Catholic League president Bill Donohue addresses the spate of articles on priestly celibacy:

 Reports in Ireland and Germany of decades-old cases of priestly sexual abuse have triggered an array of articles, surveys and talk-show discussions on the need for the Catholic Church to end the celibacy requirement. The implication, of course, is that more heterosexuals, and less homosexuals, would therefore be drawn to the priesthood, thus alleviating the problem. 

 The reasoning is sound: as we have seen from several studies—including the one just released by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops—80 percent of the victims are male. Just as important, the majority of the victims are post-pubescent. In other words, we are talking about homosexuality, not pedophilia. 

Those who fancy themselves progressive would never, of course, say there is a homosexual link to priestly sexual abuse. But they know it to be true in their heart of hearts. For example, no one seriously believes that pedophiles would be inclined to marry if celibacy were lifted—they are not interested in adults. But surely homosexuals would find the seminaries and parishes less attractive if most of the men were married.

 So as not to be misunderstood, it is nonsense to say that homosexuality causes sexual abuse. Moreover, it is both untrue, and unfair, to say that most gay priests are molesters. They are not. But it is also true that most of the molesters are gay. Is this not the unstated predicate of progressives pushing for an end to celibacy? Why else recommend doing away with it? 

 In short, the only difference between most progressives and most conservatives on this issue is that the latter are not afraid to identify the elephant in the room.

 Catholic League president Bill Donohue replies to an article posted today on the website of Vanity Fair by contributing editor Michael Wolff (it is a slightly smaller piece than the one posted on Wolff’s own website, newser.com):

 Wolff begins his column fair enough. “In an age when all religions must be treated by right-thinking people with the greatest tolerance and respect, much of the reaction to the sexual abuse story in Europe and the Pope’s involvement with it, is, nevertheless, deeply and specifically anti-Catholic.” Correct. 

 Inexplicably, Wolff then descends into a rant so vicious it might warrant editing at an alternative newspaper. Does he not realize how his own anti-Catholicism undercuts his lead statement? For example, he writes, “There might not be a Church, as we know the Church, without sexual abuse. The Catholic Church equals sex abuse.” Didn’t an editor realize how foolish Wolff looks?

 Now try this one on for size. “There might not be Islam, as we know Islam, without violence. Islam equals violence.”

 There is literally no moral difference between this bigoted assault on Islam and Wolff’s bigoted assault on Catholicism. 

 Contact Wolff: michael@newser.com

*Please note that Newser is the sole publisher of this article; Vanity Fair merely provides a link.

The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal by a high school student who sought to sue her school for banning the instrumental version of “Ave Maria” at her 2006 graduation. Therefore, the decision of the Ninth Circuit stands: the court agreed with school administrators that the song was obviously religious.

 Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on this today:

 Now that students need to be protected from hearing “Ave Maria,” what will school administrators do if there is a request to play Beethoven’s “Missa Solemnis” at a school concert? Will they resort to another gag order? What if the request is to play Duke Ellington’s “Sacred Concert”? Will they censor that one, too? 

 The same civil libertarians who routinely defend obscene speech in high schools offered no help to this student. In other words, “Ave Maria” is obscene speech to them—not the “F” word. And they say they don’t make moral judgments.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue seeks to set the record straight on the status of the Catholic Church’s position on the health care bill:

We are delighted that Sister Mary Ann Walsh, director of media relations for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), issued a news release yesterday clarifying the position of Catholics on the health care bill. She explicitly cited a dissident Catholic group, NETWORK, for giving the false impression that 59,000 nuns have lined up in favor of the bill. “The letter had 55 signatories, some individuals, some groups of three to five persons. One endorser signed twice.”

Perhaps the most commonly disseminated piece of disinformation concerns the question of abortion in the legislation. Is it true, as Catholic dissidents are saying, that the Senate bill does not cover abortion? And if so, are the bishops the ones promoting false information?

The answer does not require legal analysis. All it requires is an ability to read and exercise common sense. If abortion coverage is not in the bill, then why is it that every single amendment written to make absolutely sure that abortion funding is not in the legislation was defeated by pro-abortion senators?

We are happy to note that a health group of real professionals, namely the Catholic Medical Association, has formally opposed the bill; Catholic doctors should be listened to on this issue. The fact that they see right through the disinformation is heartening.

Those in the media who want to know what the Catholic position is on this issue, and every other public policy issue, need only access the website of the USCCB. What others say is intriguing, but hardly determinative.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on a front-page article in today’s New York Times on a sex abuse incident that took place in Germany 30 years ago:

“For decades it was common practice in the church not to involve law enforcement in sexual abuse cases.” Thus does the Times give the impression that outside the Catholic Church, secular and religious organizations typically called the cops when they learned of abuse cases by employees. This is pure, unadulterated bunk. The rule, not the exception, was to deal with such matters internally.

Only recently have there been any laws mandating that the authorities be notified. What really takes chutzpah is the fact that the New York Times did not endorse a bill last year in New York State which would have treated public institutions the same way it would have treated private institutions in dealing with sex abuse.

In the 1960s, 70s and 80s—the very period when the vast majority of cases of priestly sexual molestation took place—the prevailing zeitgeist was to rehabilitate and renew. Had the Church dealt punitively right off the bat with alleged offenders, it would have been branded heartless and un-Christian at the time. How perverse it is, then, that those who sold us the  idea that every malady could be cured by rehabilitation are now the very ones condemning the Catholic Church for following their prescription. That they are selectively doing so is all the more infuriating.

Anyone who thinks this twisted thinking is confined to the New York Times isn’t keeping up with liberal sentiment on this issue. It’s the norm.

