Bill Donohue comments on an op-ed in today’s New York Times:

 Gerald Posner’s op-ed breaks no new ground, and offers a dishonest assessment on the Vatican Holocaust archives. Moreover, he has been accused of serial plagiarism, and his work on this subject has already been discredited. Now he is back accusing the Vatican of refusing to release its “secret wartime files.”

There is nothing “secret” about the Holocaust archives: much has been disclosed, with more to come. More important, from what has been learned, the evidence overwhelmingly puts critics such as Posner on the defensive. If anything, the evidence supports the position that Pope Pius XII did more to save Jews than any other world leader, secular or religious, meriting the honor, “Righteous Gentile.”

Professor Ronald J. Rychlak is one of the world’s most noted scholars in this area, and it is his judgment that the archival evidence we have so far, “supplemented with eyewitness accounts and documents from other sources, provide a consistent portrait of the wartime pope as a champion of the victims, opponent of the villains, and inspiration to the rescuers.”

Posner needs to stop skirting the evidence. For example, in 2009 some important archival documents proved that Hitler had planned to kidnap or kill Pope Pius XII. The recent book by Mark Riebling details four plots to kill Hitler, and that the pope was involved in three of them. Why doesn’t Posner mention any of this?

Why doesn’t Posner direct readers to the website of the Pave the Way Foundation? It has a wealth of documents from the wartime years. The founder of this initiative, Gary Krupp, was once a Jewish critic of Pope Pius XII, but the more evidence he uncovered, the more convinced he was that the critics were wrong. He now concludes that the pope “was a true hero of WWII.”

I can’t wait until there is a more complete disclosure of the Vatican Holocaust archives. If I were Posner, I would want to keep them “secret.”

Bill Donohue comments on Macy’s glass ceiling:

As we previously noted (click here), Macy’s is now in the business of conscience control, firing employees who entertain thoughts contrary to its policies. We have since learned that it is also in the business of false advertising: the public face of Macy’s promotes diversity in the workplace; the private one does not.

On its website, Macy’s boasts that women represent 75 percent of its workforce and 65 percent of its management-level executives. It says that ethnic minorities make up 59 percent of its associate team and 35 percent of its management team. What Macy’s does not tell you is that it reserves the big positions for white men.

The Macy’s Board of Directors is mostly male and mostly white: 43 percent are women and 21 percent are minorities. The Executive Management Team is not only mostly male, it is totally white: 27 percent are women and 0 percent are minorities.

These are not the statistics that the department store likes to flag. The dirty little secret is that Macy’s has erected a glass ceiling, keeping women and minorities in their place.

It is one thing for a mega-corporation to lie, quite another to employ Gestapo-like tactics in the workplace. Punishing people for their convictions, not their behavior, is totalitarian.

It is important that we register our outrage. Instead of providing the email address of the same media person at Macy’s each time we issue a statement, we are mixing it up. Today, we have selected Julie Strider Fukami.

Contact: julie.striderfukami@macys.com

Bill Donohue comments on how the Democratic National Convention is addressing the issue of abortion:

Over the past decade, there has been a raging argument in pro-abortion circles over messaging: Should they be discreet talking about abortion, or should they wear their pride on their sleeves? This week, the latter path has been on display at the Democratic National Convention.

On Tuesday, Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards was the first speaker at this event to drop the dreaded “A” word: instead of talking euphemistically about “reproductive rights,” she spoke about abortion. Good for her—let’s have an honest discussion. Now she needs to tell us what is being aborted.

Last night, NARAL Pro-Choice president Ilyse Hogue told the crowd how she handled a pregnancy years ago. “I wanted a family, but it was the wrong time. I made the decision that was best for me—to have an abortion….” She did not say whether it was best for her baby. But no matter, when she finished her confession, she paused, waiting for applause. There was little of it. My only regret is that her speech was not given during prime time—it really should have been.

These two abortion advocates are not an anomaly. Indeed, they are very much in step with the Democratic Party Platform. The 2016 Platform breaks ranks with all previous party positions on abortion by calling for a repeal of the Hyde Amendment. It now wants to force taxpayers to pay for abortion.

In 1975, atheist Anne Nicol Gaylor published a book titled, Abortion Is A Blessing. It was endorsed by feminists Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem. Friedan previously had close ties to the Communist Party, and Steinem had an abortion when she was 22. In 2009, Rev. Katherine Ragsdale, an Episcopalian priest, also boasted that “Abortion is a blessing.” Are the Democrats now ready to join this merry band of abortion enthusiasts?

