Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on Day 26 of the protest campaign on behalf of Mother Teresa:

Today I am writing to every Italian lay Catholic group in the New York Tri-State area informing them of our protest demonstration on August 26 outside the Empire State Building on 34th Street and 5th Avenue.

The rally is being held to protest the decision by Anthony Malkin, the owner of the storied building, to deny a tribute to Mother Teresa: our request to have the towers shine blue and white, the colors of her congregation, on August 26th, the 100th anniversary of her birthday, was originally denied without explanation, and was later denied on appeal by invoking a “policy” that prohibits honoring religious individuals or institutions. If this were in fact true, then (a) they would have said so from the beginning (instead they told me the application looked fine), and (b) they would not have honored Cardinal O’Connor when he died; Pope John Paul II when he died; the Salvation Army; and Rev. Martin Luther King.

Yet the same persons who chose to stiff Mother Teresa decided to honor the Chinese Communist revolution last year, even though 77 million innocent men, women and children were murdered under Mao Zedong. By contrast, the U.S. Postal Service is honoring Mother Teresa with a commemorative stamp.

Everyone is being asked to pass the word about our demonstration and to join us on August 26. They are also being asked to write to Anthony Malkin. His address is Malkin Properties, One Grand Central Place 60, E. 42nd St., NY, NY 10165.

Contact Daniel Hernandez: daniel.hernandez@edelman.com

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on Day 25 of the protest campaign on behalf of Mother Teresa:

Today I am writing to every Irish lay Catholic group in the New York Tri-State area informing them of our protest demonstration on August 26 outside the Empire State Building on 34th Street and 5th Avenue.

The rally is being held to protest the decision by Anthony Malkin, the owner of the storied building, to deny a tribute to Mother Teresa: our request to have the towers shine blue and white, the colors of her congregation, on August 26th, the 100th anniversary of her birthday, was originally denied without explanation, and was later denied on appeal by invoking a “policy” that prohibits honoring religious individuals or institutions. If this were in fact true, then (a) they would have said so from the beginning (instead they told me the application looked fine), and (b) they would not have honored Cardinal O’Connor when he died; Pope John Paul II when he died; the Salvation Army; and Rev. Martin Luther King.

Yet the same persons who chose to stiff Mother Teresa decided to honor the Chinese Communist revolution last year, even though 77 million innocent men, women and children were murdered under Mao Zedong. By contrast, the U.S. Postal Service is honoring Mother Teresa with a commemorative stamp.

Everyone is being asked to pass the word about our demonstration and to join us on August 26. They are also being asked to write to Anthony Malkin. His address is Malkin Properties, One Grand Central Place 60, E. 42nd St., NY, NY 10165.

Contact Daniel Hernandez: daniel.hernandez@edelman.com

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on Day 24 of the protest campaign on behalf of Mother Teresa:

Today I am writing to every lay Catholic professional group in the New York Tri-State area informing them of our protest demonstration on August 26 outside the Empire State Building on 34th Street and 5th Avenue.

The rally is being held to protest the decision by Anthony Malkin, the owner of the storied building, to deny a tribute to Mother Teresa: our request to have the towers shine blue and white, the colors of her congregation, on August 26th, the 100th anniversary of her birthday, was originally denied without explanation, and was later denied on appeal by invoking a “policy” that prohibits honoring religious individuals or institutions. If this were in fact true, then (a) they would have said so from the beginning (instead they told me the application looked fine), and (b) they would not have honored Cardinal O’Connor when he died; Pope John Paul II when he died; the Salvation Army; and Rev. Martin Luther King.

Yet the same persons who chose to stiff Mother Teresa decided to honor the Chinese Communist revolution last year, even though 77 million innocent men, women and children were murdered under Mao Zedong. By contrast, the U.S. Postal Service is honoring Mother Teresa with a commemorative stamp.

Everyone is being asked to pass the word about our demonstration and to join us on August 26. They are also being asked to write to Anthony Malkin. His address is Malkin Properties, One Grand Central Place 60, E. 42nd St., NY, NY 10

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on Day 23 of the protest campaign on behalf of Mother Teresa:

Today I am writing to every Catholic college and university in the state of Connecticut informing them of our protest demonstration on August 26 outside the Empire State Building on 34th Street and 5th Avenue.

The rally is being held to protest the decision by Anthony Malkin, the owner of the storied building, to deny a tribute to Mother Teresa: our request to have the towers shine blue and white, the colors of her congregation, on August 26th, the 100th anniversary of her birthday, was originally denied without explanation, and was later denied on appeal by invoking a “policy” that prohibits honoring religious individuals or institutions. If this were in fact true, then (a) they would have said so from the beginning (instead they told me the application looked fine), and (b) they would not have honored Cardinal O’Connor when he died; Pope John Paul II when he died; the Salvation Army; and Rev. Martin Luther King.