Contact NYT Public Editor Clark Hoyt: public@nytimes.com

Yesterday, the Catholic League protested the blog site of the Orange County Register which showed the silhouette of a priest in a Q & A section on sexual abuse. Bill Donohue, the league’s president, is pleased with the outcome:

Thanks to our members who pounded the newspaper with e-mails, the  president and publisher of the Orange County Register, Terry Horne, released a letter of apology to complainants. “Singling out one group, especially in such a recognizable way, was unfair and inappropriate.” He ended his letter by saying, “We hope you will forgive the lapse in judgment. And I hope you will accept my personal apology.”

On the blog site, yesterday’s news release of the Catholic League is posted. The logo of the Catholic League is placed at the top.

We accept the apology. Case closed.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on remarks made by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi today:

Last year, when Nancy Pelosi went to see the pope, she was denied the opportunity to exploit him: photographers were not invited into the room for the typical photo session. Instead, Pope Benedict XVI reminded her of the duties expected of public Catholics. But her determination to play the Catholic card—oh, so selectively—rebounded again when she informed the media that today is the feast of St. Joseph, a special day of prayer for workers, and especially Italians. She apparently stopped short of blessing herself, though she didn’t stop short of invoking St. Joseph’s name in support of the health care bill. Separation of church and state fanatics who suffered apoplexy whenever George W. Bush dropped the Lord’s name are not expected to take to the streets.

Then Pelosi lied. She said she is grateful for the support of 60 orders of nuns, not mentioning that the letter she received had a whopping total of 55 signatories. Worse, she had the gall to say that this represents “almost every order you can think of.” Wrong. In fact, there are 793 religious communities, which means she heard from seven-and-a-half percent of them. Moreover, since there are approximately 65,000 nuns in the U.S., that means she was contacted by .0008 percent of them.

In other words, not only are the bishops formally opposed to the bill she champions, it’s a lie to maintain that the nuns are on her side. Shameless is too kind a word to use to describe what Pelosi did today.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue defended the bishops as the true voice of the Catholic Church:

Anyone seeking to know the position of a newspaper on any given issue would be well advised to consult the editorial page. Anyone seeking to know the position of a labor union on any given issue would be well advised to consult what union officials say. Anyone seeking to know the position of the Catholic Church in the U.S. on any given issue would be well advised to consult the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). The fact that some reporters, union members or Catholics disagree with some of the positions taken by the editors, officials or bishops is interesting, but changes nothing.

This needs to be said as media outlets are now trying to cast the bishops as one voice among many in the Catholic community. Of course, adding to the confusion are fraudulent Catholic groups like Catholics United, a front for its benefactor, George Soros; the National Catholic Reporter, a newspaper known mostly for its rejection of Catholic teachings on sexuality; groups like NETWORK, a Catholic organization whose founder Sister Marjorie Tuite was threatened with expulsion from her order because of her aggressive pro-abortion position; and an array of dissident nuns. Previously, Donna Quinn, the co-director of the National Coalition of American Nuns, signed a statement demanding abortion coverage in the health care bill.

All of this started when a nun who heads the Catholic Health Association (CHA) said she liked the Obama bill. It quickly metastasized into something so bizarre that we now have a liberal Catholic, E.J. Dionne, wondering why the bishops are undermining the CHA!

The Catholic League stands with the USCCB, Cardinal Francis George, Archbishop Joseph Naumann, Archbishop Charles Chaput, the Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious, and all those Catholics who truly oppose abortion and refuse to compromise Church teachings.

On the blog site of yesterday’s Orange County Register was a series of questions and answers on the subject of sexual abuse. At the top, under the headline question, “Think you can spot the sex offender in the crowd?”, was a silhouette of a priest: faceless, the silhouette was clearly a male wearing a priest’s collar and black jacket. None of the questions or answers mentioned anything about a priest, or about religion in general. This entry is still posted today on the blog of the Santa Ana, California newspaper.

Commenting on this is Catholic League president Bill Donohue:

The newspaper is a disgrace. By slandering tens of thousands of Catholic priests all across the nation, the Orange County Register has carved out a special place for itself in the annals of journalism.

When the Danish cartoon controversy exploded in 2006, the Orange County Register refused to offend Muslims by printing the depictions of Muhammad. Ken Brusic, the editor, explained the decision by saying that to publish the cartoons the newspaper “would needlessly offend many in our community and would add little to the debate.” But offending Catholics, especially Catholic priests, is perfectly legitimate.

Nothing short of an immediate apology will suffice, and it should come from the top, Terry Horne, president and publisher.

Contact: thorne@ocregister.com

On yesterday’s episode of “The View,” the panelists criticized the decision of a Colorado Catholic school not to enroll students of a lesbian couple. Catholic League president Bill Donohue responded today:

When this story broke last week, I told the staff it was inevitable that the gals on “The View” would address it. Why? Because they never miss an opportunity to rip the Catholic Church whenever it fails to ratify the secular thinking in the dominant culture. 

 “We’ll be hearing from Bill Donohue tomorrow probably,” said Joy Behar on Monday. Was she at all uncertain? If five Catholics with a history of anti-Semitism bashed the house rules of a yeshiva, would it not occasion a news release from Abe Foxman at the ADL? 

I cite this example because none of those upset with the Catholic school is Catholic. Behar, Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Whoopi Goldberg are all ex-Catholics. Sherri Shepherd (the only one who is not offensive) is Protestant. And Barbara Walters is Jewish. Hasselbeck, in particular, needs to let go: it’s been a long time since she shopped around to find some new religion and yet she is still obsessed with Catholicism.

Both Behar and Hasselbeck said yesterday that Jesus would not have approved of the Catholic school’s decision. Nice to know they have a pipeline to the Almighty, and that they consider themselves to be tolerant, non-judgmental and without a trace of bigotry.

 Contact the executive producer: bill.geddie@abc.com