A significant part of what we do here at the Catholic League involves clearing up historical or theological errors believed about the Church. Some anti-Catholic canards (e.g. Pope Pius XII was “Hitler’s Pope,” the Church stifles scientific inquiry, etc.) we see time and again as they are held tightly by their proponents. Some of those who disseminate false or questionable information about the Church, however, are reasonable people truly interested in learning the truth.
So it was recently, when the Diocese of Orlando tipped us off about a situation at Universal Studios Orlando. We were advised that a list of prominent homosexuals was posted in the employee cafeteria of the theme park. Included on this list was the name of Pope Julius III (1550-1555).
Rumors about the late pontiff being gay have never been substantiated. This being the case, we wrote to the head of human resources at Universal Studios and asked him to provide the evidence supporting the claim about Pope Julius III.
We received a cordial telephone response from Fred White, the director of diversity at the park. White stated that he was the one responsible for the list of homosexuals, which he displayed as part of a month focusing on gays and lesbians in society. (Each month, White posts information about a different group of people.) He apologized for the inclusion of the pope’s name, and admitted that he posted the list, downloaded from the website of the radical homosexual-activist group LAMBDA, without first verifying its contents.
White stressed that he did not intend to offend anyone or present inaccurate information. After studying up on Pope Julius III’s life, he pledged never to repost such a claim, and declared himself willing to meet personally with any Universal Studios employee who was upset by the flier.
The Catholic League is pleased with Fred White’s handling of the matter and trusts that such an offense will not be repeated.
