On March 17, the FOX cartoon “King of the Hill” featured Mrs. Peggy Hill, the wife of Hank Hill, posing as a nun in order to teach at a Catholic high school.  Below are some of the highlights:

• Peggy gains her understanding of Catholicism by watching a Spanish soap opera about a monsignor.  This soap opera shows the monsignor shooting a disarmed gunman in a church.  He is also depicted being disrespectful to the Sacred Blood.
• Peggy teaches a course on Catholicism but admits to knowing nothing about transubstantiation. She is also shown dropping a “practice wafer” (the Eucharist).  She simply picks it up, dusts it off, and gives it to the child who was to receive it.
• Peggy dreams that the monsignor bursts into her classroom as she is about to talk about safe sex.  He then pulls a lever which opens the classroom floor and drops all the kids into hell.  Furthermore, he is depicted as a devil with horns in Peggy’s dream, and her husband (a propane salesman) is in charge of keeping the fires of hell burning.

Catholic League president William Donohue explained his reaction today:

“There is no other religion that is the butt of more cheap shots than Catholicism.  Even TV cartoons can’t give it up.  By defiling the Eucharist, those who wrote and produced this show deliberately chose to take aim at the bull’s eye of Roman Catholicism.  There is a meanness of spirit here that is breathtaking.

“We will protest this episode and look for corrective action to be taken.”

Over the weekend, comedian Dennis Miller and actor Ian McKellen exploited the Catholic Church’s problem of priest pedophilia by making irresponsible statements about priests in general.

On March 15, on “Dennis Miller Live,” an HBO show, the opening monologue by Miller featured a discussion of the problem.  He then said to the audience, “F— the priests, they’re weird.”

On NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” McKellen ripped the Church for not allowing gays to march in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade even though it allows gays in the priesthood.

Catholic League president William Donohue commented as follows:

“On the front page of today’s New York Daily News, there is a picture of the NYPD’s top 10 most brutal and dangerous felons.  Nine are non-white.  But there will be no jokes made about non-whites and crime—nor should there be—by any comedian or actor.  But if some priests are guilty of sexual misconduct, that’s fair game.  From radio talk shows to newspaper columnists, sweeping generalizations are being made about priests that are downright cruel.  The problems in the Catholic Church have given Catholic bashers an absolute field day.

“Dennis Miller would never say ‘F— the rabbis.’  That would make him anti-Semitic.  The reason he says ‘F— the priests’ is because there is no stigma attached to saying it.  This tells us as much about our society as it does Miller.

“As for McKellen, someone should tell him that the Catholic Church does not run the St. Patrick’s Day Parade nor are gays barred from marching.  But even if his ignorance were corrected by the facts there is little reason to believe he’d drop his Catholic bashing.  This is one prejudice that cannot be relieved through education alone.”

New York gubernatorial hopefuls Andrew Cuomo and Carl McCall have announced they will not be marching in New York City’s St. Patrick’s Day parade, saying they would only participate when members of a gay group are allowed to march under their own banner.  Meanwhile, Senator Charles Schumer, who has skipped the parade since the flap with the gay group began, refuses to say whether he will march.

Catholic League president William Donohue spoke to the politicians’ decision today:

“Andrew Cuomo and Carl McCall cite a lack of ‘inclusiveness’ in deciding to skip the parade.  Apparently, their desire for inclusiveness does not extend to Irish Catholics in New York.  Besides, their excuse is phony.  Any gay or lesbian is welcome to march in the parade.  But just as no right-to-life group is allowed to march under their own banner, neither can the Irish Lesbian and Gay Organization (ILGO).  New York City Council Speaker Gifford Miller is also invoking the bogus ‘inclusiveness’ excuse.  Cuomo may be the biggest loser of them all.  He claims to be Catholic, wants the Catholic vote, yet turns on his own when it comes time to take a stand.

“The Catholic League spent three weeks calling Senator Schumer’s office, trying in vain to find out if he would participate.  For him to stay home is rank hypocrisy.  Schumer has skipped the St. Patrick’s Day parade since the ILGO controversy began more than ten years ago.  Yet he had no problem marching in the ‘Salute to Israel’ when organizers of that event had a similar ban on gay groups marching under their own banner prior to 1999.  Why does he respect the house rules of the ‘Salute to Israel’ parade but not the ‘St. Patrick’s Day’ parade?

