At the start of the holiday season, we sent emails to over 350 Catholics who are associated with the Cardinal Newman chapters on their campus. These ministries were asked to contact us in the event they learned of anti-Catholic rhetoric or behavior. We told them we would take it from there.

Cardinal Newman societies are nicely positioned to help us. They are the eyes and ears of practicing Catholics on secular campuses nationwide.

Whether the issue is an anti-Catholic play, or the censoring of Christmas events, we need to know of it at the Catholic League so we can respond with vigor. It is a sad commentary on our society that this needs to be done, but it would be even sadder if our side did nothing about it.

We did this because of a rash of anti-Catholic incidents in recent months.

We have previously documented many violent anti-Catholic incidents that have taken place in the wake of the overturning of Roe v. Wade. We have also documented our appeals to the U.S. Attorney General and the FBI to conduct a probe of these crimes. With the Christmas season upon us, we decided to do more.

Much of the hostility against Catholics, and Christians in general, is fueled on college campuses. They are the intellectual seedbed of hate speech. It is with this in mind that we alerted Catholics on campus to beware of acts of bigotry this Christmas season.

We will not be passive.

Why does the FBI severely overreact to Catholic pro-life protesters for minor infractions while doing practically nothing to apprehend pro-abortion activists who have engaged in violence against Catholics and Catholic churches?

This explains why Bill Donohue twice wrote to Sen. Charles Grassley, Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, asking for a probe or hearing on this issue.

The occasion for doubling down was a letter sent on October 12 by 40 Republican lawmakers to FBI Director Christopher Wray asking him to grant them a hearing on this matter. Donohue’s initial letter to Grassley was sent September 26. He also wrote to these lawmakers, led by Rep. Chip Roy and Sen. Mike Lee, urging them to pursue this issue. Those two letters were sent on October 14.

The occasion for these letters was what happened to Mark Houck on September 23.

Houck is a pro-life activist from Kintnersville, Pennsylvania. He was arrested by some two dozen FBI agents—they came to his house with guns drawn—on grounds that he assaulted an abortion-rights patient escort at a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in Philadelphia on October 13, 2021. He is being charged with violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE).

Houck says he shoved a man who had been harassing his 12-year-old son in front of the clinic during one of his sidewalk counseling sessions. The charges were dismissed by the District Court in Philadelphia.

Donohue said that “it surely seems that the FBI overreacted in its handling of this matter. Houck had seven children at home as the SWAT team pounded on his door, showing up fully armored, yelling at him to open it.”

Donohue added, “This kind of overreaction for a minor infraction of the law is deeply troubling, and it becomes even more troubling when paired with the underreaction by the Department of Justice when the pro-life side is targeted.”

He said he previously wrote to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland asking him to apprehend and prosecute domestic terrorists who have attacked Catholic individuals and churches, as well as crisis pregnancy centers.

Donohue said, “We have witnessed a rash of vandalism against Catholic churches, firebombings of crisis pregnancy centers (many of which are run by Catholics), Masses being interrupted, illegal protests outside the homes of Catholic Supreme Court Justices, and an attempted murder of one of the Catholic Justices.”

There is something seriously wrong with the leadership of the FBI. A congressional probe is long overdue. Our civil liberties are at stake.

Militant secularists are in high gear the last quarter of every year.

They don’t like October because they don’t like Columbus. Why? He symbolizes Western civilization, which they loathe. They don’t like Christmas because it reminds them of Jesus Christ, whose divinity they reject.

Now that Thanksgiving is upon us, radical atheists are bent on discrediting the holiday, all because it represents Christianity.

Not all atheists are haters. But the activists among them tend to be that way. Most of them are unhappy people. They are unhappy with their lives, their country, Western civilization and God. What makes them feel good is perverse: They take joy in tearing down America’s religious heritage.

They do this by promoting propaganda. They are masters at taking words out of context, or literally fabricating, stories about Thanksgiving that put a negative face on it. Their goal is to spoil the holiday by expressing an affinity with Native Americans, about whom they know nothing and could care less.

