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Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League – a group that exists to promote Bill Donohue, er, prevent “virulent anti-Catholicism” – is leading a protest against Jerry Springer: The Opera, which will be performed at Carnegie Hall on January 29th and 30th and stars Harvey Keitel as Springer. The show chronicles Jerry Springer’s adventures in hell, where he's forced to host an outrageous talk show whose guests include Adam and Eve, Mary, Jesus, and, as his crowd “warm up” man, Satan. Donohue’s dutifully parsed the script and excerpted all the blasphemous material, which may not be the best tactic because...

Catholic League president Bill Donohue commented today on some of the remarks being made about Father Gabriele Amorth’s recent interview on Vatican Radio: “Various forums on the Internet are alive with chatter over Father Amorth’s August 27 interview. Father Amorth is a Pauline priest who works as an exorcist in the Diocese of Rome. In the interview, he said, ‘I am convinced that the Nazis were all possessed by the devil.’ Furthermore, he asserted that the ‘horrors’ committed by Stalin and Hitler also demonstrate that ‘they were possessed by the devil.’ Unfortunately, some are now reading these remarks as Father...

September 28, 2005 OPEN LETTER TO BARBARA WALTERS The following is Bill Donohue’s letter to ABC personality Barbara Walters: It seems you have a problem with the Catholic Church.  On the September 22 episode of “The View,” you read a selection from the Catholic Catechism on homosexuality that you found disagreeable.  To be precise, you wondered aloud what the Church meant by saying homosexuality was an “objective disorder.”  To the approval of your co-hosts, you further added that celibacy was “unnatural” or “supposedly” so.  Moreover, co-hosts Meredith Vieira, Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Joy Behar piled on by speaking in the most disparaging way...

CBS PETITIONED TO PROBE SHOWTIME Catholic League president William Donohue explained today the league’s strategy for dealing with Showtime, the cable network that recently aired a hate-filled episode of “Penn and Teller”: “On May 23, 24 and 27, Showtime’s ‘Penn and Teller’ aired the ‘Holier Than Thou’ episode that has so enraged Catholics, as well as people of all faiths (click here). The obscene assault on Mother Teresa, her Missionaries of Charity and the Catholic Church was arguably the most vicious anti-Catholic fare ever shown on television in the United States. An excerpt of this show was sent to 350...

On May 26, the Catholic League will hold a press conference at 1:30 p.m. outside the Marriott Marquis Hotel on Broadway and 46th Street in New York City. The press conference will address the vile assault on Mother Teresa that Showtime aired this week in its “Holier Than Thou” episode of Penn and Teller; Showtime is owned by Viacom. The timing and venue of the press conference is intentional: at 2:00 p.m., the 2005 Annual Meeting of Stockholders of Viacom will begin. Catholic League president William Donohue wrote a news release today that explains the seriousness of this issue. A...

New York, May. 25, 2005 (CNA) - Los Angeles Times op-ed writer Robert Scheer has distorted the truth about the Catholic Church and homosexuals, says Catholic League president William Donohue.In his recent column, Scheer says the Catholic Church is “one of the most sexually repressed institutions in human history” that is responsible for a “horrific drumbeat of child molestation revelations” led by a new Pope who is “a longtime leader of vicious church attacks on ‘evil’ gays.” Scheer also accuses Pope Benedict XVI of scapegoating the media. “Scheer is wrong on all counts,” says Donohue.“It is not the Catholic Church’s...

Catholic League president William Donohue remarked as follows: “The storm is about to hit. For the most part, anti-Catholic bigots and the disaffected dissidents within the Church have been quiet. What they have been waiting for is about to happen: the week between the end of the mourning and the beginning of the conclave is upon us. And that means the Left is ready to explode. “Consider what we’ve heard already. Amidst the mostly favorable coverage by the media of Pope John Paul II, he has been branded as follows: an authoritarian who seeks to silence dissent; the enemy of...

It was a surprise to NBC in 1992 when "Saturday Night Live" aired pop star Sinead O'Connor ripping up a picture of Pope John Paul II and crying "Fight the real enemy!" But now NBC has aired a planned, scripted episode of a sitcom that attacks not the Pope, but Jesus Christ Himself. The Feb. 22 episode of the painfully unfunny new sitcom "Committed" made a mockery out of the sacrament of the Eucharist. As William Donohue of the Catholic League explained about the show: "By far the most offensive scene occurs when [male characters] Nate and Bowie accidentally flush...

