Free Republic

Bill Donohue may not be tired of the culture wars–or internecine Catholic wars. The head of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights is often over the top in denunciations of anti-Catholicism, real or perceived, and of other Catholics who Donohue sees as not toeing the proper Catholic line. But even Donohue may have outdone himself, and done in his own organization, if his latest press release prompts an IRS investigation. The May 2 release is “Catholic Dissidents Advise Obama,” and it draws down on Obama’s Catholic National Advisory Committee, which includes several Commonwealers, such as Cathleen Kaveny and...

Maher to Apologize for Calling Pope a 'Nazi' By Melanie Hunter-Omar CNSNews.com Senior Editor April 17, 2008 (CNSNews.com) - Liberal talk show host Bill Maher, whose controversial comments about the pope drew fire from the Catholic community, is planning to apologize Friday night for falsely accusing Pope Benedict XVI of being a Nazi, the Catholic League announced Thursday. Catholic League President Bill Donohue received a phone call Thursday from an HBO executive regarding comments Maher made last Friday on HBO's "Real Time With Bill Maher." As Cybercast News Service previously reported, Donohue said Maher "lied when he said the Pope...

In the past five weeks, the “Tonight Show with Jay Leno” has ridiculed priests six times and the pope once; all of the priest jokes were sexual in nature and painted priests as molesters. ·   June 18: Robin Williams gets into an extended diatribe about priests as pedophiles·   June 20: Leno cracks a joke about priests as pedophiles·   June 21: Leno makes a joke about a drunken pedophile priest·   July 12: Leno ridicules the pope for restating Catholic doctrine on salvation·   July 18: Leno portrays all priests as pedophiles·   July 23: Leno jokes about priests using the Harry Potter books as “bait” to lure kids·   July 23: Leno...

NEW YORK, N.Y. (Catholic League) - Yesterday, Senator John McCain said he was “very honored by Pastor John Hagee’s endorsement.” The Republican presidential hopeful also called Hagee “the staunchest leader of our Christian evangelical movement,” citing the minister’s pro-Israel stance. Catholic League president Bill Donohue addressed this today: “There are plenty of staunch evangelical leaders who are pro-Israel, but are not anti-Catholic. John Hagee is not one of them. Indeed, for the past few decades, he has waged an unrelenting war against the Catholic Church. For example, he likes calling it ‘The Great Whore,’ an ‘apostate church,’ the ‘anti-Christ,’ and...

On September 30, San Francisco’s Folsom Street Fair will be held. The ad for this year’s gay/leather event depicts half-naked homosexuals at a table mimicking the Last Supper. The sadomasochistic theme features sex toys displayed on the table. Catholic League president Bill Donohue explains his response today: “Kudos to Concerned Women for America for bringing this obscenity to the attention of the public. Their strategy is to get California politicians to denounce this event. Our strategy is to get Miller Brewing Company to withdraw its sponsorship. Here’s why. “There are several sponsors to this street fair, but most are local...

Don’t tick off Bill Donohue, President of the Catholic League. While some critics thought this brew-ha-ha with the League and Miller Brewing might have gone flat by now, Donohue has accelerated his cause by sending overnight packages to “all eleven members of the company’s Executive Committee a sample of the kinds of sick behaviors (click here) S&M Miller is sponsoring.” The information inside the packets reads:

Send in the straightjackets - Newsweek has cracked up. Of all the stories in the entire world to cover, Newsweek's website is flagging as its "Top Story" an insane piece about a woman (complete with photo) who thinks she is an ordained Catholic priest. They found her in Missouri, though had Newsweek reporter Karen Springen walked into the nearest asylum, she would have found some who think they're the pope. Springen's discovery is Jessica Rowley. Jessica thinks she's a Catholic priest because some crackpot group said they ordained her. Springen, whose contempt for the Catholic Church is rivaled only by...

Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards said Thursday he was personally offended by the provocative messages two of his campaign bloggers wrote criticizing the Catholic church, but he's not firing them. Edwards issued a written statement about the fate of Amanda Marcotte and Melissa McEwen, two days after the head of the conservative Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights demanded they be fired for messages they wrote before working on the campaign. The campaign distributed written apologies from the two women, who stressed they were writing on personal blogs and not on behalf of the campaign. Edwards said he believes...

“Several news stories today are reporting on the decision by Comedy Central to pull a scheduled rerun of the ‘Bloody Mary’ episode that was  shown on ‘South Park’ on December 7-10.  The decision reflects what I asked for in our news release of December 8.  Therefore, I commend Comedy Central for finally making the right decision.  That it aired in the first place, however, does not speak well for the bigots responsible for creating it.   “In our December 8 news release, I also said, ‘Remember, they chose to insult Our Blessed Mother on the eve of the Immaculate Conception, and...

Donohue on Hannity and Colmes

On July 23, Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Terry McAuliffe announced the appointment of Rev. Brenda Bartella Peterson as the Senior Advisor for Religious Outreach; she is an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Commenting on her selection is Catholic League president William Donohue: “Terry McAuliffe says that the appointment of Rev. Peterson as the new Senior Advisor for Religious Outreach ‘reflects the DNC’s commitment to reaching all people of faith’; he also notes that she ‘will act as liaison to religious organizations.’ Upon learning of this appointment, we decided to find out who this woman is....

MSNBC TV talker Phil Donahue bristled Tuesday at charges that he went soft on a 1999 rape allegation against Bill Clinton, explaining that an interview with the ex-president seven years earlier had left him so rattled he worried about his family. "You know, you're talking to a guy who's got the finger from Bill Clinton for raising Gennifer Flowers on my television show. I did not give Clinton a pass," Donahue told nationally syndicated radio host Sean Hannity, who pressed him on Sexgate allegations by Kathleen Willey and Juanita Broaddrick. "And I was booed by my own audience," Donahue...