Bill Donohue comments on today’s edition of “The View”:

Jenny McCarthy cracked up on TV today but no one seemed to notice. This is not a good sign.

Jenny went into a tizzy about the Catholic Church because her mom was once denied an annulment. The former porn star then went into detail about her mother’s problems.

Jenny said her mom “cries during Communion because she watches all her friends go up there,” while she sits and weeps. She did not say if her mom stops crying after Communion, or whether she cries all the way home. No matter, she said, “I hope the pope gets smart and does something about it.”

[Jenny, listen to Bill: If you know of any shortcuts on how to “get smart,” please test them on yourself before contacting the Holy Father.]

Jenny also shared her delusional story about being in the pope’s apartment. “I went to the Vatican [and] I actually went into the apartment, into the pope’s apartment and I was literally there and I’m going, oh my God, I could take a chunk of this gold cherub and feed a country.” Instead, she settled for a crucifix.

Last year, on “Access Hollywood,” Jenny was more explicit. She credited a few “mafia guys” with sneaking her into the pope’s apartment in 1995; she said she even tried on some of his clothes. After slamming the Italians, she took a shot at Jews: she said her Jewish friends told her to steal a crucifix as a souvenir for her mother. She did not say whether her mom wept upon receipt, or whether she hocked it to feed to a country, or at least a village.

Look for Jenny to either fully crash, or get booted, real soon. In the meantime, contact the stooge behind “The View,” Bill Geddie.

Contact: bill.geddie@abc.com

Bill Donohue comments on Halloween costumes currently on sale:

The priest costume shows the clergyman in black cassock with an erection. The nun costume shows her in full habit and pregnant. Anyone who wants to buy a costume with a rabbi or imam sporting an erection is out of luck—there are none available. There are also no vulgar Jewish or Muslim women costumes available. Just ones for nuns.

The most prominent store selling the offensive priest and nun costumes is Spirit Halloween; they have stores throughout the nation and have a big online following. The store even says of the priest-with-an-erection garb, “Pair this mens [sic] costume with the Pregnant Nun for some really twisted fun.”

Contact the illiterates at: GuestServices@spirithalloween.com

On October 3, Dr. Bill Donohue contacted the president of the University of South Florida, Dr. Judy Genshaft, the Dean, Dr. Julianne Serovich, and the chairman of the Department of Child & Family Studies, Dr. Mario Hernandez, about the alleged conduct of Dr. Timothy Weil. He asked them two questions: a) is the allegation true? and b) if it is, what exactly is going to be done about it? He has not heard back, which is why he is contacting the media. Below is an excerpt from his letter:

 I have been told that at a recent conference held at the Hilton Daytona Beach Resort, Dr. Timothy M. Weil gave a paper, “Impact of Rule Governance on Motivation and its Clinical Application”; it was part of the proceedings of the Florida Association for Behavior Analysis. In his September 27 address, it is alleged that he did the following:

He put up a picture of an equal sign (=) in the middle of the large screen and then added a picture of a priest holding a crucifix to the left of it, and a picture of a toilet to the right. He then asked the audience to comment on what the picture means. Someone from the audience yelled, “They’re both full of shit.” After the audience settled down, Dr. Weil strolled around the room and gleefully repeated the response; those who were there knew he got the response he sought.

I taught sociology for 16 years at a college in Pittsburgh and served for 20 years on the board of the National Association of Scholars. I have also written two books on the First Amendment. I have great respect for academic freedom, but I also have great contempt for those who abuse it. There is obviously nothing of any academic value when someone gratuitously insults the adherents of any world religion. Whatever point Dr. Weil was trying to make could surely have been made without unnecessarily offending Catholic sensibilities.

Donohue will now contact the 16 members of the Florida Board of Governors, and John B. Ramil, Chairman of the University of South Florida System, about this incident, and the failure of USF to respond.

Contact Vickie Chachere, USF News Manager: vchachere@usf.edu

Bill Donohue comments on how St. Paul police are handling investigations of sexual abuse:

St. Paul Police Commander Mary Nash is engaged in one of the most offensive religious profiling actions in recent history, and the fact that the Department is allowing her to continue is equally obscene. On October 17, she made a public plea asking anyone who at one time or another had been a victim of sexual abuse by a priest to come forward and report his case to the police. She did not ask if anyone had been molested by a minister, rabbi, imam, teacher, athletic coach, psychologist, social worker, stepfather, mother’s boyfriend, police officer, or anyone else—just priests.

