Free Republic

Fox News’ Neil Cavuto hung up on Catholic League president Bill Donohue on Monday when he refused to stop speculating that the catastrophic Notre Dame fire could be related to other recent attacks on Catholic churches in Paris. “Well, Neil, if it is an accident, it’s a monumental tragedy. But forgive me for being suspicious. Just last month, a 17th-century church was set on fire in Paris. We’ve seen tabernacles knocked down, crosses have been torn down, statues, —” Donohue stated. As Donohue mentioned, a number of churches in France have been vandalized during the early part of 2019. Vandals...

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on recent criticisms of Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington: It is one thing for the laity to be angry about recent revelations regarding former cardinal Theodore McCarrick, and the Pennsylvania grand jury report on molesting priests (which is riddled with lies), it is quite another to allow emotion, not reason, to guide one’s perspective on these twin scandals. Yet that is what is happening. The most angry comments are directed at Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington: He is being blamed for the twin scandals. This is patently unfair—there is no basis for...

The April 20 editorial in the New York Times on the Equal Rights Amendment (E.R.A.) is flawed in several ways. It is not the “religious right” that is responsible for the failure of this amendment, it is liberals. The editorial demonizes the “religious right” for “fearmongering,” when, in fact, it was liberal women who fought the E.R.A. for decades. If the E.R.A. wins the support of two more states, it will have the 38 needed for ratification (the male-dominated Congress overwhelmingly passed it in 1972), though it may not survive a legal challenge: when advocates of the E.R.A. failed to...

Who is the real Minister of Hate? Tony Perkins or Al Sharpton? Both are ordained ministers—Sharpton was ordained at the age of 9—and both have addressed the controversy over Charlottesville. Perkins wants both sides to take a pause, and recommends a Day of Prayer. Sharpton wants all public funds to stop paying for the Jefferson Memorial, saying “you’re asking me to subsidize the insult to my family.” The media would have us believe that Perkins is the Minister of Hate. They cite the organization that he directs, the Family Research Council, as a hate group. The evidence? It is so...

The death industry, led by Planned Parenthood and NARAL, was a major presence at last week’s Women’s March on Washington. Their idea of women’s rights is fixated on abortion and lesbians (as well as those unsure what sex they are). Thus, they have little in common with most women. President Trump will appoint a Supreme Court justice next week, one who is sure to understand that the most pressing civil rights of our time is the right to life. He has already signed an executive order reinstating the “Mexico City Policy”; it bans federal funding to international groups that perform...

Those who want a new twist on the traditional crèche can buy a 10-piece Hipster Nativity scene that features Joseph sporting a lumberjack beard taking a selfie; baby Jesus and a peace-flashing Mary, holding a Starbucks cup, are included. The three wise men show up on Segways holding Amazon boxes full of presents; there is also a cow draped in a sweater with a “100% Organic” seal on it. This depiction is more trendy than it is offensive. A gun-rights activist in Columbia, South Carolina has hijacked Christmas to make his case defending the Second Amendment. It is the work...

Those who want a new twist on the traditional crèche can buy a 10-piece Hipster Nativity scene that features Joseph sporting a lumberjack beard taking a selfie; baby Jesus and a peace-flashing Mary, holding a Starbucks cup, are included. The three wise men show up on Segways holding Amazon boxes full of presents; there is also a cow draped in a sweater with a “100% Organic” seal on it. A gun-rights activist in Columbia, South Carolina has hijacked Christmas to make his case defending the Second Amendment. It is the work of the Palmetto State Armory. Billboards are being displayed...

Ask any schoolboy what the meaning of Christmas is, and he will say it celebrates the birth of Jesus. Ask the ideologues at Microsoft, and they will say it means whatever their politics dictate. This year it represents an opportunity to exploit Christmas by pushing the LGBT agenda. Microsoft has released a TV ad, “Art of Harmony,” that is laden with Christmas overtones, yet absent of Christian content. “This holiday season we brought together a group of people who are making a difference in the world,” the ad says. It does not say what holiday is being observed, though we...

Secularists are not necessarily anti-Christmas, but the radicals in their ranks are. At the top of the list is FFRF. Its tactics are twofold: If religious Christmas symbols and events cannot be banned, secular symbols and events must compete with them. Consider the following. For many years, the northern Michigan town of Menominee has displayed a nativity scene on public property. It was taken down this year after a complaint by FFRF. Chicago’s Daley Square has long been host to a life-size nativity scene, and in recent years that spot has been shared with a display by FFRF: it is...

Bill Donohue comments on Hillary Clinton’s speech at an African American church in Philadelphia yesterday: Hillary Clinton took her campaign to Mount Airy Church of God in Christ yesterday afternoon. According to one report, “she urged parishioners of a black church in Philadelphia’s West Oak Lane neighborhood to choose ‘hope over fear’ and vote to send her to the White House.” Another story described how she stood “at a wooden lectern in the center of a purple-carpeted altar,” making her pitch to the faithful. There has been no complaint from the ACLU, Americans United for Separation of Church and State,...

