The Catholic League strategy to crush Samantha Bee’s TBS show, ”Full Frontal,” is paying big dividends. As a direct result of our efforts, four major advertisers have discontinued advertising on her show: Verizon, Procter and Gamble (P&G), Wendy’s, and Ashley HomeStore.

This is a credit to all of those on our email list who contacted officials at each of the companies asking them to pull their ads.

For us, the controversy began long before Bee used an incredibly obscene word to describe the president’s daughter; her filthy outburst happened on her May 30 show.

We have been at war with Bee for years. It has gotten so bad that she once condemned Bill Donohue—flashing a picture of him on the screen. She distorted what he said so she could set up her assault.

Bee has attacked Jesus, Our Blessed Mother, Pope Francis, the College of Cardinals, bishops, priests, Catholic hospitals, and the Catholic League. Yet she remains in good standing with Turner Broadcasting, the parent company of TBS.

Perversely, the day after Bee made her vile comment about Ivanka Trump she was given an award by the Television Academy for bringing about “social change.” She sure has—she has contributed mightily to the degradation of our society.

Following her May 30 show, many of the companies that advertised on that show did not do so on her next show, June 6. Among the more prominent companies that did were Verizon and P&G. That’s when we decided to enlist our supporters asking them to email an official whose address we supplied. Donohue also wrote to the CEOs of both companies.

We were delighted to learn that neither company advertised on Bee’s show of June 13; Verizon even called us about this matter. But we noticed that her show picked up the sponsorship of Wendy’s. So we targeted the hamburger chain.

We were elated when Wendy’s did not advertise on Bee’s show of June 20. Then we set our sights on Ashley HomeStore. Within a few hours, an official from the furniture store called to say they were pulling their ads. He did not mince words. This explains why Donohue called on Catholics to patronize the store.

They ran a previous episode on June 27, and they are airing re-runs on July 4 and July 11; these shows rely on previous advertisers. Therefore, the next test is July 18: New advertisers will air on this new episode.

No reputable company should ever be associated with Samantha Bee’s show. Let’s see what happens July 18.

William J. Flynn, former chairman of Mutual of America, died on June 2. Bill Donohue attended his wake. Flynn was 91. Donohue issued the following remarks when his friend died:

“Bill will be remembered for many things, but above all it was his role in brokering peace among warring factions in Ireland in the 1990s that made him an international star.

“Over the past several years, Bill and I dined together many times, sharing our thoughts on many subjects. He was a rabid supporter of the Catholic League and a generous contributor.

“Unlike so many other persons who made it big, Bill did not have a big head. To that point, he did not go on endlessly telling stories about his accomplishments, which were many. Instead, he wanted to talk about problems facing the nation.

“Bill’s love for the Catholic Church was palpable. He did regret the diminution of its prestige in recent years, but he never got discouraged.

“His love for Ireland was also a huge part of who Bill was. He had the patience, and the determination, to engage elites on the national and international stage. And he knew how to win.

“His wife, Peg, and his two children, William K. Flynn and Maureen Welsh, will obviously miss him. But so will I, and all of those who were lucky enough to know him.”

Bill Flynn loved his country, his ancestral home, and the Catholic Church. He will be sorely missed.

When we learned that Catholic prisoners at a Massachusetts correctional facility were being denied their religious rights, we moved quickly to have them restored. They were.

In January, Bill Donohue wrote to the superintendent of a prison in Bridgewater, Massachusetts inquiring why Christmas Mass was held on December 28. He also wanted to know why several Friends and Family Masses had been cancelled, and why prison ministry volunteers were not given permission to attend these Masses.

There was also the issue of a Catholic deacon being denied the right to distribute rosaries to indigent inmates. Instead, those who wanted rosaries were told to purchase them in prison canteens, at an inflated price.

“While all of this is disturbing enough,” Donohue wrote, “we also are given to understand that there has been disparate treatment regarding those of different religious faiths. Specifically, Muslim inmates do not suffer similar restrictions or obstacles to their prayer and worship activities.”

