 |
|
| Type | Roman Catholic Non-profit morality organization |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1973 |
| Location | New York City, New York |
| Leader | Bill Donohue, President and CEO Bernadette Brady, Vice-President |
| Field | Roman Catholic anti-defamation |
| Purpose | Roman Catholic advocacy |
| Budget | USD $2.69 million (fiscal year 2005) 8 million in reserve"#wp-_note-2005_Form_990_from_the_IRS">[1] |
| Employees | 4"#wp-_note-2005_Form_990_from_the_IRS">[1] |
| Website | www.CatholicLeague.org |
The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, (formerly The Catholic Purity League), and widely known as The Catholic League is a Roman Catholic anti-defamation non-profit group in the United States with the stated mission of defending “the right of Catholics…to participate in American public life without defamation or discrimination.”[2] It was founded in 1973 by Jesuit Father Virgil C. Blum.[3] The Catholic League is mostly known in American politics as a conservative organization which issues press release statements about perceived un-Christian themes in the media, through its sole public face, League president William A. Donohue.
The Catholic League is noted for vocal opposition to movies such as The Last Temptation of Christ, Priest, and Dogma,[4] as well as TV entertainment such as South Park and The View and highly visible LGBT people and events like Rosie O'Donnell[5] and the Folsom Street Fair, the largest fetish-focussed festival in the world.[6]
Organizational overview
Operations and organization
The League issues a journal, Catalyst, as well as reports, such as Pope Pius XII and the Holocaust, books, brochures and an annual Report on Anti-Catholicism. An array of prominent lay Catholics are listed as members of the Catholic League's Board of Advisors, including L. Brent Bozell III, Linda Chavez, Dinesh D'Souza, Alan Keyes, and George Weigel[7] although the role performed by the Board is left unclear on the League's website. It is widely believed that the ideological and logistical operation of the League is completely controlled by Donohue.
Association with the Catholic Church
The Catholic League states it is a lay organization funded by individual donations and not under the direct control of the Catholic Church. However, the Catholic League's office is located within the headquarters of the Archdiocese of New York,[8] and the League often works closely with the Archdiocese; for example, supplying the photographs for its Office of Vocations website.[9]
Many high-ranking Church officials have endorsed the Catholic League. The Archbishops of New York, Los Angeles, Denver, and Boston, as well as the Archbishop for the Military Services, are quoted on the Catholic League's website endorsing the League's activities and exhorting Catholics to pay for membership.[10]
Donohue's perceived autocratic control
The website of the Catholic League states that the League is led by a Board of Directors under president William A. Donohue, and Donohue has stated that the group has well over 200,000 paying members. Critics assert that for all practical purposes William Donohue is synonymous with the Catholic League as no other individuals appear to actively advise the group's policy positions, conduct any business on behalf of the group, make any public appearances for the group, or otherwise be employed by the Catholic League besides Donohue and a handful of organizational staffers including Kiera McCaffrey, who is called the League's "Director of Communications" in some sources and has made media appearances for the group as recently as May 2006.[11]
Neither the Catholic League's website nor any mainstream media sources discuss any tangible activities currently organized by the Catholic League besides Donohue's media appearances and the publishing of various materials. All of the materials currently offered by the League are either new printings of documents written before Donohue's arrival, or published anonymously since and believed to be written by Donohue. Columnist Jonathan Ames, whose writing was once criticized by Donohue, states that Donohue is "the self-appointed leader of a group that has only one member — himself."[12]
A New York Times reporter found nobody but Donohue in the Catholic League's office, and reported that Donohue being alone in the office was the “usual” situation for the League.[13]
In 44 media appearances by the Catholic League noted by the website Media Matters for America between October 2004 and October 2007,[14] not a single one was by a person other than William Donohue, [15] though Kiera McCaffrey did appear on Showbiz Tonight in May 2006 as the Catholic League's "Director of Communications," in an episode not scrutinized by Media Matters.[16]
In October 2007, Google News included 28 stories about or with quotes from the Catholic League; none of those stories quoted or mentioned any person affiliated with the League besides William Donohue. Besides the May 2006 appearance by McCaffrey, Catholic League opinions are always delivered through the Catholic League website in editorials that are either anonymous or signed by Donohue, or through Donohue on television.
No information on any Catholic League activities involving persons besides William Donohue is apparent on the Catholic League's website.
In 2005, William A. Donohue was paid $334,143 USD in salary and benefits from the Catholic League, according to the group's tax filing.
