On a billboard in Providence, Rhode Island, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) features a portrait of the Virgin Mary holding a dead chicken.  Next to this is the inscription, “GO VEGETARIAN: It’s an Immaculate Conception” (a cross is placed inside the letter O, thus resembling the Celtic cross).

Catholic League president William Donohue took issue with the poster:

“Just recently, PETA outraged the Anti-Defamation League for trivializing the Holocaust.  Now it’s incurred the wrath of the Catholic League by trivializing the Immaculate Conception.  This suggests an inability to get its message across without exploiting others.  What makes this particularly telling is PETA’s opposition to the exploitation of animals.  Maybe if PETA were to think of Jews and Catholics as if they were jaguars and cats, its bigotry would end.”

Catholics for a Free Choice (CFFC) has commenced a “Good Catholics Use Condoms” public education campaign that condemns the Vatican for its opposition to condoms.  The group’s director, Frances Kissling, accuses the Catholic Church of promoting a culture of death; it is planning an ad campaign in Washington, D.C. and overseas.

Catholic League president William Donohue responded as follows:

“Catholics for a Free Choice is one of the nation’s premier Catholic-bashing groups.  There is nothing Catholic about it save for its name: the U.S. bishops have twice condemned it as a fraud.  Moreover, its enthusiasm for abortion puts it at the epicenter of the culture of death.  Now it is distorting scientific evidence to make its case once again.

“Over the past two decades, condom use has soared.  So has the level of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).  That’s because young people have been lulled into thinking that condoms prevent STDs.  They do not—only abstinence does.  Between the defects in condoms, their improper storage, improper usage, and their inability to prevent STDs that are spread from skin to skin, it is no wonder that the level of condom use and the incidence of STDs track each other.

“Kissling’s latest campaign doesn’t do the Democrats any good.  The Democratic National Committee (DNC) continues to provide a link on its website to her anti-Catholic front group.  We will match Kissling’s latest public education campaign stride for stride, educating more and more Catholics about her work, and about her ties to the DNC.”