The superintendent wrote to Donohue saying that the irregularities were due to staffing problems. Donohue wrote back asking for assurances that during Lent, and in particular Holy Week leading up to Easter, Catholic inmates would be able to avail themselves of all required services.

The good news is that the prisoners were able to secure all of their religious rights during the Easter season. We’re so happy we could help and set things straight.

The Obamacare Health and Human Services (HHS) mandate forcing Catholic non-profits to provide coverage for abortion-inducing drugs, contraception, and sterilization, was recently dealt a lethal blow by U.S. District Court Judge David Russell.

He issued a permanent injunction stopping the federal government from enforcing the mandate against the Catholic Benefits Association (CBA). He also issued a declaratory judgment, holding that the mandate was illegal; it violated the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

The CBA represents over 1,000 Catholic employers, including 60 dioceses and archdioceses, as well as many religious orders, colleges and universities, hospitals, and other ministries. Baltimore Archbishop William Lori chairs the CBA; serving with him are six other archbishops. Douglas G. Wilson is the CEO of the organization.

Judge Russell’s ruling not only binds the Trump administration (which was opposed to the HHS mandate anyway), but all future administrations. Catholic employers who belong to the CBA are now free from attempts by the federal government to coerce them into providing morally offensive healthcare coverage.

This is a great victory for religious liberty and a stunning defeat for the pro-abortion industry and its allies. Score one for our side.

The Catholic League has been at odds with Connecticut Supreme Court Judge Andrew McDonald since he was a state senator. More recently, we worked to educate the public about his record of anti-Catholic bigotry, hoping to stop his bid to become Chief Justice. We won. He was defeated on March 27 in the state senate by a vote of 19-16.

One of the most despicable aspects of McDonald’s nomination was the incredible media bias that he has benefited from.

In the month before the vote, there were 29 articles in the press about his anti-Catholicism, 19 of which were stories from the Associated Press (AP). And most of them were perfunctory: they did not go into any detail about what he did in 2011.

In 2011, when McDonald was a state senator, he introduced a bill that would have allowed an unprecedented power grab: the government would take over the administrative and fiscal decisions of the Catholic Church in Connecticut, and lay Catholics would be authorized to run the internal affairs of their parish, throwing the pastor overboard. Jodi Rell, the governor at the time, accurately called this coup “blatantly unconstitutional, insensitive, and inappropriate.”

The media, for the most part, allowed McDonald to get away with his anti-Catholic behavior while hyping his alleged victim status as a gay man. There were 48 stories, 27 by AP, stating that some of his opposition is anti-gay. Yet the best anyone could do was to say that there were some anonymous comments.

Bill Donohue told the media several times that “There was not one person or group identified in all of these stories who has said anything anti-gay about him.” This is why House Republican leader Themis Klarides recently said, “There is not one person who has mentioned Andrew McDonald’s sexuality except Democrats.”

This explains why the best the New York Times could do to help him was to say that “his supporters have suggested that at least some of the opposition has been motivated by Justice McDonald’s sexual orientation….” His “supporters have suggested.” This is evidence of nothing, absolutely nothing.

This was an uphill fight all the way. We are delighted to have won such a sweet victory, beating the media and anti-Catholic bigots.

[Note: The lead story in the last issue of Catalyst was about the way anti-Catholic bigotry embroiled McDonald and Gordon Giampietro. The latter is a Wisconsin nominee for the federal district court in Milwaukee who unfairly came under fire by anti-Catholics for holding to Church teachings on family and sexuality. His nomination is still pending.]

Anti-Catholicism has gripped two states: Connecticut and Wisconsin. In Connecticut, an anti-Catholic judge is being considered for the top post as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court; in Wisconsin, a Trump nominee for a federal judgeship is being opposed on anti-Catholic grounds.

The Catholic League has been actively engaged in both cases. As we went to press, the outcome in both instances was inconclusive.

The Connecticut case involves Supreme Court Judge Andrew McDonald. We are opposing him because of what he did in 2011 when he was a state senator.

