Bill Donohue comments on a report that is critical of Catholic hospitals:

The ACLU has long waged war on Catholics over the issue of abortion. Now it has joined with Planned Parenthood to author a report that sounds the alarms over the “news” that one in six hospitals in the nation is Catholic-run. The actual organization that teamed up with the ACLU is MergerWatch, an arm of Family Planning Advocates, which, in turn, is funded by New York’s Planned Parenthood. That’s how the Left works.

The ACLU has repeatedly sued Catholic hospitals for allegedly violating the civil liberties of women, and it has repeatedly lost in the courts. As proof, it cites the Church’s opposition to contraception, sterilization and abortion, and various directives issued by the bishops to Catholic hospitals. It continues to lose because the First Amendment guarantees religious liberty, a fundamental expression of which is the right of Catholic entities to maintain institutional autonomy.

The study notes with anguish that since 2001, the number of Catholic-owned or affiliated hospitals has risen by 22 percent. Hopefully, the trend will continue, thus providing a safe home for children who might otherwise be killed in their mother’s womb.

The author of the new study, Lois Uttley, who is also the director of MergerWatch, says that “In general, Catholic hospitals provide excellent care.” Her only regret is that they are Catholic.

It is striking that Uttley can acknowledge the yeoman work of Catholic hospitals, and then defend lawsuits directed at disabling them. Evidently, her support for abortion trumps her interest in the health of those served by Catholic hospitals. This suggests that more than support for abortion is at work—it signifies a lust.

Contact MergerWatch: info@mergerwatch.org

Bill Donohue comments on the invasion of St. Patrick’s Cathedral:

Six young people invaded the noon Mass on Easter Sunday. With a bullhorn in hand, a 23-year-old North Carolina teacher screamed, “Only the devil” could create “animals capable of love and joy just so humans can make them suffer and die.” Many in the congregation thought that the camera that was strapped to his chest was a bomb.

Others held signs and pictures of animals, shouting, “Easter is a time for love! No more shedding animal blood!” The police and security moved quickly to restore order.

The protesters were not a random group. They belong to Collectively Free, an animal rights organization. It is confused at best and dishonest at worst. On the one hand, it emphasizes “Integrity and Empathy,” urging its members to “Show respect for and value individuals.”

On the other hand, it encourages members to be “provocative & experimental” in their tactics, making sure they push “the boundaries.” Regarding the latter, the organization says it believes in “direct action,” including “actions [that] involve entering an establishment that normalizes the exploitation of non-human animals, holding space, and speaking out on behalf of the victims.”

That the two goals are contradictory escapes them. In practice, “direct action” is what defines Collectively Free.

Ham. That is why the activists invaded St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Raffaella Ciavatta, co-founder of the group, told a reporter, “Ham is a big thing on Easter, so that is why we decided to bring those voices to the public.” Not that it gets me off the hook with her, but I had a steak yesterday.

Contact Raffaella: raffaella@collectivelyfree.org

Bill Donohue comments on remarks made by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein:

No need to worry about pregnant women transmitting the Zika virus to their children—just kill the kids. That’s the way the U.N. Commissioner for Human Rights sees it. Correction: Zeid is the “High” Commissioner.

Zeid wants restrictive abortion laws repealed. More than that, he is fuming over the notion that women are in charge of their bodies. They are not. Moreover, he smirks at the advice that women should delay getting pregnant. According to the High Commissioner such advice “ignores the reality that many women and girls simply cannot exercise control over whether or when or under what circumstances they become pregnant, especially in an environment where sexual violence is so common.”

Here’s some advice for Zeid. Number one, girls should not be getting pregnant, and it is his job to say so. Second, women are not the powerless wimps that he says they are: they can, in almost all circumstances, control when to have sex and with whom. Third, he needs to man-up and name those Latin American nations (those were the ones he was addressing) where rape is commonplace. Fourth, killing innocent persons is never a morally acceptable remedy for any disease. Fifth, he ought to be policing the U.N. instead of lecturing us about the wonders of abortion: just last week, the U.N. released a report on the out-of-control conditions in the Central African Republic where its own employees are raping women! So much for the U.N. championing the rights of women.

Contact Zeid’s office: InfoDesk@ohchr.org

Bill Donohue comments on the ACLU’s lawsuit against Trinity Health, a Catholic healthcare group:

The ACLU’s passion for abortion is matched only by its hatred of Catholicism. When these two enemies—unborn children and the Catholic Church—come together, the ACLU kicks into high gear. This explains its recent lawsuit against Trinity Health: its hospitals refuse to perform abortions. Two years ago, the ACLU filed suit against the bishops’ conference in a similar case; it was dismissed in June.

What accounts for the ACLU’s obstinacy? It’s due to two things: ideology and money. The ideological reasons extend back to its founding: in 1920, it listed all the rights mentioned in the First Amendment save for religious freedom. This was no accident. Roger Baldwin, the founder, was an atheist who grew up in an anti-Catholic home (he told me this in June 1978 when I interviewed him in his home in New York City). Promoting abortion is not only a sincere conviction, it pays handsomely. Just read its hysterical fundraising letters.

