In the pages of the New York Times magazine (March 12), Andrew Sullivan made a fine contribution discussing the current wave of anti-Catholicism. But he was wrong to say that the Catholic League “essentially” gave George W. Bush “a pass” for his Bob Jones University visit. In fact, we lambasted the Texas governor several times in both the print and electronic media; the fact that we accepted his apology hardly qualifies as giving him “a pass.”
Perhaps most important, Sullivan said that the double standard of tolerating anti-Catholicism while not tolerating other forms of bigotry constitutes a “new” double standard. But there is nothing new about it. Indeed, in 1996, in the pages of Sullivan’s own journal, the New Republic, an editorial accused the Catholic League of “paranoia” for issuing our annual report on anti-Catholicism.
That Sullivan is just now waking up to the problem of anti-Catholicism proves the veracity of the adage “better late than never.” But “better never late” is preferable still.
