Bill Donohue

KABC radio in Los Angeles started June 6 airing the first of 25 ads paid for by the Catholic League asking listeners not to attend the June 16 “Pride Night” Dodgers game honoring the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, an anti-Catholic hate group; it runs through June 9. The initial reaction has been very positive.

The Los Angeles Times just published a story, “Catholic League Launches Radio Ad Campaign Urging Boycott of Dodgers’ Pride Night.” While the story is not critical of the “Sisters,” it accurately conveys our stand.

Now we have been contacted by other media outlets asking permission to disseminate the ad. We are encouraged by this robust response.

It should be noted that while there are several lay Catholic groups that have weighed in against the Dodgers, the Catholic League is the only organization in the nation to launch an ad campaign. Coupled with our mass mailings to prominent Catholics in the Los Angeles area, we are proud to lead the way. Even critics of the overall Catholic response are citing our leading role.

We will have more to say tomorrow about the next stage in our campaign.

Bill Donohue

Today we are contacting 126 Catholic entities asking them to spread the word about our boycott of the June 16 “Pride Night” Dodgers game that will honor the anti-Catholic Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. To that end, we are sending them a copy of our report that details the bigoted acts of this hate group.

We previously mailed our report to over 300 parishes in the Los Angeles archdiocese. We also contacted 53 Catholic schools, including colleges and universities. In each case, we asked pastors and educators to ask their constituents not to attend the June 16 game.

Now we are asking the Catholic leaders of the following archdiocesan entities to do the same: Residences of priests and brothers; endowments, foundations and trusts; retreat houses; hospitals and health systems; seminaries; and convents and residences for women.

Also ongoing is our radio ad blitz on KABC in Los Angeles asking area Catholics to boycott the June 16 game. Stay tuned for more announcements about our campaign.

Bill Donohue

Starting today, for five consecutive days, we are running 25 radio ads (30 seconds each) on KABC asking listeners not to attend the June 16 “Pride Night” Dodgers game that features the “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.” KABC is the ABC affiliate that covers Los Angeles and the Southern California area.

Due to copyright laws, we are prohibited from mentioning the Dodgers, or Dodger Stadium, per se. Everyone in the huge listening area will understand what the selected euphemisms mean (the stadium is also known as Chavez Ravine).

Here is the text of the ad that is being read by a woman chosen by KABC.

The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, the nation’s largest Catholic civil rights organization, is asking Catholics not to attend the  game at the Ravine on June 16. That is when an anti-Catholic group, the “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence,” will be given an award.

We are not asking Catholics to boycott all games. Just this one. By doing so, we will send an unmistakable message that bigotry against Catholics should not be tolerated.

If attendance dips on June 16, the entire league will take note. Please boycott this game.

Bill Donohue

Very shortly, at 2:00 p.m. PST, California Democrats will honor one of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, Michael Williams (who goes by “Sister Roma”). The invitation was extended by Senate President pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins. Williams is one of a larger group of queers and trans persons being honored on the floor of the Capitol in Sacramento.

Throughout much of the last century, the Democrats were the Catholic-friendly Party. That changed in the 1970s, and in recent years it has become increasingly inhospitable to Catholics. Now it is openly anti-Catholic. This event proves it.

Faithful Catholics are holding an ecumenical prayer vigil on the west steps of the Capitol.

The only difference between these California Democrats and the Ku Klux Klan is that the latter promotes violence. But non-violent bigotry is not only intolerable, it abets its violent manifestations.

Contact Nick Hardeman, chief of staff to Atkins: nick.hardeman@sen.ca.gov

Bill Donohue

The Dodgers and the Giants are not only longtime baseball rivals, they handle similar controversial issues in an entirely different matter. Over the past few decades, both teams have reached out to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, but after the Catholic League criticized each for doing so, their responses were quite different.

The Dodgers controversy is the current one.

The decision by the Dodgers to honor the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence on Pride Night, June 16, triggered a robust response from us: our email subscribers unloaded on Rob Manfred, Commissioner of Major League Baseball. The next day, the “Sisters” were disinvited. But then the Dodgers succumbed to pressure from the other side and reinvited them.

This is in stark contrast to how the San Francisco Giants handled a similar matter almost three decades ago.

In 1995, the Giants held a fundraising event to combat AIDS (which we applauded), but at the event were the “Sisters.” I objected (click here) and about a week later I got a letter of apology from Peter A. Magowan, president of the Giants; he pledged to never allow something like this to happen again (click here).

So there we have it. There are two models: the responsible one, as exhibited by the Giants; and the irresponsible one, as exercised by the Dodgers.

Our campaign seeking a boycott of the June 16 game will continue over the next two weeks. Check our website for the latest developments.

Bill Donohue

The Catholic League campaign against the Dodgers, which is in response to its decision to present an award to the “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence,” will end two weeks from today, June 16. That is the day the “Sisters” will be honored on Pride Night at Dodgers Stadium.

