On December 11, 1999, American Catholics lost a good one when John P. Hale died in Larchmont, New York. He was a member of the Catholic League’s board of advisors and former special counsel to Catholic Charities of the New York Archdiocese.
Jack was a distinguished attorney who worked tirelessly to defend the Catholic Church from defamation, putting himself at the service of John Cardinal O’Connor. He also worked hard to ensure that our society was not corrupted by social and educational programs run by sexual ideologues. In this regard, Jack was best known for his valiant effort in defeating New York’s “Rainbow Curriculum,” the gay sex-ed pedagogy that promoted books like Heather Has Two Mommies.
On a more personal note, Jack Hale was the one person who was most responsible for notifying me that the Catholic League was looking for a new president and CEO in 1993. I had met Jack a few years earlier in New York City at a debate I had with Ira Glasser of the ACLU. He knew of my interest in coming back to New York and made it his goal to assist me in any way he could.
