By Robert P. Lockwood Mention the Crusades and the assumption is of a ruthless Church driving Europe into a barbaric war of aggression and plunder against a peaceful Islamic population in the Holy Land. As the common portrait paints it, led by mad preachers and manipulating power-hungry popes, the Crusades were a Church-sponsored invasion and slaughter [...]
In the last edition of Catalyst, we ran the entire ad that appeared in Variety asking Viacom CEO Sumner Redstone to join with us in condemning Showtime for producing the anti-Catholic movie, "Sister Mary Explains It All" (Showtime is owned by Viacom). Showtime issued a lame statement simply saying they do not believe in promoting intolerance. As a result, [...]
Media bias is an issue we track closely. Overall, the Catholic League sees much about media coverage of the Catholic Church that is admirable. But it is also true that bias against the Church is more pronounced in the media than just about any other prejudice. Some clear examples of the problem recently caused us to [...]
On June 12, those opposed to congressional reauthorization of federal funding for abstinence-only sex education held a press conference in Washington, D.C. The coalition of 35 national organizations released a statement decrying abstinence-only programs. Two major arguments were made: funding of such programs amounts to censorship and is an affront to the principle of separation of [...]
Every spring there are rulings from the bench that touch on serious matters of religious liberty. This past spring was no exception. Perhaps the most important decisions this time centered on issues affecting the rights of students. Most of the outcomes were encouraging. In May, a federal appeals court ruled once again that public school students [...]
In June, ABC News said it would be dropping its religion correspondent, Peggy Wehmeyer. Wehmeyer was the first, and only, full-time religion correspondent in network television; she will be let go in October due to budget cuts. As a substitute, ABC said it would establish a new partnership with Beliefnet, an Internet site that focuses on [...]
The May Catalyst featured a story on the controversy over an offensive photo collage of Our Lady of Guadalupe on display at the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The issue has largely been resolved. The outcome is a mess for both sides. The usual chorus of artistic liberty was sung by the free [...]
We were beginning to wonder whether the Star-Telegram was ever going to get the message. But, happily, they have. We finally have good reason to believe that the Fort Worth, Texas, newspaper will not be insulting Catholics any time too soon. Here’s what happened. Like a lot of newspapers, the Star-Telegram likes to run snappy little quotes on various subjects [...]
One of the problems with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is that it tends to get over-heated on a regular basis. This is especially the case when the subject turns to the public expression of religion. Few doubt that the Ten Commandments historically symbolize the roots of American culture, but that hasn’t stopped the ACLU [...]
"A Love Divided" is another BBC-produced movie that we didn’t appreciate. It is based on an allegedly true story about a Protestant woman, married to a Catholic, who brings her children up Protestant in Ireland in the 1950s after pledging to bring them up Catholic. As the story goes, when a local priest objects, the woman [...]
