Bill Donohue comments on Bill de Blasio, New York’s incoming mayor:

The new mayor is ready to jump start New York by seeking to ban horse-drawn carriages in Central Park, but it is not certain whether he will put this issue ahead of his plans to expand the number of abortion centers. De Blasio said yesterday that horse-drawn carriages are “inhumane,” and when he ran for mayor he said he was upset with the lack of abortion facilities in “underserved” areas.

Horses count; babies don’t. Look for 2014 to be an epic year in the Big Apple.

Bill Donohue comments on the decision by a Pennsylvania appeals court to overturn the conviction of Msgr. William Lynn:

The guilty parties that worked overtime to convict an innocent man—they include attorneys, judges, newspapers, professional “victims’ groups,” activists, TV talking heads—have been disgraced. This is a monumental win for justice, and a tremendous setback for anti-Catholic bigots. Their goal is to “get a bishop,” and if that doesn’t work, then they settle for the next in line. They are fundamentally dishonest, and now they have been disabled.

Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne Abraham began this witch-hunt—she was authorized to pursue sexual misconduct in all religious communities, but instead she selectively chose to focus exclusively on Catholics—and then she passed the baton to her successor, Seth Williams. All of them knew that Msgr. Lynn did not know, or know of, the drug-addicted, lying, scheming, accuser, Billy Doe. They also knew that laws applied ex post facto (e.g., the 2007 amendment of the 1972 child endangerment statute) would not stand scrutiny on appeal. But none of this mattered.

So how does the Philadelphia Inquirer feel today? It refused $58,000 from the Catholic League for an ad earlier in the year that told the truth about this subject. How does David Clohessy, the vindictive, weeping, professional “victims’ group” head feel? How do rapacious lawyers like Jeffrey Anderson, Rebecca Randles, and Marci Hamilton feel?

Msgr. Lynn spent 18 months in prison because of dishonest people who harbor an anti-Catholic agenda. We expect he will soon be released. God bless him.

Congratulations to Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput and attorney Thomas A. Bergstrom for staying the course. Congrats also to Ralph Cipriano who tenaciously reported on this case. And most especially, congrats to Msgr. Lynn’s family for persevering through this unjust trail of events.

The Catholic League wishes everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

If you get to New York City this holiday season, please see our life-size nativity scene in Central Park, on 59th Street and 5th Avenue (click here), and our huge Christmas billboard on 42nd Street, between 7th and 8th Avenues (click here).

Bill Donohue wonders why Bill Maher has not been fired:

Phil Robertson is suspended from A&E for comments he made about homosexuality. Martin Bashir is fired from MSNBC for comments he made about Sarah Palin. But Bill Maher, who weekly insults Pope Francis, and his predecessors, as well as 40,000 American priests, bishops, and cardinals, keeps his job at Home Box Office (HBO is owned by Time Warner).

Newspapers can print, and TV news broadcasters can say, what Bashir and Robertson said, but they cannot, and will not, print or say what Maher repeatedly says about the pope and priests. In fact, CNN, a responsible Time Warner holding, wouldn’t repeat what Maher says.

To be sure, more leeway is understandably given to pay-for-view channels, but are we to expect that if Maher used obscene language to denigrate other segments of the population—doing it over and over again—that he would still be employed by Time Warner?

Many bishops have responded to our call for Time Warner to dump Maher, and so have countless others. There is simply no defensible reason to keep this foul-mouthed bigot on Time Warner’s payroll any longer. His show should be cut now, before the new season is slated to begin January 17.

To read the evidence against Maher, click here.

Contact: Keith Cocozza, VP, Corporate Communications: keith.cocozza@timewarner.com

Bill Donohue comments on the decision by Saint Paul and Minneapolis Archbishop John C. Nienstedt to temporarily step down:

Archbishop Nienstedt has been the subject of a non-stop crusade orchestrated by ex-Catholics, and Catholics in rebellion against the Church, simply because he stands for everything they are not: he is a loyal son of the Catholic Church.

Now—out of the blue—comes an unidentified male who claims he was touched on his buttocks in 2009 by the archbishop while posing for a group photo. Nienstedt denies the charge, adding that he has never inappropriately touched anyone. Moreover, he has not been told the identity of his accuser.

The Catholic League is asking those who were there to share with us any information they have. Specifically, we are interested in obtaining a tape recording, or set of photos, of any Confirmation ceremony in 2009 where Archbishop Nienstedt was present; presumably, the alleged victim was standing next to the archbishop. Also, we are asking anyone who knows anything about the accuser (someone knows who he is) to come forward. Please email us at pr@catholicleague.org.

