We had another roller-coaster ride in 2013, witnessing many impressive victories, and enduring some recalcitrant anti-Catholic offenders. As usual, we were forced to move quickly, jumping from one fire to another. But that's the fun part of working here: we never have a dull moment; we must constantly keep on our toes. Many of the veteran staff [...]
The biggest Catholic story of 2013 was seeing Pope Benedict XVI pass the baton to Pope Francis. Our new pontiff wasted no time becoming a media superstar, and by the year's end, he was on the cover of Time magazine, featured as the "Person of the Year." The Holy Father's humility, and outreach to every segment [...]
January 2 – October 16 Jackson, OH – The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) demanded that an Ohio school district remove a depiction of Jesus Christ that hung in the "Hall of Honor" in Jackson Middle School. The picture was a decades-old student initiative dating back to 1947. The district superintendent refused to remove the image [...]
January 8 West Hollywood, CA – Artist Bronwyn Lundberg exploited Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper" to promote celebrity lesbians. The depiction showed Ellen DeGeneres as Jesus and included Wanda Sykes and Rosie O'Donnell, among others. February 3 New York, NY – The off-Broadway musical "Bare The Musical" which opened December 9, 2012 ended its run [...]
To see the ad, "LEAD US, HOLY FATHER," that appeared on the op-ed page of the April 15, 2013 edition of the New York Times, click here. Attacks on the pope are a staple of anti-Catholicism. But in 2013, with the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI and the election of Pope Francis, the pope bashers went into [...]
January 22 Troy, AL – A professor at Troy University unveiled his artwork exploiting the Virgin Mary to make a political statement about HB 56, a 2011 anti-illegal immigration law. The Virgin Mary was depicted with the words "cleaning lady" written in Spanish. She was shown carrying a can of bleach labeled "ethnic cleanser" adorned with [...]
January 23 – March 23 Denver, CO – On January 23, Colorado's State Judiciary Committee held a hearing on a civil unions bill. In 2006, the people of Colorado said no to gay marriage. In 2012, lawmakers took up the issue of civil unions for homosexuals, allowing religious adoption agencies an exemption. In 2013, the religious [...]
The following entries are examples of media duplicity or deception. February 13 – 15 ABC News ran a story about a Catholic official from Purcell Marian High School who was fired for rejecting Catholic teachings on marriage and the family. In response, a change.org petition campaign was launched attacking the decision. The petition stated, "I would [...]
No one has been more obscene, and more relentless, in attacking the pope, cardinals, bishops, and priests than Bill Maher; he does so every week on HBO. Twenty times this year alone Maher used his platform to attack Catholics. After Maher's obscene attack on March 22nd, the Catholic League went to work compiling an exhaustive list [...]
The following article by Bill Donohue was published by Newsmax on December 18, 2013: There are signs that the "War on Christmas" is abating. In 1994, a year after I took over as president of the Catholic League, we successfully pressed Barneys, the upscale clothier on Madison Avenue, to remove an obscene manger scene from its [...]
