When it comes to reporting what Pope Francis says about sexuality, the reaction of the mainstream media is stunning. Whenever he says something they consider ill-liberal, they simply don't report it. The cover-up continued recently when excerpts from a new book by the pope, The Strength of a Vocation, were made public. The Holy Father spoke [...]
A cardinal holds a beatification ceremony in Algeria for 19 monks, nuns and other Catholics who were killed during Algeria's civil war in the 1990s. Pope Francis addresses an international conference celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights wherein he highlights the rights of the unborn. It is not a stretch to [...]
Can religious symbols be displayed on public property? Yes, but it is a qualified yes. In December, the Catholic League erected a life-size nativity scene in Central Park, on a piece of public property in front of the Plaza Hotel, between 58th and 59th Street on 5th Avenue. We received a permit from the New York [...]
There is much ignorance about the state of the constitutional law as it applies to Christmas celebrations in the public schools. To cut to the quick—they are permitted. A Christmas play by the Minden Junior Service League, performed at Minden High School in Webster Parish, Louisiana, was recently the source of much controversy. Two of the [...]
The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) is exploring the possibility of declaring bankruptcy. How could an organization which had roughly 5.5 million members in the early 1970s, and now commands only 2.3 million, collapse so rapidly? Several factors are at work, but none are more important than the left-wing assaults on the BSA, and the role [...]
Bill Donohue On November 4, there was a front-page story in the Boston Globe alleging that more than 130 bishops, or about a third of those still living, have been accused of "failing to adequately respond to sexual misconduct in their dioceses." The news story, which was based on a study by reporters from the Globe [...]
During the 1988 presidential campaign, Bill Donohue was a Bradley Resident Scholar at The Heritage Foundation. His first book, The Politics of the American Civil Liberties Union, published in 1985, was the magnet that landed him the job. It was also a time when Michael Dukakis, the Democratic nominee for president, loudly proclaimed that he was [...]
When law enforcement agents act like bullies, justice is sundered. That's what happened last October in Michigan when police raided all seven Catholic dioceses—including the home of one bishop—in search of evidence of sexual abuse by the clergy. In late November local police, the Texas Rangers, the local D.A.'s office, and other agencies raided the Archdiocese [...]
Sexual misconduct is a ubiquitous phenomenon, sparing no institution. Moreover, it is hardly unique to our age. Yet by reading news stories this would not be so evident. They would have us believe that the Catholic Church is the worst offender. There is no evidence to support this claim. The Philadelphia Inquirer is a case in [...]
On December 19, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan released a report by her office on sexual abuse by the Catholic clergy in Illinois. Before addressing her report, consider the backdrop to her investigation. A few years ago, one teacher at a Northwestern Pennsylvania high school, Brother Stephen Baker, was reported to the authorities on grounds that [...]