William Donohue, president of the Catholic League, offered the following remarks today on the death of Terri Schiavo:

“The let-her-starve crowd has finally seen its death wish for Terri Schiavo become a reality.  But they didn’t walk away unscathed.  For example, after the presidential election, many of those not associated with the pro-life community said they wanted to reach out to them.  Well, they had their chance to speak up, but decided instead to run.  Their silence will not be forgotten.

“The Schiavo case brought to the surface many questions that should long ago have been addressed.  In this regard, the teachings of the Catholic Church on end-of-life issues is a model of clarity compared to that of all the other religions.  It’s time that all world religions more forthrightly tackled these issues before it’s too late.  And by that I mean before the secular bioethicists rule the day, for many of them don’t know the difference between a hamster and a human.”

Scott Bloch commands the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) and has come under attack by a left-wing non-profit group, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), for his policy decisions and hiring practices.  PEER, headed by Jeff Ruch, has protested publicly that Bloch has hired some graduates of Ave Maria law school.  His most recent criticisms came on March 25 in an interview he had on National Public Radio (NPR).  The host of the show, Bob Garfield, sided with Ruch.

Catholic League president William Donohue has had enough, and that is why he wrote a letter today, partially reproduced here, to every member of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs:

To be specific, PEER director Jeffrey Ruch has persistently charged in public that it is improper for Bloch to hire graduates of Ave Maria law school; he did this most recently on National Public Radio on March 25.  “Scott Bloch’s personnel practices,” Ruch previously said, “are taken straight from The Da Vinci Code rather than the civil service manual.”

If Scott Bloch were Jewish and he was publicly criticized for hiring graduates of Yeshiva University law school, it would be branded anti-Semitic.  If Bloch were African American and his crime was hiring graduates of Howard University law school, it would be branded racist.  The point I am making is obvious.  And for good measure, consider what would happen if someone accused a Jewish public servant of taking his personnel practices straight from The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

In short, when Ruch complains about Bloch, you should know what’s driving his animus.  I would like to share your thoughts on this matter with the Catholic community, so please let me know what they are.

Catholic League president William Donohue commented today on those who have declared Terri Schiavo dead:

“The public conversation about Terri Schiavo has gotten so debased that Steve Otto of the Tampa Tribune notes that one side speaks of ‘an already dead’ woman.  Indeed, consider James Kutkowski, Jordan Ross and Jim Seeber of the University of Mississippi, Oklahoma State University and Northern State University, respectively: they are confident that Terri is already dead.  But no one is more cock-sure than Christopher Hitchens, a man whose comments are so obscene as to forever discredit him as a human-rights advocate for any cause.

“Last week, on the MSNBC-TV show ‘Hardball,’ Hitchens told me that ‘Mrs. Schiavo is dead and has been for some time.’  He also spoke of her ‘nonlife,’ only to contradict himself by saying, ‘I would just give her a morphine injection.’  He did not say why it would be necessary to poison a corpse.  And today, Hitchens wrote of ‘the late and long-dead Terri Schiavo.’

“History has taught that deadly consequences follow when one segment of the human population declares another segment of the human population to be less than human.  At various times in history, American Indians, Jews, African Americans, Asians, the unborn and infants have been classified as subhuman.  Terms like ‘parasites,’ ‘lower animals,’ ‘primitive animals,’ ‘inferior race,’ ‘inferior class of beings,’ ‘untamable, carnivorous animals,’ ‘beasts of burden,’ ‘sicklers,’ ‘transit material,’ ‘raw material,’ ‘anthropological specimens,’ ‘article of property,’ ‘rubbish,’ ‘garbage,’ ‘refuse’ and ‘nonpersons’ have frequently been employed.  To this Hitchens adds, ‘nonlife.’

“Albert Speer, one of Hitler’s henchmen, once explained how it was possible for him to kill so many Jews.  He emphatically denied hating Jews, saying only that ‘I simply depersonalized them.’  Get it Hitchens?”

Catholic League president William Donohue commented today on how Terri Schiavo and Jeff Weise are emblematic of our culture of death:

“The pending death of Terri Schiavo, coupled with the Minnesota massacre, are emblematic of our culture of death.

“In Terri’s case, an innocent person is being intentionally starved to death because lawmakers have decided to honor the words of her discredited, morally delinquent husband, preferring to err on the side of death.  In the Minnesota tragedy, nine innocent persons—plus their killer—are dead because school teachers, administrators and counselors decided not to honor the telltale signs that were right before their eyes.  In both cases, insouciance and passivity produced deadly consequences.