“Come election time, New York Catholics and indeed all New Yorkers will take note of these politicians’ intolerance of Catholic beliefs in the organizing of the St. Patrick’s Day parade.”

On February 28, the Catholic League issued a news release blasting Santa Fe Community College in Gainesville, Florida, for hosting an exhibit by Pat Payne, “A Look at Violence in Religious and Sexual Imagery.”  The work depicted Jesus being sodomized, mutilated and masturbated.

We immediately contacted the school’s president and trustees and filed a complaint with those members of the Florida state legislature whose duty it is to oversee education funding.  Santa Fe Community College has now decided to remove the artwork from a public exhibit to a professor’s office.

Catholic League president William Donohue responded as follows:

“It’s great news to learn that this obscene and blasphemous artwork has been dumped in some professor’s office.  But we will still go ahead with our plan to have our members write to Dr. Jackson Sasser, the president of the college.

“Higher education is in bad shape when a publicly-funded college decides to profane the sacred.  The Payne exhibit is void of intellectual merit and only those who have never been anything but a student or a professor would disagree.

“The best way to resolve problems like these in the future is to deny anyone a Ph.D. unless he or she has worked in a blue collar job for at least two years.  I would personally recommend shoveling coal.  But waiting on tables and tending bar is okay, too.  This would not only provide a reality check for aspiring intellectuals, it would actually give them a chance to meet the proletariat whom they are so fond of writing about.”

In a news release March 11, the Catholic League pledged to contact the leaders of over 100 organizations asking them to join us in dropping all support for the American Red Cross.  We did just that—we faxed all of the organizations on our list.  And also we contacted the Red Cross.

Our complaint centered on the decision of the headquarters of the American Red Cross to defend its Orange County (CA) chapter in prohibiting students from Orange County High School of the Arts from singing “God Bless America” and “America the Beautiful” at a Red Cross luncheon this past Sunday.  The Red Cross opposed the songs citing its “sensitivity to religious diversity” and its “preference for a music program that would be inclusive and not offend different populations participating in this particular event.”

Yesterday evening, the American Red Cross issued a statement saying “the judgements we made in this case in applying our principles clearly offended some in our community.”  It mentioned that “it is important to use reasonable judgement in applying principles to the everyday circumstances we confront.”  The news release continued saying “the judgement we made to exclude certain songs from the Sunday program was a mistake.”  It then apologized for its decision.

Catholic League president William Donohue remarked as follows:

“We are delighted that reasonableness prevailed at the American Red Cross and we have no interest in continuing our campaign to discredit the organization.  While we accept the apology we do not buy the line that this was a ‘mistake.’  No, it was a calculated decision designed to punish religious speech.  The statement, therefore, is intellectually dishonest.  But the bottom line is they got the message.  One more point.  We expect the organization will soon change its name: any group that has ‘Cross’ in its name is clearly being insensitive to religious diversity.”

The Catholic League is asking over 100 organizations to drop their support for the American Red Cross.  Specifically, we are requesting the leaders of allied organizations to alert their members to the decision by the Red Cross Orange County Chapter in Santa Ana, California, to stop students from Orange County High School of the Arts from singing “God Bless America” and “America the Beautiful” at a Red Cross luncheon yesterday.

The national headquarters of the American Red Cross supports the censorship.  In a news release on this subject, it exclaims “our sensitivity to religious diversity” noting its “preference for a music program that would be inclusive and not offend different populations participating in this particular event.”

Catholic League president William Donohue commented as follows:

“If this were just a chapter of the Red Cross acting this way, we would be disturbed but would not call for drastic action.  But since the headquarters of the American Red Cross is supporting the ban on ‘God Bless America’ and ‘America the Beautiful,’ we are left with little alternative.  Sadly, it has become all too common for the high priests of ‘religious diversity’ and ‘inclusiveness’ to resort to gag rules.

“The American Red Cross has every right to adopt the platform of political correctness by censoring the free speech of young men and women who want to honor God and country. And we have every right to ask our friends to send the Red Cross an unmistakable message by refusing to donate one more dime to the organization. Our request is being sent to our allies in virtually every faith community. The time to put an end to this anti-religious madness is now.”

For the second time in a week, Bill Maher relentlessly attacked Catholic priests on the ABC show, “Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher.”  The show that aired just after midnight last night was one of the worst.  Maher led the attack and some of his guests participated as well.  He exploited the problem of priest pedophilia in the Church in an extended segment.  Here is a sample of what he said:

• “Before puberty, I would say nobody caused me more pain than the Catholics.”
• “I apparently was not attractive enough to be hit on [by priests].”

