The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has 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; [...]
Lawmakers in Kentucky and New Hampshire are debating whether to end the priest-penitent privilege as it currently exists in law. Currently, both states respect the confidential nature of the confessional by allowing priests and other clergymen an exemption from mandated reporting laws. But the legislative bodies of Kentucky and New Hampshire may decide to end this [...]
On January 30, D.C. 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. [...]
On December 13, the day Cardinal Bernard Law resigned, William Donohue issued the following remarks to the press: “Most Catholics are greeting the resignation of Cardinal Law with a sigh of relief and sadness. While no one blames Cardinal Law for the entire scandal in the Church, his departure nonetheless represents an important step towards recapturing [...]
The “Holiday Wars” controversy over the propriety of putting religious symbols on public property drew a response this past Christmas season from the Supreme Court. On November 29, U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens ruled that the city of Cincinnati could not bar the display of a menorah on a downtown plaza during the holidays. [...]
Every December the Catholic League goes on high alert over the ever-predictable Christmas controversies. The controversies started early this year when it was revealed in October that there will be no religious displays allowed during the holiday season at Saluda Shoals Park in Irmo, North Carolina. Last year the league was busy restoring the right of [...]
On November 13, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) passed a policy on priestly sexual abuse that the Catholic League hailed as “principled” and “a model of fairness.” The policy reflected the work of the mixed U.S.-Vatican commission that was done a week earlier. Francis Cardinal George, who was one of four panel members [...]
An anti-Catholic incident at Columbia University began with an apology that William Donohue deemed “inadequate” and ended with one he declared satisfactory. On September 21, at a Fordham-Columbia football game played at Columbia, a band announcer at the Ivy League school commented during the half-time show that “Fordham's tuition is going down like an altar boy.” [...]
The Catholic League was delighted to defend the Vatican’s response to the sexual abuse policy passed by the U.S. bishops in Dallas. All the Vatican wants is for certain revisions to be made before final approval is granted. “Fair-minded observers of the Catholic Church were hardly astonished to learn that the Vatican would encourage the process [...]
Media pundits are calling the protest “historic.” The subject: the Catholic League’s victorious protest of an offensive radio show, “Opie and Anthony.” On August 15, the Feast of the Assumption, a 35 year-old woman and a 37 year-old man had sex in New York’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral. They did so in front of men, women and [...]