Nash, a former Catholic, says she is simply following up on a case involving a priest who may have had child pornography on his computer in 2004. The priest was investigated, and after no evidence was found, the case was closed. Now the case has been reopened because new evidence has allegedly been found.

No one objects to reopening a case, but to use this incident as an opportunity to zero in on priests alone is indefensible. The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has expressed its willingness to cooperate with the police, and we commend them for doing so. What is not acceptable is for the police department to engage in religious profiling. This witch hunt should be called off immediately.

Contact St. Paul Police Chief Tom Smith: Tom.Smith@ci.stpaul.mn.us

Bill Donohue addresses Kanye West’s performance Saturday night in Seattle kicking off his “Yeezus” tour:

Kanye West apparently suffers from low self-esteem, and while his condition is entirely warranted, it does not excuse his willingness to cover his inadequacies as a performer by hijacking Christian iconography. At Saturday night’s show, a tall Jesus character appeared on stage prior to West’s “Jesus Walks” number. “White Jesus, is that you?…Oh, s***,” West said.

Nothing that the Jesus figure said was irresponsible, but West could not stop there. His performance also included a Virgin Mary, incense, a crucifix, etc., all trotted out to make a Catholic statement. That it was not exactly reverential is obvious.

In 2006, West appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone wearing a crown of thorns with “blood” streaming down his face. The guy has some issues, and the sooner he deals with them, the less likely he will play fast and loose with Catholicism.

West is a classic rip-off artist with limited talent. It’s time he asked Kim to throw him a retirement party.

Bill Donohue comments on the role that religion is playing in the race for the new mayor of New York City:

New York is a secular town, but mayoral candidates usually say at least something about the public role of religion. Neither Joe Lhota, the Republican candidate, nor Bill de Blasio, the Democratic candidate, has said anything. It’s as if religious liberty issues don’t exist. In terms of their outreach to religious communities, they are both bending over backward to please Jews and Muslims, but Catholics are all but invisible to them.

Is there a synagogue in Brooklyn that these two men haven’t visited? Is there an African-American church that de Blasio hasn’t spoken in? Just yesterday, both Lhota and de Blasio said the public schools should close on two Muslim holidays. “The origins of this nation [are] people of many different faiths coming together,” said de Blasio. This is historically incorrect: this nation was founded almost exclusively by Protestants. It would be more accurate to say that America has always welcomed people of all religions.

An Internet search of Lhota and Jews turns up many articles, as does a search when he is paired with Muslims; there is very little about him and Catholics. Many more articles can be found on de Blasio: “Candidate Says No More NYPD Spying on Muslims,” and “Bill de Blasio and the Jews,” are two examples. Aside from my critical Newsmax article on the Democratic candidate, “NY Mayoral Hopeful de Blasio Has Sordid Past” [click here], there is practically nothing on him and Catholics.

Lhota is puzzling. Unlike de Blasio, who has shown he is no friend to the Catholic community, Lhota carries no such baggage. That he hasn’t seen Catholics as a group to court—when his competitor has disqualified himself from doing so—does not speak well for his campaign. But the problem may be Lhota himself: any man who advertises on TV that he is a big fan of abortion rights and gay marriage—drawing attention to the fact that he shares these positions with his challenger—is not going to appeal to practicing Catholics. Such incompetence is hard to beat.

Bill Donohue comments on the decision by California Governor Jerry Brown to veto a sexual abuse bill that lifted the statute of limitations for cases of alleged molestation if the incident occurred in private institutions:

Governor Brown saw right through the machinations of those who selectively sought to allow alleged victims of sexual abuse another chance to file suit. He properly noted that legislation passed a decade ago already covered the Catholic Church, so there was no need to do so again. But most important, he denounced the politics involved. “This extraordinary extension of the statute of limitations, which legislators chose not to apply to public institutions, is simply too open-ended and unfair,” he said.

I personally wrote to Governor Brown citing the sexual abuse of students at Miramonte Elementary School in Los Angeles. To think that they would be excluded from the bill sponsored by Sen. James Beall Jr., simply because they were abused at a public school, is mindboggling. But that’s what would have happened. I am delighted that Governor Brown saw fit to mention Miramonte in his statement. He said those students who were assaulted “are no less worthy because of the institution they attended.”

The Catholic League contacted over 1,000 parishes in California, all the lawmakers, and every one of our members in the state asking them to demand justice. But the real heroes are the bishops of California, led by Los Angeles Archbishop José Gomez.

