Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on a remark made yesterday by President Biden:

On January 30, when President Biden was walking on the White House lawn, he was asked a few questions by reporters. One of them asked about Catholic opposition to publicly funded abortions. “Catholic bishops are demanding that federal tax dollars not fund abortions.”

In an angry reply, Biden pointed his finger and said, “No, they are not all doing that, nor is the Pope doing that.”

Biden’s monumental ignorance of basic Catholic teachings on abortion is startling.

From the day abortion was legalized by the Supreme Court in 1973, right up to today, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has not only opposed abortion, it has resolutely opposed publicly funded abortions. There is not a single bishop that Biden can name who agrees with him on this subject.

Indeed, as recently as January 27, the USCCB’s Pro-Life Committee, chaired by Bishop Michael Burbidge, sent a letter to House and Senate leaders about this issue. Burbidge said that the “government should never fund the destruction of innocent preborn children.”

For Biden to misrepresent Pope Francis is even more appalling.

On September 15, 2021, Pope Francis was unequivocal on this issue. “Abortion is murder.” He rightly observed that Catholic teaching is  consistent with science. “Scientifically, it’s a human life. The textbooks teach us that. But is it right to take it out to solve a problem? This is why the Church is so strict on this issue because accepting this is kind of like accepting daily murder.”

On October 10, 2018, Pope Francis posed an interesting set of questions. “How can an action that ends an innocent and defenseless life in its blossoming stage be therapeutic, civilized or simply human? I ask you: Is it right to do away with a human life in order to solve a problem? Is it right to hire a hitman in order to solve a problem? One cannot. It is not right to do away with a human being, however small, in order to solve a problem. It is like hiring a hitman.”

Biden is either profoundly ignorant of Catholicism, or he is lying through his teeth. Either way, for a man who loves to wear his Catholicism on his sleeve, he is a public embarrassment to Catholics the world over. Never has there been a White House occupant who more consistently seeks to sabotage Roman Catholicism than Joe Biden.

Contact White House Secretary: karine.jean-pierre@who.eop.gov

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on LeBron James’ remark  about the Memphis police killing that has created quite a stir:

Los Angeles Laker’s star LeBron James is being slammed on social media for his tweet regarding the killing of Tyre Nichols by five police officers in Memphis; the victim and the police are all black. “WE ARE OUR OWN WORST ENEMY,” he said.

LeBron was right. It is not white people who are going into black neighborhoods in Chicago, for example, killing black people. Black people, almost all young men, are killing black people. In this year alone, the Chicago Sun-Times reports that 27 black victims have been killed in Chicago.Where is the uproar over that? Think of it this way: If the five black Memphis cops not been cops—and they did what they did—would there be any protesters in the streets? Black lives should matter, but they only seem to matter when the killer is white or a cop, and those instances are comparatively small.

The latest Census Bureau data show that no racial or ethnic group has a higher rate of alcoholism than Caucasians (disproportionately driven by the Irish). Homosexuals have a much higher rate of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) than heterosexuals. When it comes to drug overdose, American Indians and the Alaska Native population lead the way.

White people need to police themselves—they are their own worst enemy when it comes to alcoholism. Gays need to police themselves—they are their own worst enemy when it comes to STDs. Indians and Alaska Natives need to police themselves—they are their own worst enemy when it comes to drugs. And blacks need to police themselves when it comes to violent crime—they are their own worst enemy.

Regarding the Memphis tragedy, we need to stop with reckless accusations made against the police.

Michael Tonry, a researcher whom no one would consider a conservative, came to a surprising conclusion in his book, Malign Neglect. “Racial differences in patterns of offending, not racial bias by police and other officials, are the principal reason that such greater proportions of blacks than whites are arrested, prosecuted, convicted, and imprisoned.”

Robert Sampson and Janet Lauritsen, who have sterling liberal credentials, found that “large racial differences in criminal offending,” not racism, explained why more blacks were in prison proportionately than whites for longer terms.

In 2016, Roland G. Fryer Jr., a Harvard professor, led a team of researchers to study the issue. They examined more than 1,000 police shootings in 10 major police departments in three states. “On the most extreme use of force—officer-involved shootings—we find no racial differences in either the raw data or when contextual factors are taken into account.” The black economist admitted, “It is the most surprising result of my career.”

