Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on the two Catholic vice presidential candidates:

In many respects, the Catholic community today is divided into pro-life and social justice camps. That is unfortunate, and while this division can be overstated, it remains true that most Catholic activists sit in either one camp or the other; cross-over Catholics are a rare breed.

Paul Ryan represents the pro-life wing, and Joe Biden represents the social justice wing. Indeed, both exemplify the differences, and not just on the issue of abortion. For example, Ryan’s idea of freedom of choice commits him to supporting school vouchers; Biden’s notion of choice commits him to abortion rights. Ryan is opposed to reinventing the institution of marriage; Biden wants to expand marriage to include two people of the same sex.

The Catholic Church opposes abortion and gay marriage. On both of these issues, Biden disagrees with the Church. Biden’s defenders, e.g., Catholics who identify with social justice concerns, argue that Ryan’s budgetary prescriptions make him the dissident Catholic; his ideas are said to hurt the poor. This assumes, however, that there is a clear Catholic teaching on what constitutes the best means to conquer poverty. There isn’t. For instance, fidelity to the Church’s preferential option for the poor can be realized by making a serious case to raise taxes, or to lower them. In effect, both Biden and Ryan can plausibly maintain that he is a champion of the poor. But only one, Ryan, can be identified as the champion of the unborn.

Not all policy issues are equal. Abortion is regarded by the Catholic Church as “intrinsically evil.” Moreover, the bishops’ conference has explicitly endorsed a constitutional amendment defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman. This puts Biden at a decisive disadvantage in making the case that he better represents Catholic teachings.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on remarks made yesterday in Denver by President Barack Obama:

Before a crowd at the University of Denver, President Obama addressed the Health and Human Services mandate that orders Catholic non-profits to pay for abortion-inducing drugs, contraception and sterilization. “We worked with the Catholic hospitals and universities to find a solution that protects both religious liberty and a woman’s health,” he said. The president also said that Mitt Romney “joined the far right of his party to support a bill that would allow any employer to deny contraceptive coverage to their employees.”

Regarding the first remark, Obama is singularly dishonest. On February 8, Bishop William Lori, who chairs the bishops’ Committee for Religious Liberty, said point blank that “no one from this administration has approached the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops for discussions on this matter of a possible ‘compromise.’” Is it the position of President Obama that Bishop Lori [now the Archbishop of Baltimore] was lying? Furthermore, on February 13, Bishop Lori made it clear that only after the original HHS mandate of January 20 was revised and ready to be announced on February 10 did the White House contact Archbishop Timothy Dolan, head of the bishops’ conference.

Regarding the other remark, Obama was referencing the Blunt Amendment; it secured conscience exemptions for health care providers. Not only was this bill not a product of the “far right,” it lost by only three votes in the U.S. Senate, with three Democrats joining with the Republicans; one of those Democrats was Senator Bob Casey, hardly a “far right” zealot. More important, a New York Times poll of March 13 showed that 57 percent of Americans believe that religiously affiliated employers should be able to opt out of the HHS mandate. Are most Americans part of the “far right,” President Obama?

Demagoguery will not make Obama’s “war on religion” disappear. Only respecting the conscience rights of Catholics will do that.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal’s school voucher program:

The people of Louisiana love their governor, Bobby Jindal, and no segment of the population loves him more than the poor. That’s because Governor Jindal, over liberal opposition, is fighting for educational equality: his school voucher program, the biggest in the nation, gives the poor the same choice of schools that the rich can afford.

Leading the fight against the poor is the Interfaith Alliance, headed by Rev. C. Weldon Gaddy. His organization, which two years ago conducted a campaign urging the media to “ignore Bill Donohue” (good luck), is now working hard to keep the poor in their place. In his letter of August 7 to Jindal, Gaddy said that by giving the poor options, the governor was waging a “ruthless attack on public education.” Not above Catholic-baiting, Gaddy raised a red flag when he noted that the governor chose “a Roman Catholic Church as the venue” to sign his legislation.

Gaddy is so angered over the voucher program that he even said that private schools are “not up to the standards” of the public schools. But if that were true, there would be no need to worry: no one would want to go there. The fact is there is much for him to worry about, and he knows it.

There is another issue involved here: the public expression of religion. The Interfaith Alliance is manifestly opposed to this right. To take one example, it has worked hard to stop “In God We Trust” plaques in Colorado public school classrooms. That the phrase is our national motto means nothing to these zealots; what gets their goat is the prospect of dropping the dreaded “G” word in school. In short, they are no more a friend of religion than they are a friend of the poor.