Political alignment
The Catholic League claims political neutrality which is mostly required of non-profits with exception for certain political activities like voter registrations. The website states, "The league wishes to be neither left nor right, liberal or conservative, revolutionary or reactionary."[17] The League sometimes affiliates itself with liberal causes espoused by the Catholic Church; for example, they criticized the anti-immigrant group, the Minutemen, for opposing a San Diego priest's facilitation of employment for Latino immigrants and for condemning the Church as a whole in public statements about the matter.[18] However, the Catholic League, via Donohue, more often is on the conservative or Republican side of political issues, and often condemns "liberals," "the left," or "Democrats" generally.[19] There are no Democrats on its board of directors, which include a long list of Republican activists and politicians, such as Alan Keyes, Laura Ingraham, Brent Bozell III, Dinesh D'Souza and Linda Chavez.
Catholic League president William Donohue was a featured speaker, alongside several conservative Protestant leaders, at a 2005 event called “Justice Sunday,” advertised as “a rally to portray Democrats as being against people of faith.”[20] In 2007, the League joined with many conservative organizations to oppose the opening of Khalil Gibran International Academy, an Arabic-language school in New York City.[21] The League's press release on the Gibran School matter repeated dubious and unsourced allegations about the New York City public schools, such as a claim that “the Islamic religious symbol” is allowed to be displayed by such schools, but nativity scenes are not.[22]
RJ Eskow writes that "Donohue has never criticized a Republican politician for speaking at the virulently anti-Catholic Bob Jones University, nor has he ever faulted a Catholic for violating Church doctrine by supporting capital punishment. In fact, Donohue supports pro-death penalty politicians, as well as the Iraq War."[23] In contrast the U.S. Catholic Bishops have been calling for an end to the use of the death penalty since the 1980s.[24]
Political activities
Catholic priest abuse scandal
On October 13, 2005, he appeared on NBC's Today Show. While on the show he asserted that the Catholic priest abuse crisis was "a homosexual scandal, not a pedophilia scandal". [25]
Donohue and the Catholic League also opposed a bill proposed by the New York legislature in 2002 that would add the clergy to the list of professionals, such as physicians and teachers, who were mandated reporters of suspected child abuse under existing statutes. An exception was carved out for information specifically received in the confessional. Instead, Donohue and the Catholic League favored alternative legislation, dubbed a "poison pill" by its opponents, that would have controversially expanded the definition of "child abuse" to include consensual sexual relationships between teenagers. [26]
Membership
The New York Times reported that the group had only 11,000 total members when Donohue took over the Catholic League in 1993. This grew to 233,333 paid members in 1999, a figure which the League multiplies by 1.5 to account for non-paying members in the households of paying members, resulting in a League estimate of 350,000 members.[27] This 1999 estimate is the last statement about overall membership numbers that the League has made.
The Catholic League's 2003 statement about membership claimed 15,000 members just in Nassau and Suffolk counties of New York.[28]
There is no apparent avenue for active participation in any League activities by the paying members. Annual donations entitle members only to home delivery of the print version of Catalyst, the group's monthly journal, which is also available for free on the Catholic League's website.
Catholic criticism
Donohue and the Catholic League have been criticized by fellow Catholics for perceived hypocrisy, paranoia and vindictiveness as well as breaking from traditional Catholic positions. Some Catholic critics of the Catholic League have accused the organization and Donohue of being "semiparanoid" and overly sensitive in the identification of anti-Catholicism.[29] The associate editor of the Catholic magazine America, the Jesuit priest James Martin, says the Catholic League “frequently speak(s) without seeing or experiencing what they are critiquing, and that undercuts their credibility.” Martin blames the League for promoting “the idea that the Catholic Church is unreflective.”[30]
Donohue has often allied himself with Protestant fundamentalists who have expressed much more clearly anti-Catholic sentiments than some of Donohue's secular targets. At a 2005 event entitled “Justice Sunday,” advertised as “a rally to portray Democrats as being against people of faith,” Donohue shared the stage with Southern Baptist leader Albert Mohler.[31] Mohler has often described the Papacy as “an unbiblical institution based in a monarchial ministry that is incompatible with the New Testament's vision of the church.”[32]
On an October 21, 2004 appearance on MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews, Donohue stated, “The Pope has never declared this war to be an unjust war” during a discussion of the U.S. presence in Iraq during the Iraq War. However, months earlier on March 4, 2003, an envoy of the Vatican delivered a message to the White House from Pope John Paul II, which stated that “a U.S.-led war against Iraq without United Nations' approval would be unjust and illegal.”[33] The Pope's message was covered in national press as well as a March 14, 2003 article in the National Catholic Reporter.[34]