Bill Donohue calls attention to how the Democratic Party has quietly expunged faith-based programs from its governing platform after gutting faith from those programs for years. To read his article on CNSNews.com, click here.

Bill Donohue comments on Macy’s diversity policy:

Macy’s has unleashed its Thought Police, firing an employee simply because he holds to beliefs that are contrary to its policies. To read about this striking act of conscience control, click here.

This is bad enough, but it is nothing if not cynical for Macy’s to preach the merits of diversity while singularly violating its own policy.

Macy’s likes to brag about its “Diversity Leadership” program, yet it doesn’t believe a word of it. For example, it says, “Macy’s believes that different perspectives are important to our company, and we benefit greatly from the individual strengths of each associate.”

This is a lie. It doesn’t value the perspective of Javier Chavez, Senior Store Detective at a Macy’s in Queens, New York: He was fired for voicing his belief, grounded in his Catholicism, that men should use the men’s bathrooms. He said he would abide by Macy’s policy allowing a man who claims to be a woman to use the women’s restroom, but that wasn’t sufficient. For merely possessing convictions that Macy’s finds objectionable, he was terminated.

We are pleased that the media are beginning to cover this story, though much more needs to be said. If Macy’s thinks that the Catholic League is going to move on, it needs a reality check. There is more to come. Trust me.

Reporters who would like to speak to Mr. Chavez’s attorney, Raymond Nardo, please contact us and we will put you in touch with him.

Contact Macy’s Sr. VP Media Relations, Robin Reibel: robin.reibel@macys.com

Bill Donohue comments on attacks on the Catholic Church:

The terrorists who beheaded the elderly priest in Normandy, France did so in the name of ISIS; two nuns and two lay persons were taken hostage, one of whom is near death. The Muslim madmen who stormed the church during Mass were shot dead by police.

We also have problems at home. Hatred of the Catholic Church in America has turned ugly this month with a series of violent attacks.

• In Providence, Rhode Island, vandals smashed a custom, hand-crafted pulpit, debased a statue, and stole property
• Las Cruces, New Mexico is home to several incidents of vandalism, including smashing a stained-glass door, damaging the altar, and desecrating Communion hosts
• In St. Louis, a large statue of Our Blessed Mother was smashed, and a door was spray-painted
• Vandals have struck many times in Lebanon, Missouri, breaking statues, and decapitating others
• Two churches were targeted in Redding, California, including an estimated $70,000 in damage to a stained-glass window
• Human feces was smeared on statues, the crucifix, a Bible, the baptismal font, and adoration chapel in Bowling Green, Missouri

The most egregious non-violent attack on Catholics this month was the firing of a Catholic employee at Macy’s who expressed his reservations about a policy allowing men to use the women’s bathrooms; the security guard said he would abide by the policy, but was fired nonetheless.

From beheadings abroad, to desecrations of the Eucharist at home, the assaults on Catholics are gaining momentum. And now that Macy’s is engaged in religious cleansing, Catholics risk their livelihood for merely holding to beliefs that offend the Macy’s Thought Police.

Perhaps those running for president would like to address the new barbarism. Catholics would surely like to hear from them.

Bill Donohue comments on Lena Dunham speaking at the Democratic National Convention:

The Democratic Party Platform has some strongly worded statements underscoring the need to protect women’s rights. Yet one of the speakers at this week’s Democratic National Convention is actress Lena Dunham.

In 2014, Dunham wrote a book, Not That Kind of Girl, about growing up on Long Island. She explained how she fondled her one-year-old sister: “Grace was sitting up, babbling and smiling, and I leaned down between her legs and carefully spread open her vagina. She didn’t resist and when I saw what was inside I shrieked.”

In another passage, she boasted, “As [Grace] grew, I took to bribing her for her time and affection: one dollar in quarters if I could do her makeup like a ‘motorcycle chick.’ Three pieces of candy if I could kiss her on the lips for five seconds. Whatever she wanted to watch on TV if she would just ‘relax on me.’ Basically, anything a sexual predator might do to woo a small suburban girl I was trying.” (My italics.)

Dunham also admitted to sharing the same bed with Grace until she was seventeen, and that sometimes she “slipped my hand into my underwear to figure some stuff out” while sleeping next to her.

When asked about these behaviors, Dunham replied that “as a queer person,” she is “committed to people narrating their own experiences, determining for themselves what has and has not been harmful.” Swell. So she made that determination for Grace.

This is the kind of person that the party of women’s rights is celebrating this week in Philadelphia. Will anyone in the media squeeze Hillary Clinton to explain why?

