The Catholic League’s 1997 Annual Report on Anti-Catholicism has just been released. The league’s fourth annual report, it is the largest and most detailed account of anti-Catholic incidents published to date.
The report includes a preface, executive summary and findings section. The findings are drawn from offenses emanating from activist organizations, the arts, business and the workplace, education, government and the media; there is also a miscellaneous section. Offensive cartoons, as well as other significant graphics, are interspersed throughout the report.
Complimentary copies are being sent to many in the media and other professions. The cost to the public is $10 a copy.
Catholic League president William Donohue issued the following statement on the report today:
“It is safe to say that 1997 was a banner year for the Catholic League, arguably the most successful in the league’s history. This annual report provides, in one volume, all the evidence that one needs to demonstrate the nature and multidimensional quality of anti-Catholicism in our society. It is not exhaustive, but it is a reliable guide to what confronts Catholics and the Catholic Church today.
“It is my hope that those who are interested in civil liberties, especially as they bear on religious freedom, will access this report and put it to good use. This publication is certainly suitable for classroom discussion, at any grade level. In the end, the purpose of this report is to document the need for all Americans to become more intolerant of anti-Catholic bigotry in their midst. The goal of the Catholic League is to make anti-Catholicism as unacceptable as other forms of bigotry. But it cannot be said too strongly that we seek neither victim status nor inclusion in the circle of political correctness in the process.”
