Executive Summary Every year in the Catholic League’s history has its similarities and unique qualities. What made 2009 so different from past years was the extent to which government threatened the rights of Catholics and the Catholic Church. That it occurred at the local, state and federal levels made the onslaught all the more ominous. Americans [...]
Activist Organizations January 3 San Francisco, CA – Opponents of Proposition 8 vandalized Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Church, in the heart of San Francisco’s gay Castro community; the California resolution, passed by voters in November 2008, rejected the legalization of gay marriage. Swastikas were painted on the church and the names “Ratzinger” (referring to Pope Benedict XVI) [...]
February 12 – 14, 26 – 28 Orlando & Tampa, FL – The art show “Nude Nite” appeared over two weekends in two separate cities. The exhibition featured a couple of pieces that were disturbing. A painting, “Easter Candy,” by Emily Hogan, depicted the Blessed Mother with a breast exposed and a chocolate Easter bunny nursing from [...]
March 25 New York, NY – The manager of the New York Palace Hotel was fired after ordering an employee to remove ashes from his forehead on Ash Wednesday. The managing director of the posh hotel—located across the street from St. Patrick’s Cathedral—told a bell captain to “wipe that f*****g s**t off [his] face.” September 24 - [...]
January 22 Spokane, WA – Officials at the Community Colleges of Spokane and Spokane Falls Community College threatened pro-life students with expulsion if they held a pro-life event on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. The officials deemed the students’ message “discriminatory” and “biased.” The Alliance Defense Fund filed a lawsuit against the schools. February 3 Washington, [...]
January 23 Bills were introduced in both houses of the Maryland legislature—sponsored by Delores Goodwin Kelley in the Senate and C. Sue Hecht in the House—that would have continued the duplicitous way private and public institutions are treated. These bills continued the outrageous insulation afforded public schools: under the law, claims are limited to $100,000 in [...]
January 6 Eugene, OR – Two notes, carrying a bomb threat and an anti-Catholic message, were stuck on the doors of two separate Catholic schools, canceling classes. January 9 Philadelphia, PA – A burglar broke into a convent at Holy Family University. The burglar stole money and some of the nuns’ personal religious items. January 11 Mechanicsburg, PA – [...]
October 30 Olympia, WA – The director of the Department of General Administration signed rules that dictated no religious or other nongovernmental displays would be allowed inside any building on the State Capitol campus. But the new rules did allow for a state sponsored “Holiday Tree” to be displayed in the Capitol rotunda. Although the new rules [...]
Internet May 13 The Washington Post/Newsweek blog “On Faith” ran a panel discussion on priestly celibacy. About half of the panelists disagreed with the Church’s position on this matter but were not vicious in their criticism. Four of the panelists showed their vitriol: Pamela Taylor, co-founder of Muslims for Progressive Values; Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite, former president of Chicago [...]
Pope Bashing January 30 – February 4Following Pope Benedict XVI’s decision to reach out to the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), a controversy erupted due to the media’sdistortion of the story. After it was announced that the pope was seeking reconciliation with SSPX, news reports surfaced that the pope had welcomed back a Holocaust-denying bishop, [...]