We are asking Catholics in the Los Angeles area not to attend this game. It is neither wise nor feasible to ask everyone not to attend another Dodgers game again, which is why we have rejected this tactic. It is a losing proposition.

Those interested in how this issue unfolded will appreciate what we have posted on our website, “Catholic League Campaign Against the Dodgers.” Over the next two weeks, we will provide updates as needed.

Bill Donohue

Congratulations to former Vice President Mike Pence for denouncing the Dodgers for deciding to present an award to an anti-Catholic hate group, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, on Pride Night, June 16. Pence, who was raised Catholic, said the group “blatantly mocks Catholicism,” calling the event to honor them “deeply offensive.”

Once we learned of the Dodgers’ decision in mid-May, the Catholic League was the first organization in the nation to mount a public pressure campaign against Major League Baseball (MLB); it had given the event its blessings. On May 16, we released our statement, asking our email subscribers to email Rob Manfred, the MLB Commissioner.

Manfred got so bombarded with complaints that the very next day the Dodgers disinvited the “Sisters.” It was this campaign—not some tweet or soundbite—that forced the reversal.

Over the weekend, LGBT activists and others lobbied the Dodgers to reverse course, and on May 22, they did. The next day, we released a detailed report that I wrote on the history of anti-Catholic acts committed by the “Sisters.”

We have sent our report to hundreds of Catholic parishes, schools and other organizations in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles (with more on the way) asking Catholics to boycott the June 16 game.

We are not asking Catholics to boycott the Dodgers in perpetuity as that is a losing strategy: It is fatuous to think that a never-ending boycott of all Dodgers games can work. We want to pinpoint one game, so that this can be a cultural marker for MLB and the Dodgers.

Now that Pence has broken the ice, we hope all aspiring presidential candidates will join with him in condemning this outrageous decision to stick it to Catholics.

Contact Pence spokesman Devin O’Malley: domalley@narrativedc.com

Bill Donohue

When I was growing up, if anyone had made an anti-American, anti-Semitic, anti-police, anti-military speech at a public forum, it would have generated tremendous controversy.

Regrettably, the response to a vile assault on America, Israel, the police, and the military—made by a crazed female Muslim bigot at the City University of New York (CUNY) on May 12—has been overwhelmingly restrained. Some have even applauded her vicious speech at the commencement ceremony.

Fatima Mousa Mohammad condemned her own school, CUNY, for training and cooperating with “the fascist NYPD, the military” and for training Israeli soldiers “to carry out that violence globally.” She also told the law school graduates that their new profession represents “a manifestation of white supremacy that continues to oppress and suppress people in this nation and around the world.” Finally, she called for a “revolution” to fight against “capitalism, racism, imperialism and Zionism around the world.”

Had Mohammad spoken this way in some Muslim-run nations about their society, she would have been killed.

I come from a family of Irish cops and other law enforcement agents. I am a veteran of the United States Air Force. I have a long history of fighting anti-Semitism. As such, I have no tolerance for such an ignorant and wholly unjustified assault. This would be outrageous if said on social media. That it was said at a publicly funded university makes it obscene.

Fortunately, a statement by the top officials at CUNY was excellent. The Board of Trustees slammed the address as “hate speech.” Jeffrey Lax, a long-time member of the faculty, was also spot on.

Gov. Kathy Hochul, who appoints members of the CUNY governing board, said nothing herself, allowing a spokesman to offer a lame response. New York City Mayor Eric Adams was only slightly better.

The ADL was appropriately critical of Mohammad’s “anti-Israel propaganda.” More pointed was Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, who said, “Jewish students are not welcome at CUNY Law School. That has to change.” Lee Zeldin was spunky enough to call for an end to CUNY’s taxpayer funding.

We heard from City Councilman Ari Kagan, Councilwoman Inna Vernikov, State Assemblyman Simcha Eichenstein, and Congressman Ritchie Torres. They did not take kindly to the speech.

But where was Sen. Chuck Schumer? Where was Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand? Where was Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez? Where was Rep. Jerry Nadler? Nadler was likely sleepwalking, AOC no doubt agreed with the speech, and Gillibrand may as well be the “Invisible Woman.” But for Schumer not to say anything is the real disgrace.

Defending Mohammad’s rant was Sudha Setty, the dean of CUNY Law School. She is not an educator—she is a bigoted activist and should be fired. Councilwoman Shahana Hanif accused CUNY of “bullying” the speaker, commending her for being so “brave”; thus did she align herself with hate mongers. The New York affiliate of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) praised their fellow Muslim for her defense of human rights, effectively disabling its credibility; it has no moral leg to stand on.

People like Mohammad come to the United States, the only country in the world that is being invaded by migrants from around the globe—all of whom are seeking human rights and economic wellbeing—yet they denounce America, saving their real venom for those who defend it at home and abroad. In a sane society, she and her ilk would be run out of town.