On March 14, the Administrative Committee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops released a statement, “United for Religious Freedom,” that is the clearest exposition of contemporary Catholic thought on religious liberty in America. It is also the definitive response to attempts by the Obama administration to force Catholic institutions to violate their beliefs. The [...]
On March 13, we released a report by Bill Donohue, SNAP UNRAVELS; it was a critical analysis of the statements made by SNAP director David Clohessy at his January 2 court-ordered appearance in Missouri. On the same day, the New York Times ran a front-page story on Clohessy’s deposition. Donohue was quoted in the story, and [...]
FROM THE PRESIDENT’S DESK William Donohue The late Irving Kristol spoke about the overarching influence of the “new class”; they are the ones who shape public opinion. Such persons cluster in the academy, especially in the social sciences and humanities, as well as in the arts, the entertainment industry, the media, and the non-profit sector of [...]
Ronald J. Rychlak In the December 2011 issue of Commentary magazine, Kevin Madigan, the Winn Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Harvard Divinity School, put forth the false charge that the Vatican under Pope Pius XII intentionally helped Nazi war criminals escape justice and make their way to South America after World War II. He based his [...]
At the end of 2011, a Missouri judge ordered David Clohessy, the president of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), to be deposed regarding his role in cases of priestly sexual abuse. Clohessy fought the order vigorously, but lost. On January 2, 2012, he was deposed; the deposition [it is available on our [...]
In March, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), outlined in a letter to the bishops his many concerns about the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) directive mandating that the insurance companies of religious employers pay for abortion-inducing drugs, contraception and sterilization. For the most part, his letter [...]
The Catholic left is so deep in the tank for Obama that they are working publicly to undermine the bishops. First a little background. On March 2, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, speaking for the bishops, said that at a recent meeting between the bishops’ conference staff and the White House staff, the former were told by the [...]
Following her recent testimony before the Senate Finance Committee, Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Kathleen Sebelius was asked whether she spoke to the bishops about the controversial mandate she is pushing. She admitted she did not. Then she said, “I know that the president has spoken to the bishops on several occasions.” Sebelius was [...]
Recently, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Catholic insurance carriers will not be given an exemption from the mandate requiring insurance companies to provide for abortifacient, contraceptive and sterilization services. She explained, “Religious insurance companies don’t really design the plans they sell based on their own religious tenets.” This was an outrageous smear. In January, Our Sunday [...]
In March, the Senate voted 51-48 to table the “Respect for Rights of Conscience Act”; an amendment by Sen. Roy Blunt that would have guaranteed rights of conscience for the employees of religious institutions. However, this does not end the debate. Despite this vote, a bill remains in the House sponsored by Rep. Jeff Fortenberry that [...]
