Please click here to read Maggie Gallagher’s excellent column on proposed legislation in New York State, which would treat private and public institutions unequally regarding child sexual abuse cases.

After Virginia Gov. Timothy Kaine approved “Choose Life” license plates on Monday, he said, “If Planned Parenthood…or another similar organization ever chooses to seek a specialty license plate in Virginia, I believe the constitution would require the state to approve that plate to protect against any viewpoint discrimination.”

We agree. And we await Planned Parenthood’s submission of a “Choose Death” license plate.

Please click on this link to find out what Francis Cardinal George, the Archbishop of Chicago, had to say about Notre Dame’s invitation to President Obama to speak at this year’s graduation.

Please click on the link to learn the latest on the flap surrounding President Obama’s upcoming commencement speech at Notre Dame.

On its blog, Americans United for Separation of Church and State reluctantly offered a mild defense of the Catholic Church in its stand against the Connecticut bill that would have allowed state interference in Church finances. However, Americans United also took the opportunity to lecture the Church about the First Amendment, making absurd comparisons throughout the article. Americans United has once again exposed its phony agenda.

Click here to read the article.

On today’s edition of “The View,” Elizabeth Hasselbeck was at it again.  Contrary to what many Catholics believe, she is no friend of the Church. The hosts of the show were discussing a Vatican newspaper article about the washing machine being  what liberated women the most in the 20th century; Hasselbeck stated that the Church should not render an opinion on such matters because it does not ordain women. She figured the Church would have agreed “by now” to ordain women. Her latest sucker punch shows that she is ignorant of Catholic teachings. The Church has survived not by following conventional wisdom, but by following wisdom from a higher source. Although Hasselbeck left the Church, she cannot seem to stop sticking her nose in where it does not belong.

Below please find the email that Clark Hoyt, Public Editor of the New York Times, sent to Bill Donohue:

Dear Bill,

I read with interest the post headlined “Photo Politics” on the Web site of the Catholic League.  It complains about a photograph in The Times that was taken on Ash Wednesday at the Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton near Battery Park.  I’ve heard from a number of your members objecting to the picture.  It is clear to me that some of them did not see the picture but were reacting to your description of it.  Some complained that it was on the front page.  It was not, although I think it would have been perfectly appropriate for the front page.

Your main objection seems to be that the picture showed only Father Zogby and a single worshipper receiving ashes from him.  You said thousands received ashes at that church on that day and asked why The Times would choose a picture showing the priest, a lone parishioner and no one else in the church.  Then you said, “To be honest, we’re really not wondering at all:  We know exactly what the newspaper is up to.”

I won’t try to read your mind to figure out what you believe the motivation was.  But I think you are taking offense where none was intended or given.  I asked Michele McNally, the editor in charge of photography at The Times, about the picture.  She said the paper ran it because it was “a gorgeous photograph of a profound religious experience.”  I have to say that I saw the picture in exactly that way.  It was shot from high in the church as Father Zogby rubbed ashes on the forehead of a woman cloaked in black.  Because the figures are relatively small in a photograph composed to accentuate the cross formed by the marble floor, I think it speaks to the power and mystery of your faith.  It is a beautiful picture, not a disrespectful one.

I think you got caught up in headcount issues and failed to appreciate a photo that was a sensitive rendering of a religious moment.

I would appreciate it if you would post this, so that those you asked to write me can see my response.

Best wishes,

Clark Hoyt
Public Editor
The New York Times

In the “A” section of today’s New York Times, there is a huge photo—approximately a quarter page in size—of a priest giving ashes to a woman on Ash Wednesday. The photo, shot from above, shows no one in the church but the two of them. The caption below says, “The Rev. Ed Zogby marked a worshiper’s forehead with ashes at the Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton near Battery Park. Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent.” There was no attendant story.

We checked to see approximately how many Catholics were at the church yesterday to receive ashes. Thousands showed up. Not bad for a shrine in lower Manhattan. We also learned that the photographer was there at the time thousands were in attendance (he stayed for quite a while).

So it makes us wonder, why did the New York Times deliberately choose this photo? And why did it give it such prominence? To be honest, we’re really not wondering at all: We know exactly what the newspaper is up to.

By the way, in today’s New York Post there is a story about Ash Wednesday. Referring to the crowds at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, it says it was “the largest Ash Wednesday congregation in recent memory.” That, of course, is not exactly the kind of message theNew York Times wants to send.

Contact NYT Public Editor Clark Hoyt at public@nytimes.com

Bishop Richard Williamson of the St. Pius X Society has issued an apology for his remarks regarding the Holocaust.  Please click here to read his statement.

We thought you’d like to know how progressives view penance.  Here is what Roger Ray had to say about the issue in today’s edition of the News-Leader, a Springfield, Missouri newspaper:

“As a member of a progressive Christian church, I am more likely than most to encounter folks who angrily reject all penitence and prayers of confession as being associated with the neurotic guilt and neo-puritanical judgment of their past church experiences. One friend recently told me, ‘I just don’t believe in sin.'”

Thanks, Roger, for providing this insight.  It explains a lot.