By any index, we had a very good year in 2015. That is largely due to our employees, and to our members who make it happen.
We are fortunate to have a very competent staff. On the policy side, we are blessed to have Bernadette Brady-Egan, our long-time vice president who oversees the operations of the organization. Rick Hinshaw came on board over the summer as our new director of communications; he worked with us in this capacity before in the late 1990s, and we are fortunate to have him back. We are also lucky to have Don Lauer and Katelynn Bernhardi, two hard-working policy analysts; they are now veterans of the Catholic League. Midway through the year we lost a valuable staffer, John Mulvey, who left for a new opportunity.
On the processing side, we are delighted with the contributions that Tom Arkin, Mary Ellen Kiely, and Suzon Loreto have made; they have been with us for many years. Alex Mejia, our comptroller, is also a keen long-time employee. Ericka Nelson joined us in 2015, and she is a joy to work with. Matthew Bartlett returned for his second year capably holding down several administrative tasks.
The staff is what moves the Catholic League, but it doesn’t do it alone. We are guided by a dedicated group of professionals who serve on our board of directors; it has been superbly led for over two decades by Father Philip Eichner. We also have a stellar board of advisors.
Those who have been used to the format of our annual reports as they have appeared over the past two decades should note that this will be the last of its kind. I hasten to add that we are not abandoning our year-end summary: starting next year we will publish a “Year in Review” narrative online. The change is due to the many improvements in our website—a wealth of information can be accessed by our refined search engine—making moot the need to restate what is available online and in Catalyst.
We hope you share this volume with others, especially with those who doubt the existence of anti-Catholicism in the 21st century.
William A. Donohue
President
