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and the Catholic League By Bill Berkowitz
It is early January 2002 and two stories cross your desk. Story one comes from Napa, California, where Copia, a new wine museum, has installed an exhibit of a set of figurines - the pope, nuns, Santa Claus, and others, including Fidel Castro, defecating. Story two comes from Boston. In a series of articles, the Boston Globe is reporting on the molestation of dozens of young boys at the hands of a well-known Catholic priest. This story is different from previous published tales of egregious conduct by Catholic priests. It appears that officials in the Catholic hierarchy, even Boston's Bernard Cardinal Law, were part of a cover-up aimed at concealing these incidents from the state's parishioners. (For the complete story, see "Church allowed abuse by priest for years" : http://www.boston.com/globe/metro/packages/geoghan/
In a column, it's difficult to evoke the tension that fills the room when the host of a television quiz show asks the question, the music starts playing and the contestant tries to come up with the answer. "Your answer please." "The defecation exhibit at the Napa wine museum." And that is what William Donohue, President of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights decided to do. Banner headlines are rolling at its website: "No-Name Artists Attacks Pope In No-Name Gallery," "Catholic League Donates Pooper-Scooper To Napa, California Museum, Copia," "Figurines Show Pope and Nuns Defecating At Napa, California, Museum." (I actually kind of like the pooper-scooper headline.) To be fair, I don't really know if the Boston Globe stories has crossed Donohue's desk, or has come to his attention. I can only imagine it has because the Catholic League monitors political, social and cultural issues relating to the Catholic