Bill Donohue comments on a Catholic League-Polling Company survey of Catholics:

Earlier this month, the Catholic League commissioned The Polling Company, headed by Kellyanne Conway, to conduct a nationwide survey of Catholics. In addition to the usual questions asked of respondents, we asked about issues the media have little interest in pursuing. We also dug deeper, seeking to tap the ways Catholics are conflicted over various matters.

The problem with many surveys is that they seek to elicit a black and white response to contemporary subjects; this is especially problematic when contentious issues are being weighed. Our survey was designed to allow for a more nuanced, and therefore accurate, response.

The findings suggest that most Catholics are faithful sons and daughters, and this is especially true of practicing Catholics. To read my analysis of the survey data, click here. The analysis has been sent to the bishops of every diocese in the nation.

Bill Donohue comments on a recent interview in which GOP Presidential candidate Donald Trump vowed to take on the fight involving the war on Christians:

During an interview with Yellowhammer News on August 21, Donald Trump spoke out against the war on Christians both at home and abroad. At home he focused on secular assaults on Christianity. He offered by way of example the War on Christmas. Abroad he focused on ISIS and their terror campaign against Christians.

While the attacks on Christianity are non-violent domestically, they are genocidal overseas as the Catholic League has long argued. In fact, we made that point in our Hollywood Billboard last Christmas [click here].

We are pleased to see that Donald Trump is making the exact same argument and we hope to hear from the other presidential candidates on this important issue.

Bill Donohue comments on a news story in today’s Philadelphia Inquirer on the surge in seminarians in the Philadelphia Archdiocese:

Finally, the Philadelphia Inquirer writes a positive piece on the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Unfortunately, reporter David O’Reilly does not give Archbishop Charles Chaput his due in accounting for the spike in ordinations under his tenure. It is not “the Francis effect” that explains the surge in seminarians; it is “the Chaput effect.”

How do I know this? Because if it were “the Francis effect,” there would be an increase in men studying for the priesthood throughout much of the nation. This hasn’t happened. To be sure, there has been an increase, but it is not widespread: a small number of dioceses disproportionately account for the uptick.

If “the Chaput effect” explains the increase, then there should be evidence from the Archdiocese of Denver, Chaput’s previous assignment, that seminarians increased under his tenure. There is. In 1997, Chaput took over the Denver archdiocese, and by 2006 it ranked third among all the dioceses in ordination. Under his leadership, the Denver archdiocese was typically in the top ten in the nation in attracting men to the priesthood. That he has brought his special gifts to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia is evident in the latest data.

O’Reilly errs—there is no reason to believe it was intentional—when he says there are 28,215 priests in the U.S. The correct figure is over 38,000.

Bill Donohue comments on an article that appeared yesterday in the Trentonian by L.A. Parker about the Catholic Church:

Looks like the Trentonian wants to compete with the Philadelphia Inquirer as the most anti-Catholic newspaper in the area. The contribution of L.A. Parker puts it in the running.

Follow this if you can. Some guy who worked for a fast food restaurant, Jared Fogle, recently plead guilty to having sex with minors. So if Pope Francis does not apologize for crimes he had absolutely nothing to do with, he should stay at home next month.

I’m not making this up. This is the mind of Mr. L.A. Parker. He would have been better off just showcasing his ignorance and bigotry by simply launching into a diatribe against the Catholic Church. There was no need to offer a segue that is so forced that even a high school dropout would laugh at it.

To demonstrate why the pope should apologize, Parker trots out “Billy,” a guy who claims to have been molested by Philly priests and teachers. That was a mistake. “Billy” is a drug- dealing, congenital liar. But who cares about the facts when the goal is to smear the Church.

To read about wonder-boy “Billy,” click here. I wrote about him in a full-page ad I submitted to the Philadelphia Inquirer four years ago. The cash-starved daily turned down my check for $58,000. They would rather lay off their staff, while continuing to preach about social justice, before ever allowing the truth to be told. But they can’t stop the Catholic League.

P.S. Mr. Parker should learn English. In his first sentence about “Billy” he puts the comma after the end quote. Wrong. See above.

Contact this genius: laparker@trentonian.com

Bill Donohue comments on a story in today’s Philadelphia Inquirer about LGBT dissident Catholics turning to Methodists for recognition:

It is hardly surprising that the World Meeting of Families Congress, which is being hosted by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, would insist that this Catholic event feature Catholic speakers. Yet the Philadelphia Inquirer still treats as breaking news the rejection of groups that have publicly professed their rejection of key Catholic teachings.

