RASH OF OLD ACCUSATIONS SURFACE

The following accusations were made against priests in the month of September alone:

• A 34-year-old man says he was abused in the 1980s by a priest from Portland, Oregon.
• In the same diocese, a 41-year-old woman says she was also abused in the 1980s, adding that this explains her series of failed romantic relationships.
• An 83-year-old priest from Charlotte, North Carolina was accused of molesting a teenage male in the 1970s.
• A priest from San Bernardino was accused of molesting teenage males in the 1970s.
• A priest from Ohio was accused of “misconduct” that allegedly took place in the 1970s.
• A priest from Kansas City was accused of molesting a boy in the 1970s.
• A St. Louis priest was accused of molesting a boy in the 1970s.
• A woman says a priest from Maine abused her in the 1970s.
• A priest from Chicago was accused of abusing a girl in the 1970s.
• An 85-year-old priest from Baton Rouge was accused of abusing a boy in the 1950s.
• Montana nuns were accused of abusing students in the 1940s.
• A convicted sex offender from California says he was abused in 2001 by a priest.
• A Missouri couple, which up until now never admitted that their son committed suicide in 1983, sued the local diocese for their son’s death, claiming he was abused by a priest.
• The parents of a young man who committed suicide say they blame a priest who wrestled with their son. Some of the man’s friends say he spoke about a wrestling incident, but never said there was anything sexual about it; others say the man told them he felt the priest’s genitals rubbing up against him.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue says, “In this climate, which is profoundly hostile to priests, one would have to be awfully naïve not to wonder why all of these allegations surfaced in just one month about such dated incidents. I would love to see the financial statements of the accusers.”



“CATHOLIC” GAY GROUP CHASTISED

The following is an excerpt from a joint statement of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the Minnesota Catholic Conference:

“A group calling itself ‘Catholics for Marriage Equality MN’ seeks to confuse Catholics and the public about authentic Church teaching related to matters of marriage and sexuality. The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the Minnesota Catholic Conference (MCC) wish to make it known that this group does not speak for the Catholic Church, is not an agent or entity of the Archdiocese, MCC, or the universal Church, and has no authority to determine what does and does not constitute Christian doctrine and morality.”

Catholic League president Bill Donohue applauds this statement:

As everyone knows, the term “marriage equality” is code for homosexual marriage. The Catholic Church, no surprise, is opposed to treating marriage as an alternative lifestyle. It follows, then, that a group which calls itself “Catholics for Marriage Equality” is a fraud. Another fraud is this group’s sister organization, “Catholics for Equality.” There was still another fraud, “Catholics United for Equality,” but it has since merged with “Catholics for Equality.”

No one really believes that two men can marry, and this includes those homosexuals deemed “married” in states that entertain this fiction. But a separate matter is the right of homosexuals, and their heterosexual supporters, to declare that Catholicism is somehow agnostic on this issue.  It is not. There is only one teaching body in the Catholic Church, the Magisterium, and it neither recognizes nor sanctions social arrangements that compete with marriage.

Kudos to the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the Minnesota Catholic Conference for bringing clarity to an issue that some have dishonestly tried to muddle.



ANTI-CATHOLICS BASH THE BISHOPS

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on a letter recently sent to Kathleen Sebelius, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, by Catholics for Choice and several other organizations:

Catholics for Choice (formerly Catholics for a Free Choice) has teamed up with other anti-Catholics—many of whom have been excommunicated from the Catholic Church—to assail the bishops. What is exercising them now is the determination of the bishops to denounce the anti-Catholic provisions of the Obamacare legislation: the Church leadership is protesting the proposed mandate that Catholic healthcare providers offer contraceptive and sterilization services (the opt-out stipulations are functionally non-existent).

“As progressive Catholic organizations,” the first sentence of the letter reads, “our social justice tradition compels us to speak out and advocate for the least among us.” But the least among us are the most defenseless among us, namely, the unborn. It is precisely this segment of the population that these people say are not deserving of the right to life.

The letter is published in the dissident weekly, the National Catholic Reporter. The headline is revealing: “What the Bishops Won’t Tell You.” In other words, the bishops are lying to Catholics. They go so far as to oppose the most elemental of all civil liberties—the right to conscientiously object, on the basis of religion, to state strictures mandating compliance with acts deemed immoral. The letter even refers to “burdensome conscience clauses.” (My italic.)

By pitting themselves against opt-out provisions like conscience clauses, these activists are proving what practicing Catholics have been saying all along: those who want Obamacare want to shove their secular agenda down the throats of the faithful. Nothing bothers them more than diversity—they want a “one size fits all” bill that codifies their politics.