Thanksgiving is a family celebration, and that is one more reason why militant secularists want to destroy it. From the period of the Enlightenment in the late 18th and 19th centuries, to the latest rants by radicals, the family has always been in their sights: They resent the idea that children should be raised exclusively by their parents. Why? Parents can thwart their social engineering ambitions.

Happy Thanksgiving! Don’t let the malcontents get in your way.

Jeremy Boland is the Assistant Principal of Cos Cob Elementary School in Greenwich, Connecticut. He was supposed to start the new school year on September 1. But he never showed up. His anti-Catholic comments put him in hot water, and we had something to do with it. He was placed on administrative leave, pending an investigation.

Boland was caught on a video filmed by Project Veritas saying he would never hire a Catholic. He oversees the hiring of teachers. Here is part of the exchange.

Boland: “I’m not a huge expert on religion, but Protestants in this area [of Connecticut] are probably the most liberal. But if they’re Catholic—conservative.”
Veritas Journalist: “Oh, so then what do you do with the Catholics? If you find someone is Catholic, then what?”
Boland: “You don’t hire them.”
Veritas Journalist: “So, would you never hire a Catholic then?”
Boland: “No, I don’t want to…Because if someone is raised hardcore Catholic, it’s like they’re brainwashed. You can never change their mindset.”

Bill Donohue jumped on this immediately, issuing a statement to the press that was picked up all over the Connecticut media. “There is no role for an admitted anti-Catholic bigot in any school in the nation. What makes this case a legal slam dunk is that Boland is not simply spewing anti-Catholic vitriol, he is in charge of hiring and has explicitly said he would not hire Catholics. That is illegal.”

We enlisted the support of our email subscribers asking them to contact Dr. Toni Jones, Superintendent of Greenwich Schools, about this issue. We also contacted elected officials.

We are delighted to report that subsequent to our news release, Jones announced that Boland was placed on leave, pending the completion of an investigation. Cos Cob is a prestigious public school in a wealthy neighborhood.

The reaction of public figures in Connecticut to this outrage, from both parties, was heartening. It is not enough to conduct a probe of Boland: We need to know if anti-Catholic bigotry is entrenched in Greenwich public schools. At a minimum, this means there must be a review of hiring procedures.

Donohue wrote to officials at the State Department of Education and the Greenwich Public Schools, asking for such a probe. He wanted to know how many Catholics have been turned away from employment in Greenwich public schools, and if religious profiling is systemic in the schools.

We are awaiting the conclusion of the investigation. We were the only lay Catholic organization to register a protest.

The Jesuit magazine, America, has done important work, but when it comes to understanding clergy sexual abuse, it has failed miserably. The latest example is an article by Michael O’Loughlin. It is an uncritical look at a report issued by professors from the Jesuit-sponsored Santa Clara University.

According to the report, sexual repression and clericalism caused the crisis and homosexuality has nothing to do with it. It is thrice wrong.

Why is it that in the 1950s, when the Church was much less open about matters sexual—”repressed” according to its critics—there was practically no sexual abuse of minors? Why is it that when the lid came off in the 1960s, many of the seminaries turned into dens of iniquity? That’s when the scandal exploded.

Clericalism may explain why some bishops enabled the molesters, but it has nothing to do with why some priests became molesters.

So who were the molesters? We know from the John Jay studies on this issue that 81 percent of the victims of priestly sexual abuse were male and that 78 percent were postpubescent. It matters not a whit that many homosexual priests who molested young men do not identify as homosexual; what matters is their behavior, not their self-perception.

No problem can ever be fixed if those who profess an interest in doing so live in a comfortable state of denial. They need to be shaken from their comfort zone and finally look reality in the face.

The Biden administration has already proven to be a radical advocate of abortion-on-demand and transgender rights. Worse, these policies almost always come at the expense of religious liberty. Its latest iteration is a proposed rule change from the Trump years that would threaten the rights of Catholic doctors and the autonomy of Catholic hospitals.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) wants to amend Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. ObamaCare) to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex to include “sexual orientation and gender identity.”