Yet the same persons who chose to stiff Mother Teresa decided to honor the Chinese Communist revolution last year, even though 77 million innocent men, women and children were murdered under Mao Zedong. By contrast, the U.S. Postal Service is honoring Mother Teresa with a commemorative stamp.

Everyone is being asked to pass the word about our demonstration and to join us on August 26. They are also being asked to write to Anthony Malkin. His address is Malkin Properties, One Grand Central Place 60, E. 42nd St., NY, NY 10165.

Contact Daniel Hernandez: daniel.hernandez@edelman.com

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on Day 22 of the protest campaign on behalf of Mother Teresa:

Today I am writing to every Catholic high school in the state of Connecticut informing them of our protest demonstration on August 26 outside the Empire State Building on 34th Street and 5th Avenue.

The rally is being held to protest the decision by Anthony Malkin, the owner of the storied building, to deny a tribute to Mother Teresa: our request to have the towers shine blue and white, the colors of her congregation, on August 26th, the 100th anniversary of her birthday, was originally denied without explanation, and was later denied on appeal by invoking a “policy” that prohibits honoring religious individuals or institutions. If this were in fact true, then (a) they would have said so from the beginning (instead they told me the application looked fine), and (b) they would not have honored Cardinal O’Connor when he died; Pope John Paul II when he died; the Salvation Army; and Rev. Martin Luther King.

Yet the same persons who chose to stiff Mother Teresa decided to honor the Chinese Communist revolution last year, even though 77 million innocent men, women and children were murdered under Mao Zedong. By contrast, the U.S. Postal Service is honoring Mother Teresa with a commemorative stamp.

Everyone is being asked to pass the word about our demonstration and to join us on August 26. They are also being asked to write to Anthony Malkin. His address is Malkin Properties, One Grand Central Place 60, E. 42nd St., NY, NY 10165.

Contact Daniel Hernandez: daniel.hernandez@edelman.com

Catholic League president Bill Donohue issued the following remarks today on the league’s ongoing controversy with Anthony Malkin, the owner of the Empire State Building who denied Mother Teresa the honor of having the building towers shine blue and white on August 26, the 100th anniversary of her birthday:

Malkin said yesterday that he has a policy denying any tribute to religious individuals or organizations. As I pointed out yesterday, that didn’t stop them from honoring John Cardinal O’Connor and Pope John Paul II when they died, nor did it stop a tribute to the Salvation Army on its 125th anniversary, or Rev. Martin Luther King last January. I have now learned that on April 25, 2009, the towers were aglow in blue and white in honor of the Salesian Sisters, an order of Roman Catholic nuns.

In other words, Malkin is obviously lying about his so-called policy, and for some reason harbors an animus against Mother Teresa. He owes it to everyone to come clean and tell the truth about what makes him really tick. Like a coward, he refuses to debate me on TV. Meantime, we are going ahead with our demonstration on August 26, and will not yield unless he comes to his senses.

Contact Daniel Hernandez: daniel.hernandez@edelman.com

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on Day 21 of the protest campaign on behalf of Mother Teresa:

Today I am writing to every Catholic elementary school in the state of Connecticut informing them of our protest demonstration on August 26 outside the Empire State Building on 34th Street and 5th Avenue.

The rally is being held to protest the decision by Anthony Malkin, the owner of the storied building, to deny a tribute to Mother Teresa: our request to have the towers shine blue and white, the colors of her congregation, on August 26th, the 100th anniversary of her birthday, was originally denied without explanation, and was later denied on appeal by invoking a “policy” that prohibits honoring religious individuals or institutions. If this were in fact true, then (a) they would have said so from the beginning (instead they told me the application looked fine), and (b) they would not have honored Cardinal O’Connor when he died; Pope John Paul II when he died; the Salvation Army; and Rev. Martin Luther King.

Yet the same persons who chose to stiff Mother Teresa decided to honor the Chinese Communist revolution last year, even though 77 million innocent men, women and children were murdered under Mao Zedong. By contrast, the U.S. Postal Service is honoring Mother Teresa with a commemorative stamp.

Everyone is being asked to pass the word about our demonstration and to join us on August 26. They are also being asked to write to Anthony Malkin. His address is Malkin Properties, One Grand Central Place 60, E. 42nd St., NY, NY 10165.