The Catholic League's monthly newsletter, Catalyst, publishes a "Hatemail" section, which regularly includes letters from former Catholics who decided to leave the Church after seeing William Donohue on television. [35]
The Catholic League is sometimes accused of departing from Papal teaching on the death penalty, though the League rarely discusses the death penalty at all. In some circumstances, the League appears to offer a justification for Catholics to support capital punishment, claiming that "Regarding the death penalty, the Holy Father has never taken an absolutist position against it; he argues that for the most part it is no longer necessary to defend society." [36] RJ Eskow has written that "Donohue supports pro-death penalty politicians, as well as the Iraq War." [37]
Bigoted comments by Donohue
Against Asians
On a September 25 2002, appearance on MSNBC's Donahue hosted by Phil Donahue (no relation to the Catholic League president) William Donohue hypothesized about “a Columbia University ping pong team made of Asians” and used the word “gook” eight times.[38]
Against Jewish people
On a December 8 2004 appearance on MSNBC's Scarborough Country, Donohue stated “Hollywood is controlled by secular Jews who
hate Christianity in general and Catholicism in
particular.” When challenged on his statements by Shmuley Boteach, who was also
appearing on the program, Donohue shouted “Who's making the movies?! Who's making the movies?! Who's making the movies?! The
Irishmen?!” He later added “I'm talking about secularists in Hollywood.
They're not Rastafarians. They're Jews.” Later in the
program, he was invited to disclaim Jewish blood guilt for the Crucifixion, but instead
Against gays
On a February 27 2004 appearance on MSNBC's Scarborough Country, Donohue said, “Name for me a book
publishing company in this country, particularly in New York, which would allow you to
publish a book which would tell the truth about the gay death
On a April 11 2005 appearance on MSNBC's Scarborough Country, Donohue said, “The gay community has yet to apologize to straight people for all the damage that they have done — for contaminating the blood supply in New York City and around the country. It seems to me that gay people in this country should apologize to the rest of the people.”[41]
Against blacks
Donohue has allied himself with individuals accused of racism. At a 2005 event entitled Justice Sunday, advertised as “a rally to portray Democrats as being against people of faith,'” Donohue shared the stage with the prominent Louisiana Republican Tony Perkins.[42] Perkins gave a 2001 speech to the white supremacist Council of Conservative Citizens and once paid $82,500 to former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke for a mailing list.[43]
Historical bias criticism
Pope Pius XII and the Holocaust
The Catholic League still sells hard copies of Pius XII and the Holocaust: A Reader, a book which defends Pope Pius XII against accusations of silence or complicity during the Holocaust. The contents of the book are also available for free at the League's website.[44] The question of Pius XII's relationship to the Holocaust is a complex issue that is still debated by many mainstream historians, and the defense of Pius XII's conduct is considered a legitimate position in the academic world. However, the Catholic League's book was published eleven years prior to John Cornwell's Hitler's Pope, the flagship book for the historical case against Eugenio Pacelli, who later became Pius XII. Cornwell's original research was to demonstrate Pope Pius XII's defense from claims that he could have done more to prevent or mitigate the Holocaust but researching through Vatican and Jesuit archives found that Pope Pius XII facilitated the dictator's rise and, ultimately the Holocaust.[45] The Pius XII and the Holocaust: A Reader was published eighteen years before the release of many documents from the Vatican Archives related to this time period. Thus, the book is woefully out of date with the scholarship on this issue and does not confront the most serious arguments against Pius XII's conduct.
Roman Catholic Inquisition
A 2007 Catholic League review of the film Goya's Ghosts, a movie dealing specifically with the Roman Catholic Church's Inquisition of heretics and not promoted or advertised as a general history of the Church, decried the film for portraying "cruel and vengeful" priests who are "hungry for blood" and complained that "the viewer is not provided with one redeeming member of the clergy."[46]
References
- ^ a b 2005 Form 990 from the IRS. Guidestar (9 May 2006). Retrieved on 2007-10-04.
- ^ "About Us" page on the Catholic League's website [1]
- ^ "About Us" page on the Catholic League's website [2]
- ^ Penhollow, Steve Director Kevin Smith calls himself a devout Catholic and says his latest comedy, Dogma, is "pro-faith, pro-Catholic, spiritually uplifting.", The Journal Gazette
- ^ barbara walters — House Mom to Bigots. Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights. Retrieved on 2007-08-22. (from internet archive)
- ^ Catholic Group Urges Boycott of Miller Brewing Co. Over San Francisco Fair Sponsorship. Fox News (September 27, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-09-29.