The effect of this change would be dramatic. To begin with, there is a profound difference between discriminating against a biological female and a man who claims to be female, and vice versa. No one supports discrimination against real women, but to force Catholic doctors and hospitals to perform genital mutilation surgery on men who want to “transition” to a woman is a violation of their First Amendment right to religious liberty.

Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore, Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco and Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York chair important committees of the bishops’ conference, and they released a statement denouncing the proposed rule change as being inimical to religious liberty.

They did not buy the idea, floated by the Biden administration, that claims the new rule would have no impact on religious liberty. “Assurances that HHS will honor religious freedom laws offer little comfort when HHS is actively fighting court rulings that declared HHS violated religious freedom laws the last time they tried to impose such a mandate.”

The proposed rule change would not only infringe on the First Amendment rights of Catholics, its support for puberty blockers would threaten the well-being of children: it is positively dangerous.

It is important that Catholics speak out. The public has until October 3rd to comment on the proposed rule change. On our website, we have already provided Catholics with a written step-by-step guide to facilitate the process of commenting online.

Those who would like to write a letter in the regular mail must do so now. Please hone in on the threat to religious liberty as the responses will be grouped by subject matter. Please write to the following address.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Civil Rights, Attn: 1557 NPRM (RIN 0945-AA17, Hubert H. Humphrey Bldg., Rm. 509F, 200 Independence Ave. SW, Washington DC 20201.

Commentator Joe Rogan has a big podcast following and he is known in some circles as an independent thinker. He crossed the line on his July 27 podcast about the Catholic Church, coming across more like your typical uneducated anti-Catholic buffoon.

Referring to the Vatican, he said, “It’s a country filled with pedophiles. It’s a country filled with pedophiles and stolen art.”

One of his fellow podcasters, Konstantin Kisin, exclaimed, “This is why I love America, man. Cause in the UK, we have libel laws. So if you say something like that and you then have to be able to prove it, otherwise you can get sued.”

He’s right. Our elastic libel laws allow irresponsible persons like Rogan to defame people with impunity. More interesting was Rogan’s reply. “Well, you can kind of prove that.”

Bill Donohue immediately called Rogan out, challenging him to a debate.

“Why not invite me to join you in a discussion of this issue and see if you can ‘kind of prove’ your smears? Before doing so, you may want to read my latest book, The Truth about Clergy Sexual Abuse: Clarifying the Facts and the Causes. You might find it enlightening.”

Donohue ended by saying, “If you don’t want to debate me, I will conclude that you are a coward.”

Looks like Joe Rogan is a coward. Though his publicist was bombarded with thousands of emails asking him to invite Donohue on his show, he declined.

In the run-up to the release of the Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade, those associated with the pro-life movement were targeted by domestic terrorists. On June 17, Bill Donohue wrote a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, asking for his intervention. Here is an excerpt.

We have witnessed a rash of vandalism against Catholic churches, firebombings of crisis pregnancy centers (many of which are run by Catholics), Masses being interrupted, illegal protests outside the homes of Catholic Supreme Court Justices, and an attempted murder of one of the Catholic Justices. While there are several groups involved in these attacks, none is more dangerous than Jane’s Revenge.

Jane’s Revenge is a domestic terrorist group, par excellence. Recently formed, it brags about blowing up crisis pregnancy centers. Worse, it is calling for a “Night of Rage” on the day the Supreme Court is expected to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Jane’s Revenge made its first public statement on May 8, following the firebombing of a crisis pregnancy center in Madison, Wisconsin. It demanded that these facilities be shut down, pledging to destroy them if they remained open.

It was on May 30 when it issued its “Night of Rage” threat. “On the night the final ruling is issued,” it said, “we are asking for courageous hearts to come out after dark.” It said it had chosen “a time of 8pm for actions nationwide to begin….”

