AmFAR, the American Foundation for AIDS Research, has just announced that it is withdrawing its anti-Pope ad that was scheduled to be run on public transportation outlets in New York City and other parts of the country. The ad read, “IF THE POPE HAD AIDS, HE’D NEED MORE THAN JUST YOUR PRAYERS ”
Catholic League president William Donohue made the following remark about this development:
“The decision to pull this despicable ad was a wise move. But we are still concerned that the MTA in New York was apparently willing to accede to AmFAR’s request that the ad be placed on buses and trains.
“It is high time that Mayor Rudolph Giuliani instructed his staff to develop public transportation ad policies that mirror those used in other urban areas. No other city seems to be habitually faced with the prospect of remaining impotent each time some foul ad is submitted for display on public transportation. Currently, the only ads that the MTA is willing to reject are ads that promote tobacco. Now if only it would treat anti-Catholicism as seriously as it treats cigarette smoke, real progress against bigotry could be made.”
The Catholic League is the nation’s largest Catholic civil rights organization. It defends the right of Catholics—lay and clergy alike—to participate in American society without defamation or discrimination.