In 2019, social scientists from Michigan State University and Arizona State University reported on the results of their two-year study. “When adjusting for crime, we find no systemic evidence of anti-Black disparities in fatal shootings, fatal shootings of unarmed citizens, or fatal shootings involving misidentification of harmless objects.”

Glenn Loury, a black professor who teaches at Brown University, says, “We need to put the police killings in perspective. There are about a thousand fatal shootings of people by police in the United States each year, according to a carefully documented database kept by the Washington Post. Roughly three hundred (about one-fourth) of those killed are African Americans, while blacks represent about 13 percent of the American population. Black people are overrepresented among these fatalities, though they still make up far less than a majority. (Twice as many whites as blacks are killed by police in this country every year. You wouldn’t know that from the activists’ rhetoric.)”

Loury offers support for what LeBron said. “For every black person killed by the police,” he says, “more than twenty-five others meet their ends because of homicides committed by other blacks.”

Most of the public has no idea of what I just said. That’s because the mainstream media does not want to acknowledge it. Yet it is all true. They are hosing the public because they want to feed the narrative that racism is baked into law enforcement. Their deceit is appalling.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue sent a letter to the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee today requesting an investigation of those responsible for attacks on churches, pro-life activists and crisis pregnancy centers, with a focus on Jane’s Revenge. Here is his letter.

January 30, 2023

Hon. Jim Jordan
Chairman, House Judiciary Committee
2056 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-3504

Dear Chairman Jordan:

In my role as president of the nation’s largest Catholic civil rights organization, I am asking you to convene an investigation into the reluctance of the Department of Justice and the FBI to pursue those who have engaged in violence against churches, pro-life activists and crisis pregnancy centers.

With the exception of the recent indictment by a federal grand jury of two persons charged with attacks on crisis pregnancy centers, little has been done to prosecute those guilty of such crimes. Indeed, the relaxed response to attacks on those in the pro-life community who have been victimized stands in stark contrast to the aggressive pursuit of the few instances of alleged violations of the law by pro-life Americans.

Last year, I wrote to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland about this issue, asking for a probe of the multiple attacks on churches and pro-life facilities (see the enclosed). Specifically, I asked the DOJ to focus on Jane’s Revenge. I received no reply.

To assist you in this effort, I am sending a report on Jane’s Revenge that we have done. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

William Donohue, Ph.D.
President

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on growing intolerance for Christianity in the U.S. and the U.K.:

Last July, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, who had just recently written the majority opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, upset militant secularists when he spoke honestly about the fate of religious liberty. In his Rome address, he talked about a “growing hostility to religion, or at least the traditional religious beliefs that are contrary to the new moral code that is ascendant in some sectors.”

What Alito said is true in the U.S. and Europe.

In a survey by Lifeway Research, it found that “nearly 60% agreed that ‘Christians increasingly are confronted by intolerance in America today.’” Those who regularly attend religious services were even more likely to say this is true. Young people and those who are religiously unaffiliated were the least likely to agree.

In a survey of anti-Christian bigotry on the other side of the Atlantic, the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians in Europe investigated five countries: France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. It found that anti-Christian hate crimes increased by 70 percent between 2019 and 2020. “These have a higher frequency in France and Germany, although they tend to be more severe in Spain and France, due to a reactionary form of secularism.”

Why the increase in hate crimes against Christians in Europe? What they found is exactly what Alito was saying. “Secular intolerance and discrimination against Christianity seem to be based on the opposition against more traditional and conservative moral view of Christians.” It also said that “It was uncovered that there is a high rate of religious illiteracy among state authorities, public officials and journalists.”

The finding about anti-Christianity in Europe also applies to the U.S. It is not religious extremists who are responsible for most of the anti-Christian bigotry—it is militant secularists. Similarly, the high rate of religious illiteracy among government officials and reporters is a serious problem in this country as well.

In 2016, Dean Baquet, the executive editor of the New York Times, said on NPR that it is important for journalists to realize that they have to do a better job understanding the “anger and disconnectedness that people feel. And I think I use religion as an example because I was raised Catholic in New Orleans. I think that the New York-based—and Washington-based, too, probably—media powerhouses don’t quite get religion.” He added, “We don’t get the role of religion in people’s lives.”

