Bill Donohue comments on a news release he wrote earlier today on an Army soldier whose religious rights were abridged:

A few hours ago, we posted an open letter that I wrote to the Commander at Fort Sill, Oklahoma regarding a female Catholic soldier who was denied her right to attend Mass on Sunday on three occasions; they have a “battle buddy” system on the base that requires all soldiers to move about in pairs, and since there was no other Catholic in her unit to go to Mass with, she was denied permission to go by herself. My complaint was that an escort should have been provided.

Fort Sill acted responsibly and contacted us without delay. I spoke to an official there and he said he would speak to the chaplains about the necessity of accommodating Catholics who lack a partner to go to Mass with on Sundays.

This matter has been amicably resolved. Case closed.

Bill Donohue wrote the following letter today regarding the denial of an Army soldier’s constitutional rights:

Major General Mark McDonald
U.S. Army Fires Center of Excellence
455 McNair Avenue, Ste. 100
Fort Sill, OK 73503

Dear Major General McDonald:

I have learned that a Catholic female enrolled in Advanced Individual Training has been denied the opportunity to go to Mass on three Sundays. The “battle buddy” system that requires soldiers to travel in pairs surely has its merits, but it is not an adequate defense to deny someone her constitutional rights simply because there are no other Catholics in her unit. A cadre escort would resolve this matter, while not doing anything to undermine the policy of moving about in pairs.

I am a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, and have nothing but respect for the men and women of the armed services. But I am also the president of the nation’s largest Catholic civil rights organization, and as such, I take anti-Catholicism very seriously, regardless of the motive of the offender.

Please investigate this matter. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

William A. Donohue, Ph.D.
President

Bill Donohue comments on the latest attack on a bishop:

Last week, I defended St. Paul and Minneapolis Archbishop John Nienstedt when he was being attacked by left-wing Catholics, and ex-Catholics, from the Catholic Coalition for Church Reform; the group, which rejects the Church’s teachings on sexuality, called for the Vatican to remove Nienstedt from office.

Yesterday, another open letter was sent to the Vatican seeking the ouster of a bishop; Pope Francis is being asked to remove Kansas City-St. Joseph Bishop Robert Finn from office. The request is coming from another person who is not in communion with the Church—he never was—Presbyterian journalist Bill Tammeus. His letter is being featured by the National Catholic Reporter, a left-wing dissident weekly.

Tammeus claims that Bishop Finn was not duly protective of children in his diocese. Not only is he wrong about this, he has no moral standing to be pointing fingers at anyone. For years, Tammeus wrote for the Kansas City Star, yet in all of his columns on sexual abuse, he never took on the teachers’ unions for their obstructionist policies that contribute to child rape in the public schools.

Kansas is one of only two states where there are no laws requiring criminal history checks for public school teachers. In 2011, when an attempt was made to strengthen current regulations by mandating fingerprinting of prospective public school employees, the Kansas teachers’ unions fought it. Tammeus said nothing.

The irony is complete: Tammeus, a non-Catholic, is writing to the pope to get a bishop removed; this same man has no record of seeking to keep children safe from molesters in a state known for its enfeebled response; and he writes for a newspaper that championed Anthony Kosnik’s book, Human Sexuality, a work that gave cover to child molesters.

Contact Tammeus: wtammeus@gmail.com

The University of South Florida contacted Bill Donohue today about the incident involving Dr. Timothy Weil. Weil had compared priests to feces at a recent academic forum; to read the background about this issue, click here.

Donohue received a letter from Dr. Julianne Serovich, Dean and Professor, College of Behavioral & Community Sciences, wherein she stated that Weil received a “Letter of Counsel.” She also said he would be issuing an apology. Donohue had not sought his removal; rather, he asked for a reprimand. Here is Donohue’s response:

Dear Dr. Serovich:

Thank you for your letter regarding my complaint against Dr. Timothy Weil. Your response is judicious. I consider this matter closed.

Sincerely,

William A. Donohue, Ph.D.
President

Bill Donohue comments on an apology issued by ABC for a remark made by a child on “Jimmy Kimmel Live”:

In a skit that aired last week, Kimmel wanted to know how children felt about the United State’s debt to China. “Kill everyone in China” one child said.

