Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments as follows:

Critics of Vatican efforts to reform the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) have their talking points down so well that everyone now just assumes that the reform initiative was triggered by concerns over these nuns pushing for ObamaCare. All of them are wrong, and it is not a matter of opinion.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) legislation wasn’t introduced in the House until September 17, 2009. The decision to undertake a doctrinal assessment of the LCWR was announced on April 8, 2008, while George W. Bush was president. In other words, the narrative about “payback” is simply faulty: the timeline undercuts the critics’ argument.

Bill Donohue invites everyone to contact SUBWAY in pressuring Comedy Central to have Jon Stewart apologize for his “vagina manger” assault on Christian sensibilities. The sandwich giant is one of “The Daily Show’s” most prominent sponsors.

Contact Kevin Kane, the Public Relations Manager: kane_k@subway.com

SUBWAY World Headquarters
Attn: Kevin Kane, Public Relations Manager
325 Bic Drive
Milford, CT 06461

We began our sponsor drive with Kraft last week; today we’ve chosen SUBWAY. Every day we will announce a new sponsor to contact until we have reached a total of ten. Then we will move on to religious leaders, with a few related news releases in between.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on the way some are reacting to the Vatican’s decision to reform the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR):

Over the years, I have met many nuns who have been distraught over the way some in their ranks have lost their way. Now that the Vatican is seeking reforms, these nuns feel vindicated. That is why it is disturbing to read the way some of the Vatican’s critics are trying to defend the indefensible. Keep in mind that only 3% of the 55,000 nuns in the U.S. actually belong to the LCWR, though one would never know this by reading the secular press. But facts don’t matter to those gone loopy.

Joan Vennochi of the Boston Globe wants to know why the pope doesn’t “crack down on protectors of pedophile priests” instead of nuns. But there is nothing to crack down about. As the latest report on priestly sexual abuse shows, no credible accusations were made in 2011 against 99.98% of the priests. Besides, the problem has been homosexuality, not pedophilia (less than 5% of the old cases dealt with pedophilia).

Monica Yant Kinney in the Philadelphia Inquirer says the Vatican “slammed nuns for devoting their lives to educating the poor, treating the sick, and feeding the ravenous.” That she still has her job after writing such drivel is the real story here.

Melinda Henneberger of the Washington Post says the LCWR got in trouble for supporting ObamaCare. A little research would have disclosed that legitimate concerns about this group extend back many years, having nothing to do with ObamaCare.

Pat Buchanan was fired from MSNBC because his bosses didn’t like a book he wrote. By contrast, the Vatican doesn’t fire anyone for breaking ranks. So tell me which of these two organizations really can’t tolerate dissent? One more thing: we await a column by these voyeurs on the sex segregation that is commonplace in Orthodox Judaism and Islam.

According to the Tampa Bay Times, while performing in Florida on Saturday night, Jon Stewart “offered some serious messages, railing against cable TV news channels’ ‘outrage machine’ after noting the Catholic League boycotted him for a joke placing a manger between a woman’s legs.”

Stewart then said, “I’m not going to censor myself to comfort your ignorance.” The newspaper said this remark was made “in a rare moment of seriousness.”

Catholic League president Bill Donohue picked up on what Stewart said:

Nice to know the Catholic League is on Jon Stewart’s mind. Unfortunately for him, we’re going to hang around for weeks, contacting his sponsors and religious leaders from all the major religions. We’re sending them the “vagina manger” picture he is so proud of, asking everyone to pressure Comedy Central into getting Stewart to apologize.

We really don’t need to boycott anyone as the picture is so indefensible—putting a nativity scene ornament in between the legs of a naked woman—that no one save the maliciously sick would even try to defend it.

The good news is that Stewart lashed out at us in a serious moment—the e-mails that are pouring into Comedy Central are obviously getting to him. We’ll see who is branded as “ignorant” when our campaign is done.