New York, Mar. 01 (CNA/CWNews.com) - William Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Civil and Religious Rights, has said Newsweek magazine should "pull the plug" on columnist Christopher Dickey after Dickey suggested in an article that Pope John Paul II (bio - news) continues to impose his will on the Catholic Church by his "stubborn" will to live. Dickey's article in the "Periscope" section of the March 7 edition of Newsweek is titled "He Has Willpower-- But No 'Living Will.'" Dickey said, "Even as the aged pope's body shuts down in the late stages of Parkinson's disease, his will...

 March 1, 2005   “JERRY SPRINGER” BETTER STAY IN BRITAIN  The Catholic League has been monitoring plans to bring “Jerry Springer: The Opera” to Broadway for some time, but has refrained from saying anything because the initial plans were scrapped.  However, it is being reported today that if the producers can come up with the cash, they will bring “Springer” to Broadway in spring 2006.  Here is what others have said about the show: The opera "contains up to 8,000 profanities and features tap-dancers dressed as Ku Klux Klan members and a showdown between Satan and a diaper-wearing Jesus." Amidst...

During the February 22 episode of the NBC-TV sitcom, “Committed,” two non-Catholics are mistakenly given Holy Communion at a Catholic funeral Mass.  Nate, who is Jewish, and Bowie, a Protestant, don’t know what to do with the Eucharist, so they make several failed attempts to get rid of it.  For example, they try slipping it into the pocket of a priest, dropping it on a tray of cheese and crackers, etc.    At one point, the priest, who is portrayed as not knowing the difference between the Host and a cracker, goes to grab the “cracker” from a tray...

An episode of the NBC sitcom "Committed,” featuring two characters who flush a Communion wafer down a toilet, has created a firestorm of protest among Catholics. During the February 22 broadcast, two non-Catholics are mistakenly given Holy Communion at a Catholic funeral Mass. As recounted by the Catholic League: "Nate, who is Jewish, and Bowie, a Protestant, don’t know what to do with the Eucharist, so they make several failed attempts to get rid of it. For example, they try slipping it into the pocket of a priest, dropping it on a tray of cheese and crackers, etc. "At one...

December 29, 2004 CATHOLICS AND JEWS TARGETED WORLDWIDE IN 2004 Catholic League President William Donohue released the following remarks today: “Anti-Catholicism in the US is the predominant focus of the Catholic League. But we are not oblivious to what has been happening to Catholics in other parts of the world. Specifically, the rise of anti-Catholicism in Europe and the Arab nations is very disturbing. Moreover, it is not for nothing that these two regions continue to display an abiding hatred of Jews. “Through the noble efforts of people like A.M. Rosenthal, Americans have learned of Christian persecution in Arab lands,...

 December 23, 2004  ATHEISTS DESERVE THEIR OWN HOLIDAY—NOTHINGDAY  Catholic League president William Donohue released the following comments on the Christmas wars today:      “Robert Tiernan, a spokesman for the Freedom from Religion Foundation, is demanding that atheists be represented in next year’s Parade of Lights in Denver.  He wants a ‘winter solstice’ float instead of a Christian one.  He deserves better.   “Atheists deserve to have their own holiday—Nothingday—the purpose of which would be to honor what they believe in, which is absolutely nothing.  Nothingday would be held on the day of the winter solstice and would be...

Catholic League president William Donohue commented today on some disturbing responses to Christmas: “In San Francisco, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a band of characters the Los Angeles Times affectionately calls a group of ‘queer nuns,’ has been bashing Christmas all month. In Minneapolis, gay-themed Christmas bashing has been happening at the Hennepin Center for the Arts and the Brave New Workshop. To understand why this is going on, consider what one New Hampshire non-Christian said when asked about Christmas celebrations in the schools: ‘It’s offensive to those who don’t celebrate it.’ Better yet is Phil Goodstein, a Denver historian...

An honored friend, charging that there has been anti-Semitism on the air, sends along the offending transcript, and I read through MSNBC's Scarborough Country (for Dec. 8) and found some noisy people discussing Hollywood. The question before the house: Will The Passion of the Christ win the relevant Oscar, or will it be Fahrenheit 9/11? The seven guests of Pat Buchanan, who was the mc that evening, included a rabbi (Shmuley Boteach) and the president of the Catholic League (Bill Donohue). The Catholic League ("The Nation's Largest Catholic Civil Rights Organization") fashions itself after the Anti-Defamation League of the Jewish...

December 15, 2004  LET’S HAVE A PARTY—BUT NOT A CHRISTMAS ONE  Catholic League president William Donohue today addressed what’s been happening to Christmas parties in the workplace:  “For decades, employees at Time magazine had a Christmas party and looked forward to receiving a Christmas bonus.  But starting three years ago, the party was banned and so were the Christmas bonuses.  This is not to say that bonuses are no longer given—they are—it’s just that the dreaded ‘C-word’ is no longer associated with them.  This is progress.   “The mayor of Somerville, Massachusetts recently apologized for calling the city’s Christmas...

