as a religious struggle.”

Boston Globe, August 18, 2003; “Gibson’s Contentious ‘Passion,'” by Cathy Young:
“But in its own way, the attitude of some champions of ‘The Passion’ is troubling…. The biblical account of Jesus’ life and death should not be sacrificed to political correctness. But the cry of ‘political correctness’ can also become a cover for very real bigotry.”

Salon.com, August 14, 2003; “Mel Gibson vs. ‘The Jews,'” by Christopher Orlet:
“‘The Passion’ will most likely offer up the familiar puerile, stereotypical view of the evil Jew calling for Jesus’ blood and the clueless Pilate begging him to reconsider. It is a view guaranteed to stir anew the passions of the rabid Christian, and one that will send the Jews scurrying back to the dark corners of history.”

Daily News (NY), August 8, 2003; “Mel Must Act to Stem Rise of Anti-Semitism,” by Richard Chesnoff:
“We’ve come a long way in Christian-Jewish relations. But now Hollywood’s Mel Gibson threatens to set it all back—maybe 2,000 years. …

“Mostly, Gibson, an enormously popular figure, must decide whether he wants to be responsible for reviving the kind of hate-filled passions that will send other 7-year-olds running home from school, taunted by gangs calling them ‘Christ killers.'”

Los Angeles Times, August 6, 2003; “‘Passion’ shaping up as Gibson’s lethal weapon,” by Tim Rutten:
“And as the growing controversy over Gibson’s ‘The Passion’ spills more widely onto the nation’s op-ed pages, into political magazines and even into the halls of Congress, more than rhetorical bruises are likely to be suffered.

“Even in steady hands, the Passion narrative is as combustible as material can be.”

New York Times, August 3, 2003; “Mel Gibson’s Martyrdom Complex,” by Frank Rich:
“These days American Jews don’t have to fret too much about the charge of deicide—or didn’t, until Mel Gibson started directing a privately financed movie called ‘The Passion,’ about Jesus’ final 12 hours. …

“[D]amage has been done: Jews have already been libeled by Mr. Gibson’s politicized rollout of his film. His game from the start has been to foment the old-as-Hollywood canard that the ‘entertainment elite’ (which just happens to be Jewish) is gunning for his Christian movie. …

“But the real question here is why Mr. Gibson and his minions would go out of their way to bait Jews and sow religious conflict, especially at this fragile historical moment.”

Boston Globe, July 22, 2003; “Is Mel Gibson’s Film Passion for Jesus Misplaced?,” by Alex Beam:
“Whatever Gibson’s intentions, the film will be perceived as anti-Semitic, because the Christian Bible holds that Jesus was a Jewish prophet rejected and betrayed by his own people.”

New York Post, June 19, 2003; “Mel’s Cross to Bear,” by Eric Fettmann:
“Gibson’s insistence that the film ‘conforms to the narratives of Christ’s passion and death found in the four Gospels of the New Testament’ is hardly reassuring. Because, to be sure, the gospels, for various historical reasons, do paint Jews in the worst light.”

New York Post, June 13, 2003; “Mel Doesn’t Stick to the Scripture in Crime of ‘Passion,'” by Andrea Peyser:
“Gibson has said his film was to tell the true story of Jesus’ death. There is still time, Mel, to tell the truth.”

Boston Globe, April 15, 2003; “The True Horror in the Death of Jesus,” by James Carroll:
“[N]o matter how grotesque the murder of Jesus was, its ‘true horror’ lies in the way this event [the Crucifixion] became the source of hatred and murder aimed at the Jewish people. …

“Even a faithful repetition of the Gospel stories of the death of Jesus can do damage exactly because those sacred texts themselves carry the virus of Jew hatred. …

“The religious anti-Judaism of the Gospels provided soil out of which grew the racial anti-Semitism of the Holocaust. Once Christians know where the falsely anti-Jewish Passion story led, it is criminal for them to repeat it naively—whether from a pulpit or on a movie screen.”

Letters

New York Post, November 5, 2003; Letter by NY State Assemblyman Dov Hikind:
“Though spoken in Aramaic and Latin, Gibson’s film doesn’t need subtitles; it screams ‘The Jews killed Christ’ in every scene.”

New York Times, October 5, 2003; Letter:
“Mel Gibson’s ability to pervert and invert scriptural teaching while claiming to uphold it leads me to think his next movie will be a stirring account of Pope Pius XII’s life.”

Palm Beach Post, October 1, 2003; Letter:
“Cardinal Hoyos’ position goes beyond mere insensitivity. When the Cardinal supports Mr. Gibson, he assures the fact that anti-Semitism will continue to thrive and flourish.”