The final proof that this bill was driven more by anti-Catholicism than any alleged interest in child welfare came when Republicans tried to amend the Beall legislation to include public institutions. It was defeated. To engage in bigotry is always wrong, but it is particularly despicable when it is done under the guise of protecting children.

Kudos to Governor Brown.

Bill Donohue comments on a billboard in West Lubbock, Texas that features a tattooed Jesus, and an accompanying video on the website of Jesustattoo.org:

It is understandable that Christians who only see the billboard might be disconcerted. At first blush, the sight of a Jesus-figure, standing with his arms outstretched, covered with tattoos, is jarring; on his body are such words as “Outcast” and “Addicted.” But the video offers a much more complete, and satisfying, picture of the intended message.

The video shows how Jesus forgives and transforms the life of sinners. It also shows how Jesus loves those who have been rejected by society, offering them hope. Indeed, the six-minute video shows how the promise of salvation awaits those who follow Jesus. As such, it is a positive and quite moving statement. We applaud this novel effort to showcase the power and glory of Jesus Christ.

To see the video, click here.

Bill Donohue comments on who is to blame for the government shutdown:

It is important for the bishops to know that the National Catholic Reporter is giving high profile to the pernicious notion that they are to blame for the partial government shutdown. To be specific, on the homepage of the newspaper’s website today, prominently displayed on the top left, is an article by Adele Stan blaming the bishops for the shutdown. It was chosen by the editor of the weekly, Dennis Coday, for publication.

Stan’s attack is so vicious that I wrote a news release about it two days ago, “Radical Leftists Trash Bishops.” I listed five articles blaming the bishops, pointing out that “Adele Stan is leading the pack.” I chose her over the other authors for two reasons: she was the first to start this assault on the bishops; it was also the most inflammatory. It is hardly news that the National Catholic Reporter rejects the Catholic Church’s teachings on sexuality, but it is the height of irresponsibility for its senior editor to feature an article that savages the bishops. That Stan’s screed was first published on a pro-abortion and anti-Catholic website, rhrealitycheck.org, is even more alarming.

As I pointed out on Tuesday, Stan accuses the bishops of wanting to “block access” to “health care for the masses, food for the hungry, and shelter for the homeless.” She charges that “they wouldn’t mind seeing the global economy brought to its knees.” She adds that not only do the bishops discriminate against women, “no bishop ever endured the pain, blood, and terror of a life-threatening labor.”

Stan’s piece is titled, “At Any Cost: How Catholic Bishops Pushed for a Shutdown—and Even a Default—Over Birth Control.” Coday introduced it, saying, “Are bishops to blame for gov’t shutdown?” He should have been more manly: Of course he and the Reporter believe the bishops are to blame. Why else would they float it?

Bill Donohue comments as follows:

In the past few days, there has been a rash of attacks on the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) from left-wing circles. Led by an extremist pro-abortion website, rhrealitycheck.org, these activists are trying to silence the bishops: the USCCB is fighting for the conscience rights of Catholics against the health care policies of the Obama administration. Noting that the Congress is considering a Continuing Resolution and debt ceiling bill, the bishops, led by Sean Cardinal O’Malley and Archbishop William E. Lori, are seeking to incorporate this right into such “must-pass” legislation.

Adele Stan is leading the pack; she titled her screed, “At Any Cost: How Catholic Bishops Pushed for a Shutdown—and Even a Default—Over Birth Control.” She was supported by colleague Jessica Mason Pieklo, who said, “Catholic Bishops Meddle With Health-Care Benefits.” Elsewhere, Khier Casino chimed in with “USCCB Demands Special Rights On Birth Control.” Ian Millhiser called his thinkprogress.org article, “Catholic Bishops To House: Shut Down the Government Unless We Get Our Way On Birth Control.” Today at dailykos.com, there is a story, “Catholic Bishops Demand Congress Abort U.S. Economy.”

Not only do the bishops have a First Amendment right to freedom of speech and freedom of religion, they are morally obligated to fight any attempt by the state to force Catholics to violate their conscience by funding abortion-inducing drugs.

Stan is unrestrained in her anti-Catholicism. The bishops, she says, want to “block access” to “health care for the masses, food for the hungry, and shelter for the homeless.” Also, “they wouldn’t mind seeing the global economy brought to its knees,” and they continue to discriminate against women. Indeed, “no bishop ever endured the pain, blood, and terror of a life-threatening labor.” Come to think of it, neither did millions of women who chose to abort their kids. Should their voice also be disqualified? What about homosexuals? Would they make the cut?