I know of no other leader, religious or secular, who would step down pending an investigation because some guy says he was touched on his behind four years ago in a group photo. It’s time the bishops revised their “zero tolerance” policy. Too often, it means zero justice for the accused, thus undermining the legal principle of innocent until proven guilty.

When it comes to “zero tolerance” in the schools, every teachers union, as well as the New York Times, has counseled against it. With good reason: it does not allow for the nuances that color so many cases. The bishops ought to follow suit and junk this policy before it becomes the weapon of choice against them.

Bill Donohue comments on who is funding the attack on the Catholic University of America:

John Garvey, the brilliant and courageous president of the Catholic University of America, is now under fire for accepting a generous grant from the Charles Koch Foundation. He is wisely standing his ground. The real story here is not the money being given to Catholic University by successful entrepreneurs; it is the source of the money being given to those who initiated the attack. To wit: Faith in Public Life spearheaded this highly politicized assault, and it is funded by left-wing zealot George Soros.

Faith in Public Life has long been lavishly greased by Soros’ Open Society Institute; it receives hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. This is hardly a secret—it is public record. Faithful America is also working with Faith in Public Life in this effort to smear Catholic University; it is known for its sharp condemnations of Catholic leaders such as Timothy Cardinal Dolan and Francis Cardinal George. Faithful America is sponsored by—you guessed it—Faith in Public Life.

George Soros is an atheist billionaire who is no friend of the Catholic community. In fact, he funds causes that the Catholic Church works hard to oppose: abortion, euthanasia, drug legalization, and many other radical initiatives.

Those who signed the letter against Catholic University of America are the ones who need to explain why they would align themselves with the likes of George Soros. And if they like what he funds, they should have the guts to say so.

To read Bill Donohue’s latest Newsmax article about the “War on Christmas,” click here.

.

Bill Donohue comments on how some are spinning the pope’s words:

The Advocate, an influential gay publication, has named Pope Francis “Person of the Year.” It reached its conclusion by citing the pope’s remark, “If someone is gay and seeks the Lord with good will, who am I to judge?” This comment is directly consistent with the Church’s teachings on the subject. “They [homosexuals] must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity,” is what the Catholic Catechism says.

The Catechism also says that Scripture “presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity.” The pope, when he was the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, spoke against gay marriage, saying such an arrangement threatens the “survival of the family,” causing children to be “discriminated” against. He even said that gay marriage was the work of the devil: such proposals are not “a mere legislative project (this is only the instrument) but a ‘movement’ of the father of lies.”

The gay community is bent on conflating sexual orientation with sexuality. This is false. There is nothing in Catholic doctrine that condemns homosexuals anymore than it condemns heterosexuals: it condemns such acts as fornication, homosexuality, and adultery.

The Advocate also lists “9 Catholics Who Need to Listen to the Pope.” Actually, most are organizations or communities. Three individuals are listed: Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Bishop Thomas Tobin, and me. It takes exception to my statement, that “[L]ess than 5 percent of priests involved in molestation are pedophiles.” I took that fact from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice study on the subject. To its credit, The Advocate quoted me as saying, “[I] am against gay bashing.”

Recently, the media promoted the idea that the pope may appoint women cardinals. Here is what the pope said last week. “Women in the Church must be valued, not clericalized. Whoever thinks of women as cardinals suffers a bit from clericalism.” Predictably, the media are dead silent on the pope’s rejection of women cardinals. The spin is pure politics.

Bill Donohue comments on billboards being displayed by the Catholic League this Christmas season (they will be up until January 5, 2014):

We have a huge billboard (67′ x 90′) in Times Square, on 42nd Street between 7th and 8th Avenues, and two digital ones in New Jersey; one is on Route 18 at the Route 527 Intersection, and the other is on I-95 in South Brunswick, between exits 9 and 8A, heading south. The billboards read:

SEND MODERN-DAY SCROOGES A MESSAGE:

 CELEBRATE THE PRINCE OF PEACE

[There is a big nativity scene in the middle]

 MERRY CHRISTMAS

 HAPPY NEW YEAR

 Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights

To see what the billboard looks like, click here.

Bill Donohue comments on why the Catholic League erected a life-size nativity scene in Central Park today; it will be up through the holidays:

Our manger scene, which is on the corner of 59th Street and 5th Avenue, is being displayed for several reasons:

• We are celebrating the true purpose of Christmas, which is the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ

• We want Christians to know that they have every legal right to display religious symbols on public property, unadorned by secular symbols, just so long as the property is regarded as a public forum (e.g., we do not seek to erect crèches on the grounds of City Hall)

• We are sending a message to militant secularists that Christians will never retreat from exercising their First Amendment right to religious liberty. We favor, as does Pope Francis, a robust public expression of religion. We will never settle for freedom to worship.