Contact Comedy Central Communications head Steve Albani: steve.albani@cc.com

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on the next phase of the campaign against Jon Stewart:

Yesterday, we mailed a letter to part of our list of “Allied Organizations” asking them to join us in pressuring Comedy Central to get Jon Stewart to apologize for his vicious “vagina manger” stunt of April 16. Today, we are mailing to the rest of our list. On this list are Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Mormon and Muslim organizations that we have worked with before in similar culture-war battles. We are also asking these religious leaders to contact Kraft Foods requesting that they join the campaign asking for Stewart to apologize. Failing that we are asking Kraft to pull its sponsorship of one of its products, MiO Energy, from the show.

We are in no way holding Kraft Foods responsible for Stewart’s hate speech. But we are asking Kraft to act responsibly. Those who would like to help in this campaign can do so by writing to:

Ms. Irene Rosenfeld
Chairman and CEO
Kraft Foods Inc.
Three Lakes Drive
Northfield, IL 60093

Ms. Rosenfeld can also be contacted by e-mail: Irene.Rosenfeld@kraft.com

As always, it is good to keep the pressure on Comedy Central by contacting its Communications head, Steve Albani: steve.albani@cc.com

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on the remarks made last night by Lawrence O’Donnell on his MSNBC show:

Lawrence O’Donnell has issues with the Catholic Church. That’s his problem. But that doesn’t give him the right to grossly distort reality. Last night he opened fire on Bishop Daniel Jenky, the Vatican and me.

Peoria Bishop Jenky recently said that President Obama’s radical secular agenda is violative of the First Amendment. Moreover, he warned that this path to religious intolerance had been followed before by the likes of Hitler and Stalin. Anyone is free to agree or disagree, but it is just plain stupid to argue that Jenky is putting the tax-exempt status of the Catholic Church in jeopardy. O’Donnell obviously knows nothing more about the First Amendment right to free speech than he does the right to religious liberty. Maybe Rev. Al can educate him.

The right of the Vatican to discipline its flock is called into question by O’Donnell. He is upset because the Vatican is concerned about some nuns who are not in line with Church teachings on abortion and gay rights. Of course, if an MSNBC host were all of a sudden to adopt a pro-life or pro-traditional marriage position, he would be fired. By contrast, the Vatican is quite liberal in its handling of such matters.

O’Donnell says the Catholic League “has absolutely no official affiliation” with the Church, and that it is run by a “fraudulent operator.” Really? While we are independent, maybe O’Donnell can explain why the Catholic League is listed in the Official Catholic Directory and has the support of many bishops. To show how clueless the man is, he then interviewed Sister Jeannine Gramick and an official from Dignity. Last year, Donald Cardinal Wuerl, representing the bishops, said that Gramick’s New Ways Ministry group was not authorized “to identify itself as a Catholic organization.” Similarly, Dignity has long been rejected as a Catholic entity. And we’re the fraud? O’Donnell is out of his league.

Contact MSNBC Communications Director Lauren Skowronski: lauren.skowronski@nbcuni.com

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments as follows:

Jon Stewart refused to apologize last night for the unprecedented assault on Christian sensibilities he launched on April 16. In that episode, “The Daily Show” featured a naked woman with her legs spread and a nativity scene ornament placed between her legs; with the picture on the screen, Stewart laughed at what he called the “vagina manger.” To see the picture, click here. **Warning: Explicit Content**

Our effort against Stewart includes asking his most consistent sponsors to pull their advertising (if necessary, we are not ruling out a boycott of their products), and a lengthy public relations campaign. The goal? To get him to apologize. If that doesn’t work, we can guarantee that his reputation will never be the same.

Today we will contact Kraft, one of whose products, MiO Energy, was one of the five sponsors that advertised on both the April 17 and April 18 episodes. Moreover, we will contact those on our “Allied Organizations” list (over two days) to join this campaign. They will be asked to contact Steve Albani, Senior VP of Comedy Central Communications, and Kraft.

This is just the beginning. Over the next several weeks, we will contact every major Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Mormon and Muslim leader and organization in the nation; they will be sent the picture, along with Stewart’s remarks. We will contact Viacom (which owns Comedy Central, home to “The Daily Show”) making sure that all board members and senior management know about Stewart’s anti-Christian and grossly misogynist attack. We will take out ads in newspapers, etc. We are not going away.

