It was a bad start but it had a good ending. It was also bizarre.
Jewishbusinessnews.com posted an article in April about anti-Catholic remarks allegedly made by a businessman. Amazingly, the reporter who wrote it made patently anti-Catholic remarks himself. We protested and secured a sincere and extensive apology from the media outlet’s president.
According to the accuser, the businessman said, “You don’t really believe Jesus was born to a Virgin Mother, or are you that big of a moron?” He is also accused of saying, “Is it that stupid Ash Wednesday again? You better not come to work with ashes on your head.” The victim sued for $5 million for harassment that led to a hospitalized panic attack.
Jewishbusinessnews.com wrote about this story, mistaking the virgin birth for Immaculate Conception. Worse, the reporter wrote the following:
“To be fair, generations of Jews have found that story hard to swallow, but, hey, if old man Joseph the carpenter took her word for it, who are we to argue. Still, to us Jews it always sounded like a good recovery line when you start showing. Certainly better than the classic, ‘I fell for it’ folks use in emergency rooms. ‘God put it there’ is much classier.”
Sima Ella, who issued the apology, elicited Donohue to say, “Rarely have I seen a quicker and more sincere apology than this. All is forgiven. It is important that Catholic-Jewish relations remain good, especially these days. Case Closed.”