People, September 22, 2003; Letter:
“After the murder of 6 million Jews, the Jewish community in the United States and worldwide should be concerned about the message being sent by Mel Gibson’s film…. This dangerous revision is an insult to the memory of the Holocaust and the good Christians who have tried to make amends for the ultimate crime of anti-Semitism.”

Newsday (NY), September 18, 2003; Letter:
“Gibson’s ‘The Passion’ is ‘just’ a movie in the same way ‘The Protocols of the Elders of Zion’ is ‘just’ a book.”

Journal News (NY), September 9, 2003; Letter:
“The movie ‘Passion’ will foster intolerance toward individuals who had nothing to do with the death of Christ. … Mel Gibson reminds me of Jane Fonda’s actions during Vietnam: irresponsibility from individuals who either do not care what events result from their actions or are just too stupid to understand.”

News Stories

The Jewish Week, December 26, 2003; Michael Signer, Professor of Jewish Thought, Notre Dame University:
“It is time to admit that Catholic-Jewish relations in the United States have reached an all-time low in terms of the energy both sides are giving to the area. …

“We need to see how deep the miasma is—and Gibson’s film is just the symptom—not the cause. … By the time we get to 2005 and the 40th anniversary of Nostra Aetate…there may be nothing much to celebrate.”

New York Post, November 17, 2003; Elizabeth Castelli, Assistant Professor of Religion, Barnard College, NY:
“Jews are not fairly portrayed, especially the Jewish leadership. Their portrayal is unhistorical and drew upon Medieval stereotypes—stereotypes that have a history of inspiring violence against Jews.

“I hope those images won’t inspire it today.”

New York Post, November 17, 2003; The Rev. Mark Hallinan, S.J., St. Ignatius Loyola Church, NY:
“It doesn’t touch on the values that [Jesus] represented and that continue to be a positive force in the world today. … Unsophisticated people viewing the film will see Jews as cold, heartless people. … It’s contrary to the Gospels. … Jesus taught us not to persecute our enemies. … Don’t go to see it.”

New York Post, November 17, 2003; Rabbi Robert Levine, Vice President, New York Board of Rabbis:
“[I]would have walked out halfway through [the film]. … I was not prepared for this kind of movie. … Not knowing what Mel Gibson’s motives are, my visceral reaction was that this is a hateful treatment of Jews. It hurt me as a Jew to watch it. … It was the most appalling depiction of Jews in a film in my recollection. It was painful and inaccurate. …

“I don’t think any person of faith should put a dime in Gibson’s coffers. … This film could reopen wounds that have healed beautifully between Christian and Jews since Vatican II. … I hope no one goes to see it.”

New York Post, November 17, 2003; Lou Lumenick, New York Post film critic:
“…By literally depicting Jews as ‘Christ Killers,’ [Mel Gibson] is going down a dangerous road that most Christian leaders abandoned decades ago. Unless Gibson provides some sort of historical context, he could—as his detractors charge—be fueling anti-Semitic feelings among less sophisticated Christian audience members.”

Scripps Howard News Service, October 1, 2003:
“‘The film is dangerous for Jews all over the world,’ said Dov Hikind, a New York state assemblyman and Jewish activist. ‘I am concerned that it will lead to violence against Jews.'”

Washington Times, August 29, 2003; “Jewish leaders condemn film,” by Liz Trotta:
“‘This film can potentially lead to violence directed against the Jewish community,’ said Assemblyman Dov Hikind, an Orthodox Jew and Democrat from Brooklyn.

“‘It will result in anti-Semitism and bigotry. It really takes us back to the Dark Ages … the Inquisition, the Crusades, all for the so-called sin of the Crucifixion of Jesus.’ …

“City Councilman Simcha Felder, a Brooklyn Democrat, said it appeared that Mr. Gibson had a passion for inciting hatred and bigotry, and that his movie should go straight to the video stores instead of theaters.

“Malka Moskowitz, an elderly woman from Brooklyn wearing a straw hat, said she was a Holocaust survivor and compared the atmosphere of dispute surrounding the movie with the bloody reign of the Third Reich. ‘This is the way it started,’ she said, her voice breaking.

“A rabbi from Brooklyn called the film pornography. He told Mr. Donohue that he would be responsible if violence broke out.”

Miscellaneous

“Imus in the Morning,” September 24, 2003; Comedian Bill Maher:
“I do think Mel Gibson is anti-Semitic.”

CNN, “CNN Live Sunday,” August 31, 2003; Paul Clinton, CNN Correspondent:
“He [Mel Gibson] is a very conservative man. He is very, very religious and it’s this splinter group, this traditionalist sect of Catholicism that has everybody worried.”

August 28, 2003; sign at protest urging News Corp. not to distribute “The Passion,” New York:
“THE PASSION IS A LETHAL WEAPON AGAINST JEWS.”