At that time, McDonald introduced a bill with Rep. Michael Lawlor that would have allowed state officials to take over the administrative and fiscal decisions of the Catholic Church in Connecticut. It authorized lay Catholics in each parish to run internal affairs, stripping the pastor of his duties.

As Bill Donohue said in March 2011, this was “payback” time. “This brutal act of revenge by Lawlor and McDonald, two champions of gay marriage,” Donohue wrote, “is designed to muzzle the voice of the Catholic Church.”

Donohue called for their ouster, saying, “They have evinced a bias so strong, and so malicious, that it compromises their ability to serve the public good. They should therefore be expelled by their colleagues.”

They were not, but they didn’t win, either. We stood firm with Bridgeport Archbishop William Lori (now the Archbishop of Baltimore) in defeating this power grab. They backed off.

McDonald got an “unsatisfactory” rating from the Joint Judiciary Committee but survived a one-vote margin in the full House. The Senate will decide his fate. We blitzed the Connecticut media opposing him on the basis of his anti-Catholicism (we did not oppose him because he was gay).

In Wisconsin, a former federal prosecutor, Gordon Giampietro, has been nominated for the federal district court in Milwaukee. He has come under fire for holding to Catholic teachings on marriage, the family, and sexuality. None of his comments were outside the domain of settled Catholic theology, which is why Wisconsin bishops supported him.

Donohue wrote to Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin saying that Giampietro has been the victim of a smear campaign; she is wavering in her support of him. He said he understood why some might disagree with Catholic teachings on specific subjects, but “just as it is wrong to tar those who disagree with us as bigots, it is just as wrong for others to make such a charge about us.”

The fate of Giampietro, like that of McDonald, is still in doubt. We will report on both cases next month.

When Rev. Billy Graham died on February 21, Bill Donohue released the following statement to the media:

“Growing up Catholic in New York in the 1950s, the Catholic we most identified with was Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, the first televangelist. The Protestant we most clearly revered was Rev. Billy Graham. In both cases, they had no rival.

“For Catholics, Graham was more than just the titular head of the Protestant community, he was a man who inspired us. He was a man of prayer, and his deep spirituality was contagious. Moreover, his ecumenical efforts were legion.

“When Graham was at his peak, our culture was Christian-friendly, allowing him to follow a decidedly pastoral approach. Those ministers who came after him were forced to take a more aggressive public stance, owing to the advent of the culture war.

“I have one fond remembrance of him. In the late 1990s, he contacted me about some cruel story that had circulated about him—it made him out to be an anti-Catholic bigot. The story was completely bogus. I appreciated how seriously he took this issue, and how quickly he responded.

“Rev. Billy Graham will be missed. I am happy that he is with our Lord.”

Almost everyone applauded Rev. Graham. One notable exception was Niall O’Dowd from Irish Central, who branded him an anti-Catholic. Donohue labeled that accusation a smear, saying, “O’Dowd is a proud Irishman and an irresponsible critic of the Catholic Church.”

On the day that “Jerry Springer: The Opera” debuted in New York, the Catholic League held a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

Joining Bill Donohue were Brent Bozell of the Media Research Council, Dr. Deal Hudson of the Christian Review, and Ralph Reed of the Faith and Freedom Coalition; Bozell serves on the advisory board of the Catholic League, Hudson is a member of the board of directors, and Reed is an influential evangelical. All spoke about their concerns and what they were going to do about it.

The seriousness of this obscene assault on Christians, and the fact that the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) funds the entity behind the play, merited a multi-level response: Donohue wrote to President Donald Trump, the House and Senate subcommittees that have authority over the NEA, and Dr. Jane Chu, chairman of the NEA. See pp. 4-9.

Donohue focused on two central issues: a) the propriety of using federal dollars to help underwrite the New Group, the production company that hosted the “Springer Opera,” and b) the need to appoint a new chairman of the NEA.