The four dissident Catholic LGBT groups that are not welcome to engage in mutiny at this event are New Ways Ministry, Dignity USA, Fortunate Families, and Call to Action. But they have been invited to hold fort at a local Methodist church. Good for them. They have finally found a home.

The leaders of New Ways Ministry were “permanently removed” from any “pastoral work involving homosexuals” under Pope John Paul II. Three U.S. cardinals have also said that it is a phony Catholic group.

Dignity USA has also been blasted by bishops. This year, to show what side it is on, it featured as its Keynote Speaker, Dan Savage, the most obscene anti-Catholic in the nation. The Inquirer would never dare print what he has said about popes, bishops, priests, and nuns.

Fortunate Families, while not vile, nonetheless refuses to accept Catholic teachings on homosexuality and marriage. Small wonder it was rebuffed.

Call to Action is so crazy that its members have been excommunicated in some dioceses. It has been in rebellion against the Church for decades.

So these are the people the Philadelphia Inquirer sympathizes with, not the loyal sons and daughters of the Church. But taking sides with those who bear an animus against Catholicism is not exactly virgin territory for this newspaper. It’s had lots of practice.

Contact the reporter Julia Terruso: jterruso@phillynews.com

Bill Donohue comments on a front-page story in Sunday’s Philadelphia Inquirer on the World Meeting of Families next month:

The Philadelphia Inquirer wants to know why there is just one session on LGBT issues at the World Meeting of Families. Here’s why: the event is featuring over 100 speakers, and gays comprise 1.6 percent of the population. Seems about right. Moreover, my analysis of the program yields five areas of interest: theological, demographic, sexuality, challenges to the family, and family adversity.

Theological issues include “Living as the image of God: Created for Joy and Love”; “Promoting the Dignity of the Human Person”; “Mary of Nazareth: First Disciple and Mother of the Redeemer”; “The Bible: A Book for the Family”; and “Eucharist as a Model for the Family.”

Demographic issues include “Family and Demographic Dynamics in the World”; “Blended Families”; “Hispanic Families”; “Immigrant Families”; “Women in the Family”; “The Elderly”; and “Grandparents.”

Sexuality issues include “The Meaning of Sexuality”; “Sexuality in the Divine Plan”; “The Complementarity of the Sexes”; “Homosexuality”; “Humanae Vitae“; “The ‘Hook-Up’ Culture”; and “Dating.”

Challenges include “Parents as Primary Catechists”; “Growing in Virtue”; “Fostering Vocations in the Home”; “Interfaith Marriage”; “Health Finances”; “Infertility”; and “Disabilities.”

Adversity issues include “Suffering and the Family”; “Forgiveness”; “Damaged Relationships”; “Separation”; “Divorce”; and “Domestic Violence.”

The only segments of society that are unhappy with the program are gays and their allies in the media. Time for them to get over it.

Contact reporter Julia Terruso: jterruso@phillynews.com

Bill Donohue comments on remarks made yesterday by Jay Leno:

Before leaving the Television Critics Association summer meeting in Beverly Hills, Jay Leno addressed the serial accusations against Bill Cosby. Here is what he said:

“I find it fascinating—how many accusers does he have now? 40? Well, 50 women come forward and people call them liars. And they go, ‘Oh, you waited 40 years?’ Men waited 50 years to say, ‘A priest touched me,’ and they got 7 million dollars. How come we believe them and we don’t believe the women? It does seem awful sexist to me….”

Leno is on to something. But it is not sexism that accounts for the disparate reactions: it’s a strange admixture of celebrity status and bigotry.

Cosby is a celebrity supreme and got the benefit of the doubt that John Q. Public would never get. Priests wish they were John Q. Public—at least they wouldn’t be treated as guilty until proven innocent.

Most of the media are ignoring Leno’s observation. Media outlets that have done a fair job reporting this story include the Hollywood Reporter, CBS News, AceShowbiz, Deadline, USA Today, and Salon. The one media outlet that covered the story but never printed Leno’s remark about victims of priestly abuse getting 7 million dollars is the Associated Press. The best it could do was to make a veiled reference to Leno’s priest analogy.

Equal treatment for priests. That is what animates the Catholic League. Kudos to Leno for calling attention to this issue.

Bill Donohue comments on a front-page story in today’s Washington Post about the visit by Pope Francis to the U.S. next month:

Whenever there is a papal visit to the U.S., those with their own political agenda surface, aided and abetted by members of the mainstream media. Want proof? Read today’s piece by Michelle Boorstein (click here) in the Washington Post. It reads more like an op-ed than a news story.