Bill Donohue comments on Sen. Tim Kaine’s pro-life record:

Tim Kaine wants to save the lobo, but not the kids.

I confess I had no idea what a lobo was until I looked it up—it’s a Mexican grey wolf. Tim says we are running out of them (he does not say whether we should build a wall to save them). How do I know? Because the Defender of Wildlife Action Fund gave him a 91 percent rating in 2015, and a 100 percent rating in 2013; on the front page of its website the #1 cause is “Don’t Let the Lobos Go Extinct.”

The Defender of Wildlife Action Fund is also worried about saving the eggs of the bald eagle, a goal that Tim no doubt shares (as do I). What about human eggs? Tim has no interest in protecting them. How do I know? Because he merits a 100 percent rating from both NARAL and Planned Parenthood, and they support abortion-on-demand.

The Washington Post calls Tim “A Pope Francis Catholic.” But the pope’s position on abortion would receive a 0 from NARAL and Planned Parenthood. The pope also supports marriage, properly understood.

In a Polling Company survey we commissioned of Catholics last year, we learned that 61 percent of Catholics reported that abortion should not be permitted in all or most instances; the figure for practicing Catholics was higher. That means Tim is not representative of most Catholics on this issue.

Tim likes gay marriage. How do I know? Because he received a 100 percent rating from the radical gay group, the Human Rights Campaign. Once again, Tim is out of step: our survey found that 58 percent of Catholics think marriage should be between a man and a woman.

If Tim were to treat unborn children the way he treats lobos, and acknowledge the obvious—marriage was meant for the only two people who can create a family—he would improve his standing among Catholics. As it is, his positions make him an outlier.

Bill Donohue comments on Sen. Bernie Sanders and the Democratic National Committee (DNC):

In the latest email scandal to overtake the Clinton campaign, it has been learned that a top DNC official sought to exploit the Jewish roots of Sen. Bernie Sanders in an effort to help Hillary Clinton. “Does he believe in God?” wrote Brad Marshall, the DNC’s chief financial officer. “He skated on saying he has a Jewish heritage,” Marshall added. “I think I read he is an atheist.” He then said that to Southern Baptists, there is “a big difference between a Jew and an atheist.”

That all of this comes from the titans of diversity and inclusion is striking, to say the least.

By contrast, when I was asked last April by Brooke Baldwin on CNN what I thought about Sanders being invited to address a Vatican audience, here is what I said: “Well, good for Bernie. I mean, there’s a pontifical committee out there that deals with social justice issues and he certainly will be welcomed, as he should. He is a good man.” I then said that he and the Catholic Church differ on abortion and family issues.

Over the past six months, many have commented on the significance of having a Jewish candidate for president, and how little controversy it has engendered. That is a good sign. It is not a good sign to read how the DNC sought to squeeze political capital out of Sanders’ secular convictions.

This needs to be condemned by everyone, beginning with the benefactor of this exploitation, Hillary Clinton.

Bill Donohue comments on a clear case of religious discrimination:

Macy’s has fired an employee because he is a practicing Catholic. The case is now before the New York State Division of Human Rights.

In May, Javier Chavez, Senior Store Detective at the Macy’s store in Flushing, New York, received a phone call stating that a male had entered the ladies room with a female companion. A female customer, and her daughter, were afraid to enter because of the male’s presence. A security employee who reports to Chavez advised the man to leave and use the men’s room. He left claiming to be a female. He then complained to store officials that he was asked to leave.

Chavez was subsequently told by an Assistant Store Manager that certain males can use the ladies restroom. This was news to him. A few days later, an Assistant Security Manager told him that transgender persons can use the bathroom of their choice. He said he had just become aware of this policy, stating that it was contrary to his religion and the Bible. But he hastened to say that he would nonetheless enforce Macy’s policy.

Macy’s would not leave this alone, and this is where it crossed the line. Chavez was then summoned to meet with the Human Resources Manager, who suspended him. He was later terminated.

“After my employer learned that I was a practicing Catholic, with religious concerns about this policy,” Chavez says in his formal complaint, “I was terminated because of my religion, in violation of the New York State Human Rights Law.”

The most basic religious right is the right to believe; if conscience rights can be vitiated, the First Amendment means nothing. Macy’s has no legal, or moral, grounds to stand on. For merely holding beliefs that are contrary to the store’s policy, Chavez was fired. This is what totalitarian regimes do, not American commercial establishments.

To read the complaint, click here.

Contact Macy’s Media Events chief, Holly Thomas: holly.thomas@macys.com