Nothing has changed. Christian bashing is sport in the very Western nations that gave birth to Christianity. That those doing the bashing fancy themselves as the tolerant ones—the “open-minded” secularists—makes the situation all the more perverse.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on DirecTV:

Catholics who use DirecTV should cancel their subscription and access a new carrier. DirecTV, which is mostly owned by AT&T, has decided to drop Newsmax, the cable TV station that offers quality political discourse. Why? Because Newsmax provides for a conservative viewpoint, and the left-wing operators who run DirecTV want to cancel that voice.

DirecTV is claiming the decision to drop Newsmax has to do with a quarrel over fees. Nonsense. Newsmax, which has the 4th highest TV ratings of any cable channel, has made it clear that the real issue is its political viewpoint. Some Democrats in Congress have been feeding the cancel culture with veiled appeals to government censorship of cable and satellite TV providers.

It is important that Newsmax succeed. It disseminates a fair presentation of Catholic issues, making it a unique enterprise in TV land.

To read Newsmax’s account, click here.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on remarks made by Bill Maher on his last HBO show:

On Bill Maher’s last HBO show, January 20, he interviewed former U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr. At one point, Maher asked him about his comments on religious bigotry. Here is what Maher said:

“I’ve heard you speak a lot about the idea that religion is under attack in this country. I think it’s your overarching theme. What am I missing—that Christianity is under attack? I mean you’re still the majority. The majority of the people who are still religious are Christian. I don’t see where the attack is coming from. It strikes me as paranoia, quite frankly.”

Where is the attack coming from? This would be like David Duke wondering aloud why blacks are complaining about racism. In fact, not only has Maher made more anti-Catholic remarks on TV than anyone else—and he has had considerable competition—he couldn’t even finish his show without mocking Catholic priests, comparing them to Drag Queens.

Barr did a good job answering Maher, saying religion is very much under attack. He gave three examples: forcing Catholic doctors to perform abortions; forcing Catholic hospitals to perform sex selection surgery; and branding as hate speech expressions of traditional moral values.

Maher, to be fair, respectfully received Barr’s comments. He gave the impression that he had not thought about these kinds of examples.

Getting back to Maher’s original comments, what he said about Christianity not being under attack—because most Americans are Christians—was mindboggling. Most South Africans under apartheid were black, yet they were under attack by the ruling class minority. In the U.S today, most Americans are Christians, yet they are under attack by the ruling class minority. Just check out our website for thousands of examples.

Fortunately, I got a chance to watch Maher’s interview. If I had relied solely on a transcript, I would have come away with a different impression. Transcripts are cold. Videos are more helpful because it is possible to assess tonality, facial features, body language, etc.

In one sense, Maher comes across much better in the video. He was not being snide to Barr when he raised questions about Christianity being under attack. He appeared to be sincere and was not insulting. But in another sense, this itself is problematic.

It seems that Maher is more clueless than malicious in his assessment of Christianity being under attack. If that is the case, then it suggests that clear examples of anti-Christian bigotry are processed by him as being inoffensive. He surely seems to recognize Jew-bashing. So why not Catholic bashing?

Maher is not alone in suffering from this kind of disability. There is no end to the number of persons who are quick to label expressions of bigotry as hateful when targeted at some demographic groups, but not others. What it comes down to is this: Such duplicitous persons sincerely believe that some groups deserve to be dumped on, which is why they don’t see such vitriol as objectionable. This applies to Maher as much as anyone.

Maher complained to Barr that he had Catholicism shoved down his throat (his father was Catholic and his mother Jewish). Let’s assume this was true. So what? How does this justify making sweeping statements of a vicious kind about tens of thousands of American priests? And when will he mature and get over it? Give it a rest, Bill.

Contact Maher’s director of media relations: Ashley.Mokma@warnermedia.com

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on multiple investigations into a Connecticut teacher caught making anti-Catholic remarks on a video:

Lawyers and school officials in Connecticut are dragging their feet in the ongoing saga of Jeremy Boland, the suspended assistant principal of Cos Cob Elementary School in Greenwich who was caught on video bragging that he doesn’t hire Catholic teachers. Boland was outed in August by Project Veritas and his case is still open. We have written to many state officials registering our outrage about Boland and the need to fire him.

A news story from greenwichfreepress.com on January 22 said that on January 19, Joe Kelly, the chairman of the Board of Education, said he would ask the superintendent for an update on the Boland matter. It was learned that there are five investigations under way: Greenwich Schools, Town of Greenwich, Attorney General’s office, Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities, and the State of Connecticut Education Department; the Town probe is just getting started.