Contact National Catholic Reporter editor Tom Fox: tfox@ncronline.org


JASON BERRY LIES AGAIN

Catholic League president Bill Donohue explains why he is calling out author Jason Berry, branding him a liar:

I never met, corresponded with, or supported, the late disgraced priest, Father Marcial Maciel. Jason Berry knows this to be true (I have shown him the evidence) but continues to lie nonetheless. Now his lie has been picked up by Notre Dame professor Rev. Richard McBrien in an article he wrote about Berry’s new book, Render Unto Rome: The Secret Life of Money in the Catholic Church.

Berry writes in his book that several Catholic notables were “cultivated” by Maciel, and he lists me as one of them. Printed below is a letter I wrote that was published in 1997 in the Hartford Courant. Berry says this letter proves Maciel “cultivated” a relationship with me.

The headline story of Feb. 23 [“Head of worldwide Catholic order accused of history of abuse”] on the founder of the Legionaries of Christ, Father Marcial Maciel, might have been more persuasive if The Courant didn’t expect its readers to be so gullible.

After all, what am I to make of the third paragraph: “Several [of the accusers] said Maciel told them he had permission from Pope Pius XII to seek them out sexually for relief of physical pain.”

To think any priest would tell some other priest that the pope gave him the thumbs up to have sex with another priest—all for the purpose of relieving the poor fellow of some malady—is the kind of balderdash that wouldn’t convince the most unscrupulous editor at any of the weekly tabloids. The wonder is why The Courant found merit enough to print it.

My point, obviously, was that the newspaper should have known better than to publish such drivel. To conclude from this—and this alone—that Maciel and I had some kind of working relationship is not only false, it is—given the point Berry wants to make—maliciously false.



FORDHAM SEX CONFERENCE BOMBS

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on Fordham’s recent Sexual Diversity conference:

Just a hundred or so curious souls bothered to show up, and though the event was mostly a bomb, it did have its moments. They heard from someone who confessed how he mutilated his genitals, and others so depressed they made the mutilator sound normal. Indeed, some of the tales would have made Rod Serling’s head spin.

Father John Dufell, ever the helpful priest, was there to give advice: when asked by a homosexual how he is supposed to deal with his inadmissibility to become a priest, Dufell told him to lie. He said it was okay to lie because it is the “system” in the Catholic Church that is broken.

One poor soul who attended sounded absolutely virginal: “I expected it to be a discussion of church teaching, but instead it kind of assumed that church teaching was wrong—and I wasn’t expecting that.” Didn’t he know where he was?

In any event, it was nice to learn that Erma Durkin, who traveled all the way from Maryland, found the sessions “very encouraging.” Erma is 82.

 

To read a story written by someone who really liked the conference, click here.

Contact conference organizer Paul Lakeland: pflakeland@fairfield.edu


“PRO-CHILD” BILL IS ANTI-CATHOLIC

The “Every Child Deserves a Family Act” would deny federal funds to any adoption agency that “discriminates” against prospective adoptive or foster parents on the basis of sexual orientation. Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on the bill today:

The proponents of the “Every Child Deserves a Family Act” manifestly do not believe that every child deserves a family: only those lucky enough to make it to term qualify. Indeed, of the 69 cosponsors of the bill, 96 percent are pro-abortion. In other words, they are deceitfully playing the “pro-child” card while disguising their real agenda, which is to stick it to the Catholic Church. Consider the following.

No religion has a greater network of adoptive and foster parent agencies than the Catholic Church. Like almost all other religions, the Catholic Church believes that marriage should be the reserve of a man and a woman, the only two people capable of creating a family. This bill, however, does not recognize the legitimacy of this ancient verity. Worse, it seeks to punish those who do not accept, as a matter of conscience, homosexuals as adoptive or foster parents.

Fully a third of the cosponsors are Catholic, though most have long broken with Catholic teachings on public policy issues. All but one of the cosponsors is a Democrat. The lone Republican, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, is not only in favor of homosexuals adopting children, she cosponsored the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, a bill signed by President Clinton to protect the integrity of this basic social institution.

Rep. Ros-Lehtinen switched from Catholic to Episcopalian a few years ago. But it is not her activism as a Christian that has won her awards—it is her commitment to Scientology that has drawn kudos. No matter, it is clear that her new affiliations coincide with her newly acquired liberal voting record (the scores she receives from liberal and conservative groups have virtually flip-flopped in recent years). In any event, she is now aligned with a bill that is decidedly anti-Catholic.