Lisa Berger, ABC’s Entertainment executive vice president, and Tim McNeal, ABC’s Talent and Diversity vice president, took the matter seriously. “We offer our sincere apology,” they said. “We would never purposefully broadcast anything to upset the Chinese community, Asian community, anyone of Chinese descent or any community at large. Our objective is to entertain.” The skit was immediately removed from all public platforms and edited out of any future reruns.

Berger and McNeal are insincere—either that or ABC doesn’t consider Catholics to be a “community at large.”

For years the Catholic League has contacted ABC about the vicious anti-Catholic remarks made by panelists on “The View.” Indeed, we have even taken out ads in the New York Times about their relentless assaults. But there have been no apologies.

Nor was there an apology for what happened on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” on April 2 this year. That’s when Bill Maher trashed the Bible, adding that both the Trinity and the Sacrament of Reconciliation were “pulled out of their [the hierarchy’s] ass in the 12th century.”

One kid makes an offensive remark about the Chinese and the diversity dons at ABC go ballistic. But ripping Catholics is okay. Wonder how ABC would react if a bunch of Chinese Catholics were insulted? That kind of dilemma would have to be resolved by a diversity summit.

Contact Tim McNeal: tim.mcneal@abc.com

Bill Donohue comments on last Friday’s edition of “Real Time with Bill Maher,” the HBO show:

Bill Maher’s latest show was a bigoted bash fest featuring Valerie Plame and Michael Moore, and, of course, himself. Al Sharpton was also one of the panelists, but he didn’t say anything untoward (regrettably, the Reverend also didn’t say anything to challenge the religion bashers). More surprisingly, Britain’s star atheist, Richard Dawkins, behaved himself.

Maher began by observing that Pope Francis had fired the German “bishop of bling” because he was “getting the altar boys drunk on Cristal.” That no bishop was “fired” is besides the point—Maher reeks with hatred toward Catholics.

After Sharpton noted there were Christian members of the Klan who burned crosses, Plame said, “Yeah, but now there are Christian Dominionists that are just as extreme.” Too bad she didn’t name one. Since Christian bashers like to finger Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry as Dominionists, perhaps Plame has footage of them acting like Klansmen. She ought to apologize for her irresponsible remark.

Maher then spoke about Christians and Muslims. “Look,” he said, “I’m no f***ing Catholic or Christian, but one is herpes [Christians] and one is cancer [Muslims].” Couldn’t help but think that it was Hitler who once called Jews cancerous. Maher is in good company.

When Maher said that at least Christians were not killing anyone, Moore shot back, “I can guarantee to you that right now there are Christians out there tonight that want to kill you and me.” He did not say how he knew this to be true, nor did he cite a single recent instance that might provoke him to make such an accusation.

Lucky for Moore that most Christians act like Christians.

Contact HBO executive producer, Nancy Geller: nancy.geller@hbo.com

Bill Donohue sent the following letter today to Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganó, the U.S. Papal Nuncio:

Your Excellency:

This letter is in response to a missive sent to you by a motley group of dissident Catholics, as well as those no longer in communion with the Church, asking for the resignation of Archbishop John Nienstedt. The request is illegitimate: Those pressing this issue cite Canon law as the basis of their agenda, yet they themselves belong to organizations that expressly reject the teachings of the Catholic Church on many issues. That is why some U.S. bishops have excommunicated anyone who belongs to some of these rogue Catholic groups.

The Catholic Coalition for Church Reform never mentions the fact that the Archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis has no offending priests in ministry, or that he has taken exceptional steps to ensure the integrity of the archdiocese. Not surprisingly, some in the secular media are giving high profile to this orchestrated effort to unseat Archbishop Nienstedt. He deserves better.

The letter you were sent contains many factual errors, all intentionally designed to smear Archbishop Nienstedt. I am enclosing a piece that was published today by Joan Frawley Desmond in the National Catholic Register that accurately describes this issue.