- ^ ”About Us” page on the Catholic League's website [3]
- ^ “An Outspoken Church Defender,” New York Times, 2 November 1999 [4]
- ^ Photo credits viewable at http://www.archnyvocations.org/site/staywithuslord.html
- ^ ”About Us” page on the Catholic League's website [5]
- ^ Transcript of CNN's Showbiz Tonight episode, aired 8 May 2006 [6]
- ^ Letter from Jonathan Ames published on Jewcy, 13 March 2007 [7]
- ^ “An Outspoken Church Defender,” New York Times, 2 November 1999 [8]
- ^ Media Matters Search: “Catholic League” [9]
- ^ Media Matters Search: “Catholic League” –Donohue [10]
- ^ Transcript of CNN's Showbiz Tonight episode, aired 8 May 2006 [11]
- ^ "About Us" page on the Catholic League's website [12]
- ^ "San Diego Minutemen Gin Up Catholic Bashing", Catholic League website, 10 July 2007 [13]
- ^ “Who is Catholic League president William Donohue?”, Media Matters for America, 20 December 2004 [14]
- ^ “Justice Sunday Preachers” The Nation online, 26 April 2005 [15]
- ^ The Catholic League, “Press Conference: Rally Over Khalil Gibran School”, 31 August 2007 [16]
- ^ The Catholic League, “Press Conference: Rally Over Khalil Gibran School”, 31 August 2007 [17]
- ^ "Bill Donohue: A 'Cafeteria Catholic' Promotes Extremism," The Huffington Post, 8 February 2007 [18]
- ^ http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/national/deathpenalty/
- ^ Creager, Cindi NBC's Today Provides Platform for Defamatory Anti-Gay Attacks, GLAAD Alert, October 14, 2005
- ^ Anthony, N.Y. Bills Would Require Clergy to Report Abuse, Poughkeepsie Journal, June 20, 2005
- ^ “An Outspoken Church Defender,” New York Times, 2 November 1999 [19]
- ^ “The Battle is Joined Over Bishop Murphy,” New York Times, 3 August 2003 [20]
- ^ "Donohue's crusade: tilting at the wrong windmill - Catholic League for Religious and Civil Liberties head William A. Donohue", column by David R. Carlin, Jr., Commonweal, May 23, 1997 [21]
- ^ “An Outspoken Church Defender,” New York Times, 2 November 1999 [22]
- ^ “Justice Sunday Preachers” The Nation online, 26 April 2005 [23]
- ^ Albert Mohler, “The Pope, The Prophet, and the Crisis of Truth,” 19 September 2006 [24]
- ^ “Catholic League president Donohue falsely claimed pope never said Iraq war was "unjust"”, Media Matters for America, 22 October 2004 [25]
- ^ Feuerherd, Joe (March 14, 2003). Papal envoy, president dialogue and disagree: Cardinal Laghi makes case for peace, Bush is unpersuaded - Threat Of War. National Catholic Reporter. Retrieved on 2007-10-04.
- ^ "Hatemail," December 2004 Catalyst [26]
- ^ "Catholic Democrats Rebuke Bishops," Catholic League website, July-August 2004 [27]
- ^ "Bill Donohue: A 'Cafeteria Catholic' Promotes Extremism," The Huffington Post, 8 February 2007 [28]
- ^ “Donohue Used 'Gook Joke' in Debate About Purported anti-Catholicism”, Media Matters for America, 14 February 2007 [29]
- ^ Scarborough Country, transcript for December 8, 2004 show, published on 9 December 9 2004 [30]
- ^ “ Who is Catholic League president William Donohue?”, Media Matters for America, 20 December 2004 [31]
- ^ “ Catholic League's Donohue on Scarborough Country: 'The gay community has yet to apologize to straight people for all the damage that they have done',” Media Matters for America, 12 April 2005 [32]
- ^ “Justice Sunday Preachers” The Nation online, 26 April 2005 [33]
- ^ “Justice Sunday Preachers” The Nation online, 26 April 2005 [34]
- ^ "Pius XII and the Holocaust, A Reader" at the Catholic League's website [35]
- ^ John Cornwell, Hitler's Pope (1999), p. viii.
- ^ "Film Set In Inquisition Goes Too Far", The Catalyst, September 2007 [36]
See also
External links
- Catholic League
- GuideStar.org Clearinghouse for information on nonprofit organizations, including the Catholic League.
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