SINEAD O’CONNOR—”KILL THE POPE”

Irish singer Sinead O’Connor is warning Pope Benedict XVI not to come to Ireland, and if he does, she wants him shot. She warned on Twitter there will be a “f***in bloodbath” if the pope visits Ireland.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on her outburst:

Sinead O’Connor has a long history of Catholic bashing, so in one sense her latest foray is not unusual. What’s new, however, is her advocacy of violence. Given her precarious condition, it is not likely she could shoot straight, but her violent appeal may trigger others to act. That is the danger.

O’Connor is not doing well. The cops were recently summoned to her home after she Tweeted about suicide. She needs long-term help. In the meantime, whatever family or friends she has would do well to get her to ramp down her rhetoric and at least pretend to be normal.



GAYS GONE WILD

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on San Francisco’s Folsom Street Fair, which was held yesterday:

As usual, the homosexuals went naked in the streets, and some engaged in their ritual Catholic-bashing events. Men were flogged while stretched out on a huge metal Cross, while others dressed as nuns. Whips and chains could be bought everywhere, and sadomasochistic behavior was commonplace. It’s what they do.

This year’s Folsom Street Fair occurred on a weekend where homosexuals walked around naked all over the city. There was also a “Nude-In,” a protest by homosexuals who are angry about a proposed law that would prohibit people from going to restaurants in the nude; it would also require those who sit on park benches to put a towel, or maybe a handkerchief, under their bottoms. Public nudity is legal in the state of California, and nowhere is it more popular than in San Francisco.

In every newspaper which reported on these events, not one mentioned that they were staged by homosexuals. Moreover, not a single person in the gay community was quoted as objecting to either the Catholic bashing or the depravity. The Catholic representative of this district, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, was similarly mute.

“Defining deviancy down” is how Daniel Patrick Moynihan characterized the lowering of moral standards and expectations. But that was almost 20 years ago. Back then, public nudity was a rarity; today, the demand that we wear pants while ordering a burger at McDonald’s is seen as oppressive.

 



“HANDCUFF THE POPE!”

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on remarks by David Clohessy, national director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), posted today on the website of Time magazine, time.com:

David Clohessy spoke for SNAP when he said it’s their goal to jail the pope. “We’re not naïve. We don’t think the Pope will be hauled off in handcuffs next week or next month. But by the same token, our long-term chances are excellent.”

We’re glad Clohessy bared the truth about SNAP. Just last month, we released a report on what happened at a recent SNAP conference, demonstrating how deep-seated and irrational their hatred is of all things Catholic [click here to read it]. When asked about it, Clohessy told the Catholic weekly, Our Sunday Visitor, that “It just makes me incredibly sad and frustrated when some people assume the worst about survivors’ motives.”

After learning what SNAP and its allies said about the Catholic Church behind closed doors, we don’t need to assume anything about their motives. They’re obscene. Clohessy’s latest admission—they won’t rest until the pope is behind bars—just adds to the evidence. SNAP has become, without doubt, the most anti-Catholic organization in the United States, surpassing even Catholics for Choice.

 



ROLLING STONE’S YELLOW JOURNALISM

Catholic League president Bill Donohue offers a brief statement about a more extended commentary he has written [click here to read it] on an article in the September 15 edition of Rolling Stone, “The Catholic Church’s Secret Sex-Crime Files”:

Catholic bashers have gotten a lot of mileage out of the sexual abuse scandal, but for sheer maliciousness, it is hard to top the piece in Rolling Stone. The factual errors, the stereotypes, the grand omissions, and the melodramatic language make for an incredible read. Make no mistake about it, the author, Sabrina Rubin Erdely, has secured her place in the annals of yellow journalism.

Ten years ago, former Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne Abraham was charged with the responsibility of investigating the sexual abuse of minors by the clergy of all religions. She chose to disregard her assignment, choosing only to go after priests; all ministers and rabbis were given a pass. Yet after all her efforts, not a single priest in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia was convicted of anything. But in the court of public opinion, many priests, including the last three Philly archbishops, are guilty as sin. That’s what Abraham set out to do, and now the baton has been passed to the likes of Erdely.

It does no good to simply say Erdely is wrong—she must be proven wrong. That is why I wrote a lengthy rebuttal, detailing her prejudices and falsehoods. Shame on Rolling Stone for entertaining this vile hit on the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

Miscreant priests should be dealt with in a just manner, and punished accordingly; that is what the courts will determine next year when three priests, one ex-priest, and a lay schoolteacher stand trial. In the meantime, everyone would do well to take a deep breath and remember that the accused are considered innocent until proven guilty. That this needs to be said, especially in cases involving priests, is an index of just how tenuous their status is these days.

Contact Jann Wenner, publisher: jann.wenner@rollingstone.com