Unlike those who harbor an animus against the Church, the Catholic League is listed in the Official Catholic Directory. Our staff, and our members, are loyal sons and daughters of the Catholic Church. As such, it pains us when we read of attempts by the Church’s adversaries to malign innocent persons.

Thank you for your consideration.

To read Joan Frawley Desmond’s article, click here.

Bill Donohue comments on an interview that St. Paul and Minneapolis Archbishop John Nienstedt gave to Minnesota Public Radio (MPR):

It is not uncommon for the leader of any organization to be on the firing line for decisions made by his predecessor and his staff. But in this regard, bishops have no rival: sitting bishops are being held responsible to an absurd degree for the rulings made by those who preceded them.

Two days ago, MPR published the e-mail interview it had with Archbishop Nienstedt. There was one question that showed palpable bias: “Why haven’t you released the names of offending priests?”

The question suggests that MPR knows about a cover-up of guilty priests. It turns out that it does not, which is why it did not name names. Nienstedt replied, “There are no offending priests in active ministry in our archdiocese.” So why did MPR assume he was guilty?

Nienstedt then addressed the issue of falsely accused priests who have been exonerated—a subject that MPR, and the media in general, have been strikingly incurious about—saying that it “would be wrong to publicize their names as offenders when they have not been proven to be offenders.” Good for him.

Equal justice demands that if the leaders of other religious and secular organizations do not publicize the names of those who are accused, but not convicted, then neither should the bishops. Does MPR’s parent organization, NPR, go public with accusations made against its employees?

Just this week, the House voted for a bill to prohibit convicted sex offenders from working in the public schools. It was vigorously opposed by the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers. It received almost no press. Which just goes to show that it is not child sexual abuse that bothers elites in education and the media—it’s who the alleged offender is.

Bill Donohue comments on the latest development over the University of South Florida (USF) professor who mocked Catholic priests:

I was faxed a letter today by Julianne Serovich, Dean of the College of Behavioral & Community Sciences at USF, saying the university was “carefully reviewing” the incident involving Professor Timothy Weil; I recently contacted school officials about this, including her.

On September 27, Weil spoke at the Florida Association for Behavioral Analysis in Daytona Beach, identifying himself as a USF employee. He showed a picture of a priest holding a crucifix on one side, and a toilet on the other side; in between was an equal sign (=). He asked the audience what the picture meant, and someone yelled, “They’re both full of shit.”

Weil does not deny what happened. But according to the Tampa Tribune, he says his presentation was misunderstood, and that it was academically valid.

Weil needs to educate me. He needs to publicly explain exactly what he meant by equating priests with feces. He also needs to explain why, if the audience member who spoke up was wrong, did he gleefully stroll around the room signaling his approval. Moreover, he needs to explain to the Florida taxpayers why they should pay the salary of someone who thinks it is academically valid to insult 70 million Roman Catholics.

Contact Weil: tweil@fmhi.usf.edu

Bill Donohue comments on last night’s episode of the E! show, “Chelsea Lately”:

Priests and Germans were libeled last night by two of Chelsea Handler’s guests, Kurt Braunohler and Moshe Kasher.

The objectionable part began with a discussion of Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, the German bishop who was suspended by Pope Francis for his opulent lifestyle.

Braunohler: “I love that the Catholic Church has like a zero tolerance policy on everything other than child abuse.”

Kasher: “It’s a German priest, so that’s a difficult set of circumstances. You know what I mean, it’s like-do I make out with that kid or do I kill that Jew.”

The remark by Braunohler came the day after the teachers unions, led by the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers, sought to stop a bill that would prohibit the hiring of convicted sex offenders in the public schools. The bill, which was approved by the House, is aimed at bringing the public schools up to speed so that they will have the same zero tolerance policy that Catholic schools have had for years.

The remark by Kasher, which fails to distinguish between Germans and Nazis, suggests he doesn’t know the difference between those Germans who resisted Hitler—they were disproportionately Catholic—and those who followed the genocidal policies of the National Socialist Party run by an atheist who hated the Catholic Church.

Both of the guests are ignorant, but that is hardly an excuse to smear all priests and Germans.

Contact the head of E!’s PR Department, John Rizzotti: John.Rizzotti@nbcuni.com