The superintendent of Greenwich Schools, Dr. Toni Jones, explained why this case is dragging on. “Any time you have a termination hearing, they are very lengthy, very time consuming for all of you. And they are very expensive. You need attorneys on the table. You need hearing officers. Investing a half a million dollars to go to a termination hearing—because you don’t know what the results will be.”

Jones made a revealing comment when she said, “we’re trying to protect the interests of the district and make sure that investigations are very thorough.”

Notice that she put the best interests of the district before the best interests of the people of Connecticut. The one thing she never mentioned is the only thing that counts—justice.

Boland made it clear that “…if they’re Catholic—conservative…You don’t hire them.” He added, “If someone is raised hardcore Catholic, it’s like, they’re brainwashed—you can never change their mindset.”

Now what if he said, “…if they’re Jewish—liberal… You don’t hire them. If someone is raised hardcore Jewish, it’s like, they’re brainwashed—you can never change their mindset.”

Would they still be dragging their feet if this is what Boland said? What if it were a Muslim conservative who was the target of his venom? Would they still be investigating? And one more thing: School officials have no business trying to change the “mindset” of teachers whose views they dislike. The purpose of education is to educate—not indoctrinate.

Previously, Greenwich school officials tried to make Project Veritas the bad guys, and now they are worried about the best interests of the school district.

In addition to seeing that justice is done to Boland, they need to root out anti-Catholic bigotry from all their schools. If he was that casual in admitting to his bigotry, there may be others who harbor an animus against conservative Catholics. Where is that probe?

Contact: toni_jones@greenwich.k12.ct.us

The Catholic League documentary on Disney, “Walt’s Disenchanted Kingdom,” is now available. It can be accessed on the Catholic League website and SalemNOW; it will be available shortly on Amazon Prime. We will also sell DVDs.

Bill Donohue and Jason Killian Meath are the Executive Producers.  Jason, who is CEO of Meath Television Media LLC, also wrote and directed the film.

We have an all-star cast.

Mercedes Schlapp hosted the movie. She is a Cuban-American and a distinguished commentator on contemporary political issues.

Bill Donohue is president and CEO of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights.

Tony Perkins is president of the Family Research Council and one of the nation’s leading evangelical leaders.

Dr. Ben Carson served as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Trump. He is an outspoken African American whose pro-life record is second to none.

Miranda Devine hails from Australia and is a committed Catholic and author. She writes a column for the New York Post and frequently appears on TV.

Brent Bozell is president of the Media Research Center and an advocate for all the right causes. He serves on our board of advisors.

Vivek Ramaswamy is an Indian-American entrepreneur. A Hindu (he  attended a Catholic high school), he is best known for trying to steer big corporations in the right direction.

David Horowitz is a Jewish activist who spent his early years promoting radical causes. But he had “second thoughts” about his political leanings and has been an important conservative voice for decades.

Christian Toto is a film critic at the Washington Times and author of a book on how Hollywood became a partisan of left-wing politics.

Will Witt, author and podcaster, makes a special appearance.

Our culture is in crisis, and what is driving much of it is a callous disregard for the innocence of children. Too many activists, celebrities and educators are bent on indoctrinating young boys and girls with some very sick ideas. Regrettably, Disney is one of the most guilty players.

We did this documentary so that the public can learn how the most family-friendly institution in the country has departed from its ways. Its forays into social and sexual engineering must be enough to make Walt Disney turn over in his grave.

Enjoy the film and bring it to the attention of family and friends. Perhaps Disney will rethink its LGBT agenda and get back to treating kids as kids.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on Disney CEO Bob Iger’s faulty prediction:

We all make predictions, but most of the time they are of no real consequence when we’re wrong. Bob Iger, the Disney CEO, made a prediction nearly a year ago that not only proved him to be wrong, it proved how morally challenged he is.

Last February, Iger, who at that time was the retired Disney CEO (he subsequently managed to worm his way back in), stuck his nose into something he should have stayed out of: he publicly announced his opposition to parental rights by condemning efforts by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and the state legislature, to ban teaching kids grades K-3 about sex. (The Disney CEO at the time, Bob Chapek, agreed and led the charge against parents.)

The central issue driving this discussion was allowing teachers to question kids in the early grades about their status of being a boy or a girl. Are you happy being a boy or a girl? This baited question is designed to get children to consider the possibility of switching their sex. It is the most pernicious part of the LGBT agenda.