Though there is no institution in the nation—secular or sectarian—that has a better record of combating the sexual abuse of minors than the Catholic Church, one would never know this by reading Boorstein’s article. She drums up one case from Long Island about a guy who says he was abused by a priest decades ago.

What is remarkable about Boorstein is her incurious attitude. She writes of this alleged victim that “the relationship [with the priest] continued until [the accuser] was 20 and broke things off with the priest.” (My italic.) I didn’t know that victims of sexual molestation had “relationships” with their victimizers. Similarly, never does Boorstein question why the alleged victim stayed in his relationship until he was 20-years-old!

“Although new allegations against Catholic clergy members are less frequent,” Boorstein writes, “there are major exceptions.” She then tells us that following a new state law that lifted the statute of limitations for three years, more than 400 claims have been made by alleged victims against the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

If she had done her homework, she would have reported that there were exactly two credible accusations made against 39,000 priests for misconduct that occurred in 2014. Does she know of any institution that can match that number? As for the Twin Cities archdiocese, will Boorstein run a story on how many of these claims will also be discarded? Will she run a story on all the innocent priests who have had their names dragged through the mud? Will she do a story on all the rapacious lawyers who are milking their clients?

Contact: michelle.boorstein@washpost.com

Bill Donohue comments on “The Papal Visit,” a guidebook issued by GLAAD, a homosexual organization:

There is nothing Catholic about GLAAD, but there is something anti-Catholic about it. That’s what makes its release of a papal guidebook for journalists so perverse. It has a history of applauding anti-Catholic plays and movies, and it loves to condemn Catholics who defend the Church. That GLAAD officials never forget to name me speaks well for both of us. They have even sought to ban me from TV. But that hasn’t worked out too well for them.

GLAAD is not a liberal homosexual group: it is left-wing activist one. What disqualifies it as a liberal entity is its commitment to mind control. To be explicit, it is a member of the language police.

The papal guidebook instructs journalists who will cover the pope’s visit next month not to use terms such as “the Church”; “homosexual”; “gay lifestyle”; and “homosexual lifestyle.” It doesn’t like “the Church” because that puts the bishops above the laity (they are). It doesn’t like the word “homosexual,” which explains why I like it. It doesn’t like the term “gay lifestyle.” I agree: ACT-UP founder Larry Kramer said it would be more accurate to call it a “deathstyle.”

GLAAD officials are also offended by words such as “deviant” and “disordered.” Too bad they never took Introduction to Sociology: the study of deviant behavior is a long-standing area of research. “Disordered” is the word used by the Catholic Catechism to describe the homosexual condition; it makes sense once we understand that men and women are naturally ordered toward each other (otherwise the human race would cease to exist). For reasons that are self-evident, GLAAD also objects to words such as “immoral” and “sinful.”

The papal guidebook lists eight lay Catholics who the media should beware of. As I said, it speaks well for both of us that they never forget me. Good work, boys.

Bill Donohue comments on the reaction of gay activists to a bishop who quoted the Bible:

They want him behind bars. His offense? He quoted from the Bible. The accused: Swiss Bishop Vitus Huonder. The accusers: gay activists in Europe and the United States.

On July 31, Bishop Huonder spoke at a Catholic forum in Germany, and in his remarks he quoted from Leviticus the passage condemning homosexuality. He also criticized gender theory.

Pink Cross, the umbrella group for Swiss LGBT groups, has now filed a criminal complaint against him. Citing the nation’s hate speech laws, he is accused of fomenting violence against homosexuals. So far, more than a dozen gay groups and media outlets have pledged their support for Pink Cross. If found guilty, he could serve up to three years in prison.

In the U.S., New Ways Ministry, an anti-Catholic organization, is accusing Bishop Huonder of “preaching dangerous words.” It charges him with “providing cover for those prejudiced against LGBT people who may enact discrimination and violence as a result.” Though this fraudulent group has been denounced by many bishops, it is nonetheless treated as a legitimate Catholic voice by the mainstream media, as well as by the National Catholic Reporter (the dissident newspaper has also been slammed by many bishops).

These same activists would like to arrest Pope Francis, if they could. After all, the Holy Father has quite openly condemned homosexuality and gender theory. Explicitly, he has labeled proposals to legalize gay marriage “the envy of the Devil,” and has said, “Gender ideology is demonic!”

Gay fascists are on the rise in North America and Europe. Their goal is to criminalize the Bible, and to destroy freedom of speech and religion.