Bill Donohue sent the letter below to Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite, president of the Chicago Theological Seminary:
July 18, 2007
Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite
President, Chicago Theological Seminary
5757 S. University Avenue
Chicago, IL 60637
Dear Ms. Thistlethwaite:
I read with interest your lecture to the Catholic Church in the Washington Post blog site. As someone who belongs to a community that has lost over 50 percent of its members since 1960, you are in no position to get preachy with Catholics. Moreover, the relaxation of norms regarding the Latin Mass is none of your business: sticking your nose into the internal affairs of the Catholic Church smacks of hubris. Furthermore, the contrived nexus you offer trying to tie the Latin Mass to predatory homosexual behavior is illogical.
The Catholic Church is growing by leaps and bounds. Perhaps if you studied our success you would be less defensive about your community. You may even learn that any church, including communities like yours, that assimilates to the norms of the dominant culture is bound to go south. While we can all agree that it is a tragedy what has happened to your community, it does not excuse your sophomoric outburst.
Sincerely,
William A. Donohue, Ph.D.
President