Moreover, of the last 20 statements made about the Catholic Church on the ACLU’s website, 16 deal with healthcare issues; the other four address cases involving gays. These days it leaves most of the fights over religious expression to atheist groups and their ilk. By contrast, it concentrates on the big prize—forcing Catholic hospitals to kill kids.

The ACLU is part of MergerWatch, a coalition of organizations dedicated to winning the big prize. It was co-founded by Frances Kissling, formerly of Catholics for Choice, a dummy group funded by the Ford Foundation and other elites; these same foundations grease MergerWatch. Interestingly, MergerWatch is located in the same building that houses Commonweal, the dissident Catholic magazine. Both are clients of the Interchurch Center: on its website it boasts that it is “affiliated primarily with its tenant agencies, many with which it co-sponsors events and programs.”

Contact: media@aclu.org

“Spotlight,” which recently opened, has been heralded as an example of solid journalism, the kind of movie that should be shown in college journalism classes. Ironically, many journalists who have touted the movie have proved just how lousy they are at their craft.

Journalists for the following media outlets got their facts wrong:

New York Post; The Daily Commercial; Associated Press; Wall Street Journal; Boston Globe; National Catholic Reporter; Vanity Fair; Los Angeles Daily News; Christianity Today; Roger-Ebert.com; New Yorker; New York; Observer; Chicago Reader; timesofmalta.com; The Verge; baretnewswire.org; SLANT; Paste; avclub.com; filmcomment.

Whether through laziness or ignorance, all of these sources misrepresented the facts by saying the problem was pedophilia. As the John Jay College of Criminal Justice researchers pointed out, less than 5 percent of the molesting priests were pedophiles. They found that 81 percent of the victims were male and 78 percent of them were postpubescent. That means the abusers were homosexuals.

Not to admit this is an expression of journalistic malfeasance, the kind that ought to be discussed in the classroom.

Bill Donohue comments on the latest War on Christmas:

The school superintendent in Marlborough, New Hampshire, Robert Malay, has banned use of the word “Christmas” from all Christmas events, including celebrations at the local American Legion post. He says he is constitutionally obligated to censor Christmas. This, of course, is a lie.

Instead of pleading with Malay to reconsider his decision, I contacted him yesterday asking him to follow through on his convictions. I suggested that he contact the United States Congress and demand that it rescind Christmas as a national holiday. Not unexpectedly, he has not gotten back to me.

Contact Malay: rmalay@sau29.org

Last May, Pope Francis spoke about allegations that the bishop of Osorno, Chile, Juan Barros, was complicit in a crime of priestly sexual abuse. The bishop, who was installed in March, has come under fire for covering up the abuses of Father Fernando Karadima. The priest was found guilty by the Vatican in 2011; the following year a Chilean court dismissed claims against him because the statute of limitations had expired.

It should be noted that the bishop’s principal accuser, Juan Carlos Cruz, a gay man, was 15 when the alleged abuse occurred and it did not end until he was 23! Moreover, we know that a Vatican inquiry was sufficient for Pope Francis to take the bishop’s side. “The Osorno community is suffering because it’s dumb,” he said. He explained that it “has let its head be filled with what politicians say, judging a bishop without any proof.” Then the pope got specific: “Don’t be led by the nose by the leftists who orchestrated all of this.”

Pope Francis could have admonished the crowd not to be manipulated by critics of the Church, or by those with an agenda. Instead, he identified “leftists.” Much the same could be said about those who have sought to exploit the homosexual scandal here at home.

Professional victims’ groups such as the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), along with their steeple-chasing lawyer/donors—Jeffrey Anderson is the worst of many—are leftists who hate the Catholic Church. Ditto for bishopaccountability.org, a partisan website that is anything but fair. Left-wing journalists at the National Catholic Reporter, which rejects the Church’s teachings on sexuality, have also exploited this issue, as have leftists in the secular media, both reporters and pundits.

Too many bishops and priests have been falsely accused by those with a left-wing agenda to dismiss the pope’s concerns. The Catholic League commends him for his courage.

Bill Donohue comments on the way journalists are handling “Spotlight”:

“Spotlight,” which opens today, is being heralded as an example of solid journalism, the kind of movie that should be shown in college journalism classes. Ironically, many journalists who are touting the movie are proving just how lousy they are at their craft.

Journalists for the following media outlets got their facts wrong:

New York Post; The Daily Commercial; Associated Press; Wall Street Journal; Boston Globe; National Catholic Reporter; Vanity Fair; Los Angeles Daily News; Christianity Today; RogerEbert.com; New Yorker; New York; Observer; Chicago Reader; timesofmalta.com; The Verge; baretnewswire.org; SLANT; Paste; avclub.com; filmcomment.

Whether through laziness or ignorance, all of these sources misrepresented the facts by saying the problem was pedophilia. As the John Jay College of Criminal Justice researchers pointed out, less than 5 percent of the molesting priests were pedophiles. They found that 81 percent of the victims were male and 78 percent of them were postpubescent. That means the abusers were homosexuals.

Not to admit this is an expression of journalistic malfeasance, the kind that ought to be discussed in the classroom.