In late January, the Catholic League received word that it had won an important religious freedom case. At stake was whether Catholic landlords can exercise their religious beliefs by refusing to rent an apartment to an unwed couple. The Catholic League, which had filed an amicus brief on behalf of the landlords, was delighted with the news. [...]
On December 9, 1994, the Catholic League successfully pressured Barneys New York, an upscale clothing store, into removing an offensive nativity scene from its storefront window on Madison Avenue and 6lst Street. The exhibit, entitled "Hello Kitty Nativity Scene," was the work of artist Tom Sachs. The display was a crude characterization, one that featured three Bart [...]
On November 17, 1994, the U.S. Postal Service announced that beginning in 1995 there would be no more printing of the Christmas stamp series reproducing paintings of the Virgin Mary and the infant Jesus. Upon hearing this news, the Catholic League moved quickly to state its objections. We issued a news release and wrote to every [...]
In an historic move, the Catholic League succeeded in pressing for a hate crime prosecution and conviction of a person charged with violating the rights of Catholics. Never before in the history of New England had someone been found guilty of violating the rights of Catholics under a hate crime statute. The conviction stems from an [...]
On October 30, WNYC-TV, New York City's public TV station, carried a program called "Inversion of Solitude." It advertised the show as "An irreverent video satire based on the life of Saint Therese de Lisieux, whose seemingly uneventful life became the subject of a global media campaign." When the Catholic League learned of the show (through [...]
On Sunday, October 16, an ad by the Catholic League praising Pope John Paul II was published in the Opinion-Editorial section of the New York Times. The ad congratulated the Holy Father for his 16 years of service, drawing attention to his importance as a world leader (see Ad). What the Holy Father has accomplished is unparalleled: [...]
The September 26th edition of Newsweek magazine included coverage of the Catholic League's transit ads. The article featured a photo of the League's first anti-condom ad, "Want to Know a Dirty Little Secret?" It stated that the League was "reborn after years of near bankruptcy'' and that it was conducting anti-condom ads in Boston, New York [...]
In an unprecedented move, the Catholic League assailed the administration of a standing president for anti-Catholic bigotry. From the time President Clinton took office, it has become increasingly evident that his administration is insensitive at best, and downright hostile at worst, to Catholic interests. But the final straw occurred during the third weekend in August. Faith [...]
Following calls from the Catholic League for a civil rights prosecution, church robber David Cedeno has been indicted by an Essex County, Massachusetts, grand jury for constitutional rights violations and two other hate crimes. Cedeno and an accomplice robbed St. Mary's Church in Lawrence, Massachusetts on June 1Oth, brazenly stealing two chalices and a communion paten [...]
Anti-Catholic bigotry on college campuses is nothing new, but what happened at a Wayne, New Jersey state college this past summer suggests that matters are getting much worse. On July 5, 1994, Professor Vernon McClean, an instructor in the African-American and Caribbean studies department at William Paterson College, opened the first session of his summer class, "Racism and [...]