Let Gov. Jindal’s office know of your support: Kyle.Plotkin@LA.GOV

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments as follows:

Two days ago, I issued a news release stating I would pursue an investigation of the handling of a whistle-blowing case involving rampant child sexual abuse at Spirit Lake Indian Reservation in North Dakota. I did. Dr. Michael R. Tilus was punished for blowing the whistle. Upon review, the reprimand has been rescinded and his scheduled promotion will go forward. Below is an excerpt of my letter to Dr. Yvette Roubideaux, director of the Indian Health Service:

In my role as president of the nation’s largest Catholic civil rights organization, I have seen what happens when child sexual abuse is not handled properly. Just as I detest child sexual abuse when it occurs with impunity in the Catholic community, I detest it when it happens in other communities as well.

What is going on at Spirit Lake Indian Reservation is a disgrace, but what is even more indefensible is the way Dr. Tilus was initially treated: he was punished for blowing the whistle on those who failed for years to do their job. Instead of being commended, he was condemned.

On August 1, I said I would call for an investigation of this matter. Indeed, in the past two days I contacted several persons in Washington who work for senators about this matter. They were helpful, but now that Dr. Tilus has been treated justly, they may be less inclined to spend more time on this issue. But from where I am sitting, justice must still be done.

Specifically, I would like to know what measures have been taken against those involved in this unseemly chapter. Dr. Candelaria Martin is mentioned as the person who levied the punishment, and did so on grounds that are outrageous. Has she been disciplined?

Though Senator John Barrasso’s office was not one of the ones I contacted following my statement of August 1, I will let him know now of my ongoing concerns about this serious matter.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on efforts by atheists from Wisconsin to intimidate officials from Steubenville, Ohio into banning a proposed new city logo that includes a chapel and a cross; the symbols represent the Franciscan University of Steubenville:

Nothing scares atheists more than religion, and no religion scares them more than Catholicism. That is why atheists from the Freedom From Religion Foundation are threatening to sue Steubenville over a proposed new city logo: the design shows the cross and a silhouette of the campus chapel, along with such landmarks as Fort Steuben and the Veterans’ Memorial Bridge.

As is commonplace, city logos reflect the people and institutions associated with the municipality, and in the case of Steubenville, this means including symbols that represent the Franciscan University of Steubenville. Because of its national reputation as a first-class Catholic university, any depiction of the school that does not reflect its Catholic identity would be dishonest. Indeed, it would be like nixing the “Fighting Irish” leprechaun-figure from a logo representing the University of Notre Dame.

Initially, city officials were wary of the costs involved (if the city loses it has to pick up court-ordered legal fees), so they opted for a new logo: the university would be featured without a depiction of the cross and chapel. But after a groundswell of support for the initial logo, experienced pro-bono lawyers have stepped forth. Everything is now on hold.

It is entirely constitutional to have religious symbols outside City Hall at Christmastime, provided they are accompanied by secular symbols. It should also be constitutional to have religious symbols accompany secular ones on a city logo, especially when the former clearly represent an institution that is integrally associated with the municipality.

Tell Mayor Domenick Mucci, Jr., who is on our side, not to buckle to the forces of censorship: mayor@cityofsteubenville.us

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments as follows:

Child sexual abuse is out-of-control at the Spirit Lake Indian Reservation in North Dakota. Instead of checking the problem, the Obama administration has decided to punish the whistle-blower, Dr. Michael R. Tilus, director of behavioral health at the Health Care Center on the reservation. According to the New York Times, he has been reprimanded, reassigned, barred from promotion for two years, and may lose his professional license. These are the conditions:

• a 2-month-old baby girl died in July 2012 after tribal officials received warnings of child abuse
• last year a 9-year-old girl and her 6-year-old brother were found dead, raped and sodomized inside their father’s home
• foster children have been sent to homes where registered sex offenders live
• a teenage girl who was sexually abused was placed in a tribal home where she was then raped
• the tribe hired a convicted felon as a child case worker
• a one-year old child covered with 100 wood ticks was discovered by a social worker yet was not taken to a hospital
• foster children have been illegally removed from homes and then assigned to new ones without conducting a safety check
• mandated background checks are not made by the tribe before placing foster children in new homes
• monthly visits by the tribe to check on children in foster care are not being made
• American Indians are 9 percent of North Dakota’s population but Indian children constitute nearly 30 percent of the state’s child abuse victims

There is no outcry coming from those who are quick to condemn the Catholic Church. We are pursuing several avenues of redress and will not allow this issue to die.