Regarding the first concern, Donohue made it clear that if it is wrong to use public monies to promote religion, then it must also be wrong to denigrate religion. To be specific, it is wholly unjust to force taxpayers to tolerate government censorship of the Ten Commandments on public property while at the same time forcing them to pay for attacks on Christianity.

President Trump asked the Congress to cut all funding to the NEA, but he was overriden by both the House and the Senate. This is one reason why Donohue took a different strategy: he asked the president to nominate a morally responsible person to succeed Chu, whose term ends in June. Trump is expected to name her replacement soon; his choice must be confirmed by the Senate.

Chu and Donohue exchanged letters, explaining their respective positions; the tone was professional. However, Chu’s refusal to even address the bigoted nature of the musical was inexcusable.

The New York media largely ignored the play, but our campaign did draw good Internet coverage. Also, Donohue spent an hour discussing this with Deal Hudson on his Ave Maria radio program.

We are most grateful to the coverage that Raymond Arroyo’s EWTN show, “The World Over,” gave to the press conference.

We look forward to President Trump’s nominee to succeed Chu. We are delighted to play the lead role in nudging him to do the right thing.

The Weinstein Company movie, “Mary Magdalene,” will not open on Good Friday. It is being moved to a later date.

Catholic League members will recall that our February appeal was a request for donations that would fund a media blitz against the movie. We cited three aspects of this movie that were objectionable: its opening on Good Friday; the Harvey Weinstein connection; and the film’s script.

The Weinstein Company told the media that it moved the movie’s opening date due to internal chaos at the company. They cited Harvey Weinstein’s dismissal from the company, which followed a series of sexual misconduct accusations, for the disruption.

Did the Catholic League have anything to do with postponing the movie’s opening date?

Bill Donohue wrote to the head of the Weinstein Company on December 21, registering his three objections. One month later, almost to the day, it was announced that the film’s opening date would be postponed. It is true that two other movies were also postponed, but in both cases time constraints were operative: they were slated to open prior to “Magdalene,” thus forcing a quick decision.

It is therefore possible that the company saw a chance to move the film off of Good Friday without appearing to yield to the Catholic League, citing internal problems.

No matter, we will use donations raised in February to address our second and third complaints.

“Jerry Springer: The Opera” is the most obscene anti-Christian play ever performed; it is particularly targeted at Catholicism. It is coming to off-Broadway on January 23rd.

That is also the day that Bill Donohue and others will hold a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington D.C. For a description of this vile musical, see pp. 8-9.

When it was performed in London, a critic for the Sunday Mercury in Birmingham, England called it “the filthiest thing I have ever seen on stage.” The Associated Press picked up on “arias about transvestitism, pole-dancing and diaper fetishism.” A senior radio producer for the BBC said, “The blasphemy was far, far worse than even the most detailed news reports had led me to believe.”

As bad as the content of this play is, what is worse is the fact that it is being funded largely by the public.

The New Group is the site of the play, a small theater near the Port Authority bus terminal in New York. It receives most of its money from the government, not private sponsors. New York City and New York State both contribute to this theater, but the largest donation comes from the federal government by way of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).

The purpose of the press conference is to request that President Donald Trump appoint a chairman of the NEA who will not violate the public trust: any theater or gallery that hosts plays or exhibitions that maliciously disparage Christianity, or any other world religion, should not receive funding. He is poised to make a selection soon; the current chairman’s tenure ends in April.

The Catholic League has long called for an end to public funding for the arts, largely because of NEA-sponsored events that attack Catholicism. President Trump sought to cut such funding but was overridden by the House and the Senate.

Catholic League members will recall that an appeal for donations made in October cited the need to underwrite a response to a new assault on our religion that was forthcoming from the arts. Now you know what it is.

We are told all the time that the government cannot fund religion. Why, then, is it acceptable for the government to bash religion?

The opera’s most demonic message is stated at the end: “Nothing is wrong and nothing is right.” That is a prescription for moral nihilism, the precise cultural condition that Hitler seized on in the 1930s.

In the next issue of Catalyst, we will report on the proceedings of the press conference.