Catholic Theologians Protest ‘Deep-Seated Racism’ Of US, Compare Eric Garner To Christ A "statement of commitment to racial justice." More than 400 Catholic theologians signed a statement protesting the “deep-seated racism” of the US and compared Eric Garner to Jesus Christ. Written by St. Louis University Professor of Theological Ethics Dr. Tobias Winright, it is called a “statement of commitment to racial justice.” Advertisement-content continues below What prompted the writing of the statement was the killing of blacks by police officers. The statement reads: The killings of Black [sic] men, women and children—including but not limited to Rekia Boyd, Eric...

Bill Donohue comments on reactions to his news release from yesterday [click here] on the murder of 12 people in Paris: Being misrepresented is commonplace for public figures. Sometimes it reflects an honest misreading; other times it is a willful distortion. I don’t have the time now to address all of these instances, but I am hardly going to run from my position. My position is this: the murderers are fully responsible for what they did and should be treated with the full force of the law. Nothing justifies the killing of these people. But this is not the whole...

Increasingly, the Catholic League's Bill Donohue is less a defender of Catholicism and more a defender of the sycophantic whims of his patrons. First was his shameful defense of the St. Patrick's Gay Parade. Now his absurd moral equivalence with regard to yesterday's Islamo-nazi shooting massacre at Charlie Hebdo. Here is the key part of his statement. Killing in response to insult, no matter how gross, must be unequivocally condemned. That is why what happened in Paris cannot be tolerated. But neither should we tolerate the kind of intolerance that provoked this violent reaction. While he perfunctorily condemns the killing,...

In the aftermath of the deadly assault on the offices of Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical newspaper, much of the world has rallied in solidarity with the publication, its irreverent cartoonists and their right to free speech. But not everyone is so supportive. Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, a U.S. organization that "defends the rights of Catholics," issued a statement titled "Muslims are right to be angry." In it, Donohue criticized the publication's history of offending the world's religiously devout, including non-Muslims. The murdered Charlie Hebdo editor Stephane Charbonnier "didn’t understand the role he played in his [own]...

If anyone’s to blame for the execution-style murder of a dozen people at a French satirical magazine, the Catholic League’s president says it’s the paper's slain publisher. In a stunning article titled ’Muslims Are Right to be Angry,” Bill Donohue blasted Charlie Hebdo’s “intolerance” for repeatedly depicting and insulting religious figures which he said provoked Wednesday's mass shooting at their Paris office. Donohue, whose New York City-based conservative organization is not part of the Catholic Church, said “it is too bad” that Charlie Hebdo’s editor, Stephane Charbonnier, “didn't understand the role he played in his tragic death.” …

On Friday, the President of the Catholic League, Dr. Bill Donohue, spoke with TPNN’s the Voice of Reason, Tim Constantine on the issue of Christian persecution in the Arab world. Right off the bat, Constantine asked why the president was so resistant to speaking out against Christian persecution occurring in the Middle East. Dr. Donohue countered that Obama is a devout secularist. “I’ve worked with many professors in my life and I know the way they think. They’re either indifferent to religion or they’re hostile to it. But not all religions; I mean, I’ve never seen a president show more...

PREFACE 2013 ANNUAL REPORT ON ANTI-CATHOLICISM We had another roller-coaster ride in 2013, witnessing many impressive victories, and enduring some recalcitrant anti-Catholic offenders. As usual, we were forced to move quickly, jumping from one fire to another. But that’s the fun part of working here: we never have a dull moment; we must constantly keep on our toes. Many of the veteran staff... [Read more...] EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 2013 ANNUAL REPORT ON ANTI-CATHOLICISM The biggest Catholic story of 2013 was seeing Pope Benedict XVI pass the baton to Pope Francis. Our new pontiff wasted no time becoming a media superstar, and by...

Catholic League President Bill Donohue said that he will not be marching in New York City's gay pride parade with a "straight is great" banner as he initially requested, after objecting to the organizers' rules. "For the past few days I have been engaged in an e-mail conversation with officials from the Heritage of Pride parade, New York's annual gay event; the dialogue has been cordial. I asked to join the parade under a banner that would read, "Straight is Great." The purpose of my request was to see just how far they would go without forcing me to abide...

Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, says he has filed an application to march in the New York City Gay Pride Parade this year. Donohue — who is boycotting the makers of Guinness Stout, Sam Adams, and Heineken beers after they bowed to gay-rights groups and dropped their support for New York's St. Patrick's Day Parade — says he wants to prove a point. "I went to the managing director of the Heritage of Pride Parade and ... said, listen, I want to march under my own banner, 'Straight Is Great,' in the 2014...

Yes, you read that headline right. Bill Donohue, the very vocal head of the Catholic League, has emailed organizers with a request to march in this year’s New York City Gay Pride Parade. But, no, Donohue’s inquiry is not a sign that he has had any kind of personal realization. He plans to march with a banner that reads, “Straight is Great.”