On April 21, Fox News Network talk-show host Bill O’Reilly said, “The Catholic League hates me.”
The next day William Donohue answered with a news release saying, “We do not. We simply object when he crosses the line from criticizing the Catholic Church to dissing it.”
Donohue pointed out that in none of the three news releases written on Bill O’Reilly have we ever even hinted at hating him. “But the reverse is not true,” Donohue said: “In his book, Who’s Looking Out for You?, O’Reilly branded the Catholic League a ‘witch-hunter.'” Donohue then asked, “So why is he now spinning the truth?”
In that same book, O’Reilly alleges that we said he “despises” the pope. What we said was that O’Reilly, having called Pope John Paul II “an autocrat,” and having admitted that “I have never liked this pope,” has shown “contempt” for him. That was it. “In his mind,” Donohue said, “that makes us—I guess he means me—a ‘witch hunter.'”
Donohue ended his remarks by saying, “O’Reilly has done a great job criticizing those who are already bashing Pope Benedict XVI. Now if he would just stop bloviating, all would be well.”.