Contact Daniel Hernandez: daniel.hernandez@edelman.com

Anthony Malkin, owner of the Empire State Building, released a statement today saying, “As a privately owned building, ESB has a specific policy against any other lighting for religious figures or requests by religions and religious organizations.”

Commenting is Catholic League president Bill Donohue:

Malkin is either misinformed or he is lying. Here’s the proof: When John Cardinal O’Connor died in 2000, the Empire State Building was lighted in red and white; in 2005, when Pope John Paul II died, the tower lights were extinguished in his honor; also in 2005, the tower was aglow in yellow, red and blue in tribute to the 125th anniversary of the Salvation Army; and every year the colors red, black and green are lit in memory of Rev. Martin Luther King. In other words, there is no policy barring religious figures or organizations from being honored.

When I applied to the Empire State Building on February 2, I received a phone call from Nicole Grzywacz, Public Relations and Events Coordinator, saying the application had been received. She never indicated there was any policy which would prohibit my request. Indeed, when I spoke to her assistant, Stacy Ann, she never implied that there was a problem.

Malkin has made his decision to stiff Catholics. I have made mine: We will call off our petition drive, but we will go forward with our demonstration outside the Empire State Building on August 26. His decision to double down at this juncture—in the face of massive support for our request—is something he will regret for the rest of his life.

Contact Daniel Hernandez: daniel.hernandez@edelman.com

 Catholic League president Bill Donohue addresses an article in today’s New York Timeson a case of priestly sexual abuse “linked” to the pope:

Many pundits have recently given Pope Benedict XVI higher marks than his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, in handling abuse cases. The entire point of today’s story in the Times by Katrin Bennhold is to cast doubt on the pope’s record. The headline says his role was actually “complex.”

Consistent with previous Times stories on abuse cases in the Catholic Church, this one does not involve any current incident. Moreover, the old case dug up this time is from Austria. In 1995, a journalist broke a story about alleged sexual abuse by Cardinal Hans Hermann Groër of Vienna. Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, who was not formally in charge of policing such cases at that time, nonetheless pressed for an investigation. At first, he was turned down, but soon thereafter Pope John Paul II approved an investigation. 

Because there isn’t a whole lot more to this story, it just underscores our accusation that the point is to cast doubt on the pope’s commitment to ending abuse. In other words, this is pure politics. Nonetheless, the story contains some unintended chestnuts. How so? It shows, without ever saying so, that homosexuality was once again the problem.

The article says that Cardinal Groër was suspected of “abusing minors and young men.” Not kids. As has been true in most cases, the abuse did not involve pedophilia, but homosexuality. Also, the story mentions how a Fr. Udo Fischer was molested by Groër “in the early 1970s.” Since Fischer was born in 1952 (we check out everything at the Catholic League), that means the Times has unwittingly found yet another homosexual “victim.”

Which makes us wonder: just how many of the other “abuse” cases involved consensual homosexual sex. 

Contact public editor Clark Hoyt: public@nytimes.com

 Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on the latest attack on the pope by the New York Times:

 Once upon a time there was a homosexual priest who was accused of molesting boys in Germany. That was 30 years ago. At the approval of Archbishop Joseph Ratzinger (now the pope), he was sent away for therapy and was later reinstated; years later, under a new archbishop, there was another incident and more therapy. 

We know this because the New York Times (which does not like to report on molesting rabbis in 2010), told us about this on Saturday in a front-page article. Today, it ran a front-page article on the same story. Was there any difference? Yes. On Saturday, the Times was only able to identify the priest as bearing the initial “H.” Today, it has real news: his name is Hullermann. And now “H” has been suspended.

 Was it wrong to send abusers to therapy? Is it wrong today? The Times does not say. While it is painfully obvious that psychologists and psychiatrists have oversold their competency in treating abusers, it has long been considered to be both scientifically and ethically sound. It still is. Perhaps that view is unwarranted, but it is flatly unfair to cherry pick Catholic decision-makers for indictment when therapy fails.

 The Times also wrote today that when the pope was Cardinal Ratzinger under Pope John Paul II, he was “in charge of reviewing sexual abuse cases for the Vatican.” In doing so, the Times leaves the impression that Ratzinger was in charge of overseeing these cases when the scandal developed. Nonsense. The Times reported on January 9, 2002 that he had just been appointed to this role. Thus, he had nothing to do with this issue at the time when most of the abuse took place (mid-60s to mid-80s). 

 The Times has a vested ideological interest in keeping this story alive. To say it dislikes Pope Benedict XVI intensely is an understatement.

  Contact NYT Public Editor Clark Hoyt: public@nytimes.com