The lone guest who challenged Maher was Jason Jones of Human Life International.  When he commented that this problem was not prevalent in Europe or South America, Maher shot back, “You’re right.  In African countries they rape the nuns.”

Catholic League president William Donohue offered the following remarks today:

“Bill Maher has been attacking Catholicism for years, and this explains why the Catholic League is now at a breaking point with him.  It seems ‘the Catholics’ (a telling use of words) are always causing him pain.  It was also revealing to note that when challenged, he moved from blaming all priests for molesting young boys to raping nuns.  Perhaps this is what he means by diversity.

“I am requesting a meeting with Olivia Cohen-Cutler, vice president of Broadcast Standards and Practices, to see if someone at ABC is willing to intervene.  Maher is out of control.  This isn’t humor—it’s anti-Catholicism of the most vicious kind.  If ABC does nothing to tone him down, we will make public our next move.  And nothing will deter us from pressing this issue until Maher knocks it off.”

The Catholic League’s 2001 Annual Report on Anti-Catholicism is now available.  The report offers evidence of anti-Catholicism drawn from events of 2001.  It includes a preface and executive summary by league president William Donohue; the chapters cover various topical areas and there is a sample of offensive cartoons.

The chapters cover anti-Catholicism found in activist organizations, the artistic community, business and the workplace, education, government and the media; a miscellaneous section is also included.

We are mailing complimentary copies to many in the media and other interested parties.  Those in the media who do not receive a copy and would like to be put on our list should contact us at (212) 371-3191.

Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly has announced an ambitious plan to deal with the problem of child molestation by priests in the Boston Archdiocese.  He proposes to involve his office in the recruitment, selection, training and monitoring of priests.  Catholic League president William Donohue commented on his plan today:

“On February 13, John Roberts of the Massachusetts ACLU was quoted as saying that the climate that has been created over the problems in the Boston Archdiocese reminds him of ‘the old McCarthy era.’  We now know who the new Joe McCarthy is—Attorney General Thomas Reilly.  In fact, Reilly is worse than McCarthy.  McCarthy was best known for his ‘guilt by association’ tactics.  Reilly takes ‘guilt by association’ to new heights by assuming that any young Catholic man interested in pursuing the priesthood must subject himself to the scrutiny of the state.

“The Catholic League has thus far stayed out of this controversy because it is not our job to police the Church.  We are here to defend individual Catholics and the institutional Church against defamation and discrimination.  In short, we know our place.  It’s too bad Attorney General Reilly doesn’t know his.  But if he pursues his power grab he’ll quickly learn what it is: some judge will put him in his place.  That’s after Reilly is introduced to the First Amendment.”

The Drudge Report website says CBS is giving serious consideration to replacing David Letterman with Howard Stern.  Already some executives are worried that if this move takes place there may be problems with advertisers.  Catholic League president William Donohue confirmed their fears today:

“CBS is out of its mind if it thinks it can get away with moving Howard Stern into the Letterman slot without a fight.  If they are bold enough to make this move, here’s what I promise to do.  I’ll organize scores of organizations that have had it with Stern for all kinds of reasons and then we’ll decide on one sponsor to boycott.  We won’t go after CBS per se because it’s impossible to boycott a network with any effectiveness.  We won’t go after all the sponsors at one time because that is also ineffectual.  But if everyone targets the same sponsor at the same time, we’ll win.  And then we’ll decide on a second sponsor to nail, and so on.

“We don’t forget what Stern did on June 30 last year when he and sidekick Robin Quivers joined with porn star Rebecca Lord in attacking all priests as pedophiles.  He did this on E! Entertainment.  We then asked U.S. bishops to join us in a boycott of Miller Brewing, Stern’s biggest sponsor, and many did.

“This time we’re better prepared.  This time we’re going to organize the biggest boycott of them all.  We’re anxiously awaiting their decision and if CBS goes with Stern, we will announce in the coming weeks the names of all the organizations that are participating in the boycott.  Once the sponsors are known, we’ll decide on which one to boycott.

“This boycott will work because no one in the entertainment business has angered Americans across the board more than Howard Stern.  He’s such a big target that and is why this boycott is going to be so much fun.”