“Terri’s fate did not land on the laps of Florida lawmakers overnight.  They have had years to address antiquated case law on the subject of euthanasia, but they’ve been too busy contemplating the hidden meaning of hanging chads to do so.  Moreover, one would have thought that following the Elian debacle, these lawmakers might have taken the time to reconsider the wisdom of family law in all its aspects.  But instead they did what they do best—they procrastinated.

“Jeff Weise went to school wearing eye makeup and a black trench coat.  He wore combat boots, had chains on his pants and sported black spiky hair.  He wrote stories about zombies, drew pictures of people with bullet holes in their heads, and depicted himself with monster’s teeth.  The self-described loner frequently posted messages on the Internet site of www.nazi.org, and no doubt believed what the Libertarian National Socialist Green Party had to say.  Not only does the site flatly reject Christianity and Judaism, it expressly says, ‘We reject morality in all its forms as unnatural.’

“So there you have it.  Legislative lassitude, combined with an increasingly amoral culture, has left death in its wake.”

Catholic League president William Donohue issued the following news release today on the Terri Schiavo case:

“Mention Terri Schiavo to left-wing Christians and feminists and immediately they panic.  That’s because they find it impossible to think about euthanasia without first thinking about abortion.  And anything that might jeopardize their precious right to abort a child must be resisted at all cost.  Tragically, as this case has revealed, even when the specter of domestic violence is raised, it is not enough to get the ‘pro-women’ advocates to take Terri’s side.  Consider the following.

“The most left-wing Catholic publications in the nation are the National Catholic Reporter and Commonweal.  Neither is on Terri’s side, and both have taken positions on euthanasia that are directly contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church.  Similarly, Pax Christi, the nation’s leading Catholic pacifist organization, is outraged over the condition of health care, but it has nothing to say about the condition of Terri’s health.   Those looking for wisdom about this issue from the Catholic Theological Society of America had better look elsewhere: it’s too busy defending the non-Catholic teachings of a so-called Catholic theologian whom the Vatican recently disciplined.  Catholics Speak Out and Catholics for a Free Choice are both dissident groups whose latest musings involve women’s ordination and a condemnation of the Vatican; neither has spoken to the Schiavo case.  Among Protestants, the National Council of Churches has been predictably silent on this issue, preferring to opine on the ‘immorality’ of the federal budget.

“The latest issue for the Feminist Majority is not why the police didn’t pursue a homicide investigation against Michael Schiavo—even though a police report listed homicide the night they found Terri.  No, their latest issue is the need to tell young girls that abstinence doesn’t work.  Meanwhile, the National Organization for Women is too busy celebrating gay marriage to be worried about a woman whose cheating husband allegedly asked Terri’s nurses, ‘When is that bitch gonna die?’”

Catholic League president William Donohue wrote a letter today to Ron Howard, the director of the film version of The Da Vinci Code.  The text of the letter appears below.

Dear Mr. Howard:

The upcoming film version of The Da Vinci Code is being greeted with much anticipation.  As president of the nation’s largest Catholic civil rights organization, I have a particular interest in how the movie might affect the public perception of Roman Catholicism.  Moreover, radio and TV talk-show hosts have already asked me to comment on what the league plans to do upon release of the film.  I have been cautious, saying it depends on how the movie is marketed.

To be specific, will it be sold as a work of fiction, or as an admixture of fact and fiction?  If it’s the former, then that would relieve any concerns the Catholic League might have.  If it is the latter, we may have a problem: in all likelihood, the film—if it is seen as an accurate account—would be used as fodder by anti-Catholics.

To this end, I am requesting that a disclaimer appear on the screen prior to the start of the movie indicating that the film is purely a work of fiction.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

William A. Donohue, Ph.D.

President

An editorial in today’s Miami Herald chastises Florida lawmakers for intervening in the Terri Schiavo case; her feeding tube is currently scheduled to be pulled at 1:00 p.m. on Friday.  The editorial characterizes the response of the lawmakers as an “emotional rush to judgment.”

William Donohue, president of the Catholic League, opined as follows:

“The Miami Herald is full of rage today, but curiously it is not directed at those who want an innocent woman to starve to death ASAP.  And it certainly isn’t directed at the person who is leading this crusade, namely the woman’s cheating husband.  Rather, it is aimed at those who are seeking to keep the woman alive.

