January
Ypsilanti, MI – A graduate student at Eastern Michigan University was ordered to remove a crucifix that was affixed to the wall above his desk.
February 7
Tinton Falls, NJ – The Monmouth Regional High School Board of Education adopted a policy that would prohibit a Christian group from displaying Bible passages on school bulletin boards. The officials had previously barred the display of a manger scene.
April 13
Fullerton, CA – A student group at California State University at Fullerton sponsored the showing of the anti-Christian movie, The Last Temptation of Christ, in the UC Titan Theatre on Holy Thursday.
April 17
New Orleans, LA – A film featuring a pregnant nun was being made by the University of New Orleans film department. The Rest of the Oyster used Catholic symbols–like a shrine of the Blessed Virgin–to make a hostile statement against Catholicism.
September 16
Money Magazine’s college ratings discriminated based on religious commitment. Unlike other publications that rank schools using diverse criteria, this magazine also considered religion–as an impediment. According to Terry Mattingly, a professor at Milligan College, “150 schools were eliminated because they were too religious.” However, what was the criteria for too religious since a variety of Catholic and Christian schools made the list? Jillian Kasky, associate editor, said that “editors focused on two issues–mandatory chapel services or requirements that students take courses based on one approach to faith.” This locked out schools in the Coalition for Christian Colleges and Universities as well as many others.
October 12 – 14
New York – Pace University’s Pace Players performed Agnes of God with student funds and the approval of the Student Government Association. The play shows a nun in a convent murdering her baby and flushing the bloody corpse down the toilet. It also shows the Mother Superior covering up the crime.
October 26
Virginia – Regent University hosted Rev. Ian Paisley, Europe’s best known anti-Catholic bigot. Paisley called the Vatican “Harlot City” and the Pope the “Antichrist.” The Rutherford Institute, whose student chapter at Regent sponsored the event, defended the talk as a free speech issue and refused to condemn Paisley for his bigotry.
October 28
Hartford, CT – In a letter to the editor of the Hartford Courant, the chairman of the Regional School District No. 17 Board of Education, Robert Norton, wrote: “One of the leading groups arguing for the implementation of vouchers is the Roman Catholic Church. I find it interesting that the church looks on the infusion of cash into its schools as the only way to save some of its failing schools.”
December 7-10
Middlesex County, NJ – Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You, perhaps the most anti-Catholic play ever produced, was performed at Middlesex County College, a state funded institution. The play, which came to New York in the early 1980s, was condemned by the Anti-Defamation League, the National Conference of Christians and Jews, the American Jewish Committee and the Catholic League. Noted play critics from Clive Barnes to Frank Rich also observed the anti-Catholic nature of the play.