Iger did more than encourage Disney to work against parental rights—he accused those who supported the bill of promoting hatred, and possibly violence. “If passed, this bill will put vulnerable, young LGBTQ people in jeopardy.”

The bill went into effect July 1. Where is the evidence that “young LGBTQ people” have been endangered?

Iger demonized a large swath of Americans, mostly Christian, by accusing them of promoting a cause that endangers innocent children. It was a despicable thing to do.

It is for these reasons that the Catholic League decided to do a documentary on what has happened to Disney. The wait is about over. The film will debut on Monday, January 23rd.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on how to deal with abortion in the post-Roe era:

No institution in American history has been more resolute in its opposition to abortion than the Catholic Church. Protestants and Jews were almost in lockstep praising Roe v. Wade in 1973. Then things changed.

In the 1970s, evangelical Protestants took a more sober look at what abortion entailed. They joined our side. Regrettably, most of the mainline Protestants— Episcopalians, Methodists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, American Baptists, and the United Church of Christ—stayed in the abortion rights camp.

Among Jews, those who are observant—the practicing Jews—may not share the Catholic understanding of abortion altogether, but they are much closer to us than they are to their secular cousins; they clearly reject abortion-on-demand. Unfortunately, most Jews are secularists and are therefore on the pro-abortion side.

The political parties flipped in the 1970s. The Republicans, led by the WASP elite, were always on the side of the abortion activists. They founded Planned Parenthood with Rockefeller money, quietly saying that abortion was the answer to the “urban problem,” meaning blacks. By the end of the decade, most Republicans became pro-life.

Until the 1970s, the Democrats, led by Catholics, wanted nothing to do with abortion. But the radical feminists booted Catholics from power and took over the party. In the early 1970s, Sen. Edward Kennedy wrote passionately against abortion (I have a copy of one of his letters) and Rev. Jesse Jackson said it was “genocide” against black people. Both became abortion proponents by the end of the decade.

All along, the Catholic Church stood fast. We were the only ones who were both consistent and on the right side of the issue. We should never forget that, and indeed more Catholic students should be made aware of this verity.

After almost a half century of legal abortion, the issue was returned to the states last year. We are now in the post-Roe era, and this means we must adjust our strategies to meet current needs.

Ever since the Dobbs decision overturned Roe, many in the pro-life camp decided to change state laws in a dramatic fashion, hoping to make abortion illegal in every case, or at least in most cases. Voters, who certainly did not approve of the very liberal abortion laws in the states prior to Dobbs, did not want to go full circle either. They hit the pause button on initiatives that would ban virtually all abortions.

We should learn from Texas. Even before the victory in Dobbs, Texas took a strong stand, without catering to the all-or-nothing camp. After the Texas Heartbeat Act went into effect in September 2021, the number of abortions declined dramatically: in the first month alone, abortions decreased by 60 percent. More recently, in August 2022, there were only three abortions, all due to medical emergencies.

We also need to go on the offensive, telling the truth about the pro-abortion side.

The Nation magazine is the oldest radical left-wing publication in the country. In the last century, it proudly defended Stalin, even after his mass murders were exposed. Virulently pro-abortion, it recently offered a Thanksgiving gift to its readers. It published the comments of nine women who bragged about their abortions. Six of them admitted to having more than one.

The common denominator was their happiness over having children when they felt like it. One woman said, “I am thankful for both of my  abortions. I am thankful that I didn’t want to be a parent then, so I didn’t have to be a parent then (her italics).” Another woman said, “I am thankful for the freedom of self. Some people may call this selfish, but I don’t think it is.” The others voiced similar sentiments.

Their self-absorption is stunning. It’s all about me. What I want and when I want it. They make it sound like they are ordering from a fast-food joint, tailoring their order to fit their wants.

The men in their lives come out as winners. After they get what they want, they hand over their credit card and tell their pregnant girlfriend (if she is even that) to get rid of the baby on her lunch hour.

Young women need to be educated. Not about sex—unwanted pregnancies and STDs have spiked since sex ed became mandatory decades ago—but about being exploited. They need to know that there are legions of men who will use them as a means to their ends. They need a radical wake-up call.

The young men also need to be educated, morally speaking. They need to learn why engaging in reckless sex hurts themselves and others, and they need adult men to tell them this to their face.

We won on Roe, and now we have to set our sights on more victories. We need to adjust our sails, without ever losing our resolve.