In the last week of its 2019-2020 term, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered two back-to-back victories for religious liberty; they were both 7-2 decisions. Catholic schools and agencies were the big winners. The Supreme Court ruled in 2012 that religious schools enjoyed a "ministerial exception" that protected them from lawsuits brought by teachers whom the school [...]
The due process rights of priests are in a tenuous state, and this is especially true in Pennsylvania. We have been actively involved in this issue, especially following the grand jury report that was trumpeted by the state's attorney general, Josh Shapiro. What he said and did was disgraceful—a classic case of injustice—which is why we [...]
In late June, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Secretariat of Child and Youth Protection released its audit on clergy sexual abuse that covers the period July 1, 2018 – June 30, 2019. During this time, there were 37 allegations made by current minors. Eight were substantiated, 7 were unsubstantiated, 6 were unable to be [...]
Cardinal Timothy Dolan was recently the source of one of the most unprincipled and well-orchestrated attacks against a bishop to surface in many years. The politics that underscored the campaign were palpable. The trigger for this onslaught was a conference call that 600 Catholic educators had with President Trump on April 24. The president asked Cardinal [...]
If there were a gullibility record, it was recently broken by the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP). This Church-hating band of professional victims' advocates—which the Catholic League played a key role in effectively destroying (it limbers on but few pay it any heed)—proved how easy it is to seduce when it bought, hook, [...]
On April 6, Cardinal George Pell's conviction on five counts of sexual abuse was unanimously overturned by Australia's High Court. He was never guilty of these charges in the first place. The decision by the High Court cannot be challenged. Pell has suffered greatly and has been the victim of outrageous lies. He has been smeared, [...]
In the last issue of Catalyst, we reprinted Bill Donohue's letter to the House Ethics Committee asking that Rep. Rashida Tlaib be formally reprimanded for her obscene assault on the sensibilities of religious Americans. We also listed an email contact for her. She got bombarded with angry emails from Catholics and she immediately started walking it [...]
On March 2, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that it will review a Superior Court decision that allowed Renee A. Rice the right to pursue claims against the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown even though the statute of limitations had long expired. The Catholic League filed an amicus brief in the case in support of the diocese; the [...]
We may not know the outcome until the spring of 2021, but it looms as one of the most important cases pitting gay rights against religious liberty that the U.S. Supreme Court has ever agreed to hear. Two years ago, a federal district court turned down Catholic Social Services of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in its [...]
Public policy reforms governing religious liberty were recently proposed by the Trump administration. Federal rulemaking directives afford the public 30 days to comment on them after they are posted in the Federal Register. Bill Donohue submitted his statement in favor of the rules on January 21, five days after they were announced. The Trump administration has [...]