“The Miami Herald is good at the ‘emotional rush to judgment’ game.  On October 23, 2003, it used the identical language to slam the lawmakers for intervening in the same case.  But it seems like its patience is dependent on its politics.

“For example, when the issue was Holocaust survivors cashing in on insurance claims, it said in 2000 that an ‘immediate and comforting remedy’ was necessary.  Just this month it said that Medicaid reform needed ‘immediate action.’  But when, in 2000, the issue was limiting appeals on the death-penalty, it counseled against a ‘rush to judgment.’  And just two months ago it urged Miami-Dade officials to exercise patience in deciding what to do about tearing down ‘a charming coral-rock home’ that was falling apart.  Why?  Because the Miami Herald likes the house—it’s one of only four coral-rock homes that remain on Miami Beach—and therefore wants it to survive.

“But not all is lost.  To get the Miami Herald’s support, lawmakers could quickly pass a Medicaid reform bill that has a rider allowing food and water for Terri Schiavo.  If this doesn’t work, then maybe the newspaper could be persuaded to think of Terri as if she were a death-row inmate, or even ‘a charming coral-rock home.’  That might keep her alive.”

The Catholic League’s 2004 Annual Report on Anti-Catholicism is now available.  It contains a preface and executive summary of the year’s events by league president William Donohue, and a complete list of its findings.  The findings are categorized according to activist organizations; the arts; business/workplace; education; government; media; and miscellaneous.

The 2004 Annual Report also includes a special section devoted to the controversy surrounding “The Passion of the Christ.”  It lists all of the incendiary statements that were made against Mel Gibson and his film.

Copies are being mailed to bishops, reporters, TV and radio talk-show hosts, educators, lawyers, federal agencies and others; it is available to the public for $10.  Those in the media who do not receive a complimentary copy, and would like to obtain one, should contact our office.

On the cover of the March 2-8 edition of the New York Press, a free New York weekly, there is a picture of Pope John Paul II.  The story is titled,  “THERE’S NOTHING FUNNY ABOUT THIS MAN DYING—OR IS THERE?”  The story contains 52 of the most crude and vulgar jokes about the pope’s death.  Here are a few examples:

• Beetles eating Pope’s dead brains.

• Gurgling sound during embalming process; real fluids in dead Pope’s body sucked out into jars.

• Doctors examining the body discover that the Pope was not only a woman, but also Hitler.

• Can’t move. Can’t reach penis.

• Throw a marble at the dead Pope’s head. Bonk!

Catholic League president William Donohue released the following statement about this story today:

“There are many in our society who have long been threatened by the teachings of the Catholic Church, especially those which address sexual ethics.  Take the New York Press, for example.  Its celebration of libertinism leaves it squarely at odds with the sexual reticence favored by Catholicism.  It also leaves it squarely at odds with nature, which explains why attending funerals is not an uncommon experience for those who work there.  But like a dopey dog who doesn’t recognize his master, they plod along never learning from the wisdom the Catholic Church has to offer.  And, of course, they hate the pope.  Which makes sense: he is the one man whose commitment to the truth has literally driven them over the edge.”

Yesterday, the House of Representatives passed a bill that would allow faith-based organizations to receive federal funds for job training even if they chose to hire only persons who belong to their religion.  The bill now goes to the Senate for approval.

Catholic League president William Donohue supports the bill:

“Any bill that purports to help faith-based organizations provide social services but imposes hiring restrictions on them is a sham.  If Catholic social service organizations cannot insist on hiring Catholics, then it becomes indistinguishable from any government-sponsored program.  Given that the entire purpose of funding faith-based programs is to provide equity—to allow them to compete with non-sectarian programs for federal dollars—it is meaningless to say they can compete for money as long as they gut their identity.  It would be more manly to simply say ‘buzz off.’

“Section 703 of the 1964 Civil Rights Act specifically allows religious organizations to consider religion in hiring.  That’s because those who passed the bill understood that to do otherwise would undermine the ability of religious organizations to function properly.  Why some can’t see this today—or choose not to—is disconcerting, to say the least.

 “Howard Dean must act now.  He is the one who has been saying for the past month that his party is not hostile to people of faith.  Unfortunately, the vote for this bill split largely along party lines, with his party voting to oppose it.  For Dean to duck this issue would be a grave mistake.”