On June 14, Jane’s Revenge issued another online post, citing operations in 16 cities, as well as in “countless locations invisibly.” Saying that “it’s open season” on “anti-choice” groups, it pledged to “never stop, back down, slow down, or retreat.” It sent a message to pro-life entities saying, “Eventually your insurance companies, and your financial backers will realize you are a bad investment.”

On June 16, the FBI admitted that it is investigating these attacks on pro-life and faith-based institutions, though it did not say which groups it is probing.

We have learned, from credible sources, that there is a link between Jane’s Revenge and Antifa, the far-left anarchist group. Their modus operandi and goals are very similar.

We have now reached the stage where probes are academic. The clock is ticking.

We need aggressive action against those who have not only taken credit for violence across the nation—they are pledging to engage in more of it. Jane’s Revenge fits the bill in both instances. The “Night of Rage” that it is threatening must never be allowed to commence.

Please take immediate action to see to it that these threats never materialize.

For a half century, abortion has been legal across the United States. Those days are over: the Supreme Court has overruled the 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade. What is not over is the issue of abortion—the states will now decide how to address it.

Justice Samuel Alito, writing for the 5-4 majority, held that “Roe was egregiously wrong from the start. Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences.” That is why, he said, “It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.”

The Supreme Court did more than overturn Roe—it negated the 1992 ruling in Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pa. v. Casey. This decision went beyond Roe by making abortion a near absolute right, through term.

Honest abortion-rights legal scholars have long said that while abortion should be legal, it is not the business of the courts to settle such matters. Alito picked up on their admission, saying, “The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision….”

Aside from the legal matters, abortion involves a host of biological and moral issues. The DNA that makes us all unique human beings is present at conception, and not a day later.

Thank God the Catholic Church led the fight for the rights of the unborn for 49 years. It finally paid off.

June 24th was a special day for Catholics and for life.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican from Georgia, recently insulted Catholics when she said, “Satan’s controlling the Church.” Bill Donohue quickly called on her to be sanctioned by her colleagues in the House of Representatives.

Below is the text of the letter Donohue sent to Rep. Theodore E. Deutch, Chairman of the House Ethics Committee and Rep. Jackie Walorski, Ranking Member of the Committee; a copy was sent to every member of the Committee.

As president of the nation’s largest Catholic civil rights organization, I am requesting that you levy sanctions against Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene for her virulent anti-Catholicism.

On April 21, Greene was interviewed by Michael Voris, the head of Church Militant. In their discussion about the role of Catholic Charities working with immigrants, Greene said the Catholic Church was run by Satan.

Here is what she said. “I thought we had a separation of church and state, right? No, what it is, is Satan’s controlling the church.”

I asked for an apology and she publicly said there would be none. She responded by saying that her sweeping condemnation of the entire Catholic Church was meant only to apply to the bishops, as if that makes her hate speech acceptable.

Greene has a history of offending African Americans and Jews, so bigotry is something that is apparently baked into her.

The time has come for her to be either reprimanded or censured. Her irresponsible behavior has already caused her to be removed from committee assignments. Accordingly, her burst of anti-Catholicism now demands stronger sanctions against her.

Greene responded with boilerplate. She said she wanted Donohue to apologize to her and that he should have had someone from his office contact her before making accusations.

Greene was raised Catholic, left the Church and became an evangelical. She is an embittered ex-Catholic.
News of the clash between her and Donohue was widely picked up by the media. It made the front page of Yahoo! twice in one day.

We are well aware that Greene has a pro-life voting record and that she has been good to veterans, etc. But we cannot, and will not, allow anyone to tell us that the Catholic Church is run by Satan and get away with it. No one gets a pass when they slander the Church. (See p. 3 for more on this issue.)

We live in a time when elites are not content to simply disagree with others: they go for the jugular. The politics of personal destruction has now been extended to the politics of institutional destruction. Whether it is the Catholic Church, or the Supreme Court, that some want to malign, they must be answered with vigor.