Christmas is THE NEW “C-WORD” by: William Donohue,, December 02, 2004 Parents in Maine’s Scarborough School District say that efforts to ban Christmas have become so extreme that they now refer to Christmas as the new “C-word.” In nearby New Hampshire, things aren’t any better. For example, the principal of Epping Elementary School boasts that his school raises money for the needy, “but we don’t call it a Christmas gift drive,” and that’s because “it’s a time for giving and that’s pretty much universal.” But if that’s the case, why choose December as the gift-giving month? Similarly, why is December...

ANTI-CHRISTIAN BIGOTRY EXPLODES AT VILLAGE VOICE Catholic League president William Donohue called attention today to the anti-Christian explosion under way at the Village Voice: *The day after the election, James Ridgeway confessed, “The dream has become a nightmare.” By that he meant “the dream of a secular, liberal democracy.” Why? Because, he said, “the Christians are stronger than ever.” On 11-16, Ridgeway blasted “the self-absorbed, selfish Christians who take sanctimonious pride in wrapping themselves in the banners of the civil rights movement, missionary work abroad, giving old clothes to single mothers,” etc. He then blamed Christians for not challenging the...

Catholic League president William Donohue commented today on the remarks made about President George W. Bush that are featured on the website of Catholics for Kerry 04: “The home page of Catholics for Kerry 04 prominently lists comments by Wayne Madsden, who says, ‘George W. Bush’s blood lust, his repeated commitment to Christian beliefs and his constant references to ‘evil doers,’ in the eyes of many devout Catholic leaders, bear all the hallmarks of the one warned about in the Book of Revelations—the anti-Christ.’ He also charges that Bush ‘couples his political fanaticism with a neo-Christian blood cult.’ “This is...

SCHWARZENEGGER HIRES CATHOLIC FOE Arnold Schwarzenegger, Republican candidate for Governor of California, has hired Warren Buffett as his financial advisor. Catholic League president William Donohue expressed his concerns about this appointment today: “Warren Buffett is one of the most lavish donors to the nation’s most anti-Catholic organization, Catholics for a Free Choice (CFFC). Led by Frances Kissling, CFFC has twice been denounced as a fraud by the U.S. Catholic bishops. For many years, Kissling has worked tirelessly to downgrade the Vatican’s status at the U.N. Her non-stop attempts to discredit the teachings of Catholicism are known all over the world....

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Republican candidate for Governor of California, has hired Warren Buffett as his financial advisor. Catholic League president William Donohue expressed his concerns about this appointment today: “Warren Buffett is one of the most lavish donors to the nation’s most anti-Catholic organization, Catholics for a Free Choice (CFFC). Led by Frances Kissling, CFFC has twice been denounced as a fraud by the U.S. Catholic bishops. For many years, Kissling has worked tirelessly to downgrade the Vatican’s status at the U.N. Her non-stop attempts to discredit the teachings of Catholicism are known all over the world. Indeed, Kissling has expressly...

http://www.catholicleague.org MOVIE REVIEWERS BASH CATHOLIC CHURCHCatholic League president William Donohue commented today on how movie reviewers assessed “The Magdalene Sisters”:   “Imagine an anti-Semitic director who admits he packed into one movie every anti-Semitic theme he could draw on and then gets an anti-Semitic duo to distribute it.  Next imagine film critics taking the anti-Semitic propaganda at face value and then offering anti-Semitic remarks in their reviews.  Fat chance.  For example, there will never be a movie about Jewish slumlords in Harlem or Jewish managers of black entertainers in the 20th century.  If there were, and if it were to...

Catholic League president William Donohue commented on the decision reached today by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upholding a challenge to its decision banning the Pledge of Allegiance because of the words “under God.” Here are his remarks: “Two things need to be done immediately: teachers and students should practice civil disobedience and the judges must be impeached. “It is up to the teachers in the nine western states affected by this decision to break the law: they should instruct their students on the meaning of civil disobedience and then practice it. All they need to do is call...

DNC TARGETED IN FIRST OF SERIES OF ADS Catholic League president William Donohue issued the following statement today regarding the Democratic National Committee (DNC): “The current edition of the National Catholic Register (September 15-21) carries the first of a series of ads the Catholic League is running in Catholic and secular newspapers targeting the DNC. Though the league has heard from Rep. Tom Lantos and Rep. Tim Roemer, both of whom are exploring the league’s complaint, nothing has changed: the DNC continues to align itself with an anti-Catholic organization, Catholics for a Free Choice. “We do not believe that the...