What Jon Stewart did ranks with the most vulgar expression of hate speech ever aired on television. His incivility cannot go unanswered.

Contact Steve Albani, Senior VP Comedy Central Communications: steve.albani@cc.com

On the April 16 episode of “The Daily Show,” they showed a picture of a naked woman with her legs spread and a nativity scene ornament placed in between. Stewart said, “Maybe women could protect their reproductive organs from unwanted medical intrusions with vagina mangers.” The segment was done to mock Fox News for allegedly not covering stories on the so-called war on women.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue speaks to the media cover-up:

Reuters did a story on Monday’s edition of “The Daily Show” but never mentioned the vagina manger scene segment; it was picked up by the chicagotribune.com, msnbc.com, and Yahoo! Movies. Also reporting on this episode, but never citing the obscene segment were the following: the blog site of the latimes.com; gawker.com; huffingtonpost.com; theatlanticwire.com; talkingpointsmemo.com; thewrap.com; NBC-TV New York; and NBC-TV Chicago. Only mediaite.com and dailykos.com mentioned the offensive part.

The cover-up is revealing. This episode of “The Daily Show” was done to protest Fox’s alleged indifference to the “war on women,” and in doing so Stewart not only made a vulgar attack on Christians, he objectified women.

We are asking Stewart to apologize. If he does not, we will mobilize Protestants, Jews, Mormons and Muslims to join us in a boycott of his sponsors. Moreover, we will not stop with a boycott; there are other things that can be done to register our outrage. We are prepared to spend the money it takes to make this a nationwide issue, and we are prepared to stay the course. Tomorrow we will have something definitive to say, one way or the other.

Contact Steve Albani, Senior VP, Comedy Central Communications: steve.albani@cc.com

On last night’s edition of “The Daily Show,” host Jon Stewart ripped the Fox News Network for not giving air to the “war on women” issue. He then ridiculed the cable station’s “war on Christmas,” asking, “What can women do to generate the same sense of outrage from Fox as the removal of decorative slightly poisonous holiday plants? Perhaps they could play into the theme?”

At this point, they showed on TV a picture of a naked women with her legs spread apart with a nativity scene ornament in between. Stewart said, “Maybe women could protect their reproductive organs from unwanted medical intrusions with vagina mangers.”

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments as follows:

This unprecedented vulgar assault on Christians cannot stand. If Jon Stewart doesn’t apologize, we will mount a boycott of his show’s advertisers. And we will enlist our allies in the Protestant, Jewish, Mormon and Muslim communities.

Contact Steve Albani, Senior VP, Comedy Central Communications: steve.albani@cc.com

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on The Daily Caller story [click here] exposing Media Matters for America:

From the very beginning, Media Matters has set its sights on Christianity. In 2004, its leader, David Brock, made clear his goals when he applied to the IRS for a tax-exempt status. “It is common for news and commentary by the press to present viewpoints that tend to overly promote corporate interests, the rights of the wealthy, and a conservative Christian-influenced ideology,” the application says.

Anyone who has followed the history of Media Matters knows it has evolved into something far more extreme than what its founding statement said. To be frank, it is one thing for left-wing activists to promote a radical agenda, quite another to finger a world religion for monitoring. If conservatives launched a media watchdog group to combat a “reactionary Islamic-influenced ideology,” all hell would break loose. Indeed, New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly has come under fire for merely keeping a watchful eye on suspected Islamic extremists.

In 1981, Norman Lear founded People for the American Way to combat the so-called Religious Right, but his ambition was to fight conservative Christian policy prescriptions. Media Matters is more invidious: in the name of fighting media bias and fact-checking, it seeks to intimidate the mainstream media from disseminating legitimate Christian positions.

We now know, thanks to The Daily Caller, that the goal of Media Matters all along has been to silence the Christian voice.

Contact Jess Levin at Media Matters: jlevin@mediamatters.org