It started in the spring, and it just got hotter as we got into the summer: the bishops have been the subject of relentless attacks, much of it having to do with the issue of sexuality. The John Jay report on clergy abuse, along with a new wave of lawsuits and gay rights legislation—gave way to [...]
On June 11, Lady Gaga performed at the Euro Pride concert in Rome. The big news wasn’t her appearance, it was how she wound up there: it was all due to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. A few weeks after the concert, Clinton admitted that the State Department was “instrumental in sealing the deal” for Lady [...]
FROM THE PRESIDENT’S DESK William Donohue Despite the multi-media universe we live in, the New York Timescontinues to shape the contemporary narrative on major stories. Indeed, many in the mainstream media (msm) are content to simply parrot their line. This happened recently again when the John Jay study was released: everywhere, it seemed, it was being reported [...]
The following is an excerpt from Donohue's "John Jay Study on Sexual Abuse: A Critical Analysis.” The longer version was sent to all the bishops and is available online at catholicleague.org. In the aftermath of the media blitz in 2002 exposing sexual abuse by Catholic priests, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) commissioned researchers [...]
As the bishops assembled in Seattle for their spring meeting, they once again had to grapple with the issue of clergy abuse. While some recent allegations are worthy of pursuit, others don’t pass the smell test. The following cases were reported in the news during the first two weeks of June: • A Tennessee man claimed [...]
We recently addressed the three most prominent so-called victims’ rights groups and their opposition to the rights of priests. BishopAccountability, the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) and the National Survivors Advocates Coalition (NSAC) are so consumed with their agenda that they are ready to throw the constitutional rights of accused priests overboard. At [...]
In a recent New York Times article, Laurie Goodstein erred by saying that in the 37 cases of priests indicted by a grand jury in Philadelphia, none was brought to the attention of the review board. Ana Maria Catanzaro, a member of the Philadelphia review board, previously said that her panel reviewed ten of the cases. Moreover, subsequent to [...]
Following the release of the John Jay study on the “Causes and Context” of clergy abuse, the media jumped all over the report. We followed up by issuing a statement addressing what they were saying. The report says that fewer than 5 percent of abusive priests were pedophiles. The New York Times took issue with the report for [...]
The left-wing attack on the John Jay study proves once again that art critic Harold Rosenberg was exactly right to say that liberals represent a “herd of independent minds.” Ever since the New York Times criticized the study as the “blame Woodstock” report, the herd swung into high gear. • Tony Auth labeled his cartoon “It [...]
Recently, two victims’ watchdog groups, Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) and BishopAccountability.org, responded to reports on sexual abuse. Once again they proved that they are not to be trusted. The day before the Vatican issued its guidelines on how to address sex abuse, SNAP condemned them. The day prior to the release of [...]
