Maurice S. Owens, a Washington lawyer, filed a complaint with the IRS against the Missouri Catholic Conference alleging "illegal political interference." The Catholic group was urging candidates for state office to return contributions received from an organization, Supporters of Health Research and Treatment, that promotes embryonic stem cell research and human cloning. The ruthlessness of this [...]
On July 31, eight women proclaimed themselves priests and four other women anointed themselves deacons in a "ceremony" in Pittsburgh. Contrary to some news reports (like the ABC television report on the Pittsburgh "ceremony" that we told you about in the July-August Catalyst), this was not the first time that this make-believe game had been played. In [...]
Provincetown, Massachusetts, a small resort town on the tip of Cape Cod, was once a sleepy Portuguese fishing village. In recent years, it has become popular with homosexuals, both for year-round dwelling and as a summer vacation spot. Gays say they feel comfortable in Provincetown, which was honored by the Anti-Defamation League as worthy of the [...]
Catalyst senior editor Christopher Iasiello analyzed textbooks from four major publishers to determine how Catholicism is covered. The following are his findings. A bill passed in California's state senate earlier this year would require California history textbooks to include positive coverage of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. It's not certain the bill will become law (it [...]
A potential showdown between the Catholic League and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) was avoided when a highly controversial issue that we addressed was quickly resolved. Our effort was clearly worthwhile given the happy ending. The problem began on June 7, when Kris Fuhr, vice president for marketing at Provident Films (owned by Sony) [...]
Pop-singer Madonna kicked off her "Confessions" tour in Los Angeles by offending Christians and drawing more attention to herself. Between her political statements and oral sex jokes, Madonna found the time to don a crown of thorns, hang from a mirrored cross and croon her ballad "Live to Tell" in front of a screen flashing images [...]
The editorial of June 16 taking the Catholic League to task for its New York Times op-ed page ad ("Spin without end in abuse scandal") is simply wrong on the facts. On p. 29 of the 2005 annual Report on the Implementation of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, it says that 81 percent of [...]
By William A. Donohue Every now and then, I read a book I wish I had written. Such a book is Patrick M. Garry's Wrestling with God: The Courts' Tortuous Treatment of Religion. For those interested in how the courts have twisted the First Amendment's guarantee of religious liberty into an unseemly mess, this is the book [...]
On June 15, Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich fired Robert J. Smith, one of his Metro transit authority appointees, because Smith said that "Homosexual behavior, in my view, is deviant." Smith, who stressed he is a Roman Catholic, said that his characterization reflected his beliefs and were made after hours on a cable TV show. Ehrlich branded [...]
A report on the June 19 "World News Tonight" led viewers to think that eight women are about to be ordained as Catholic priests in the U.S. The story covered the election of the first female presiding bishop in the Episcopal Church. Then came the following: "Most evangelical denominations and the Catholic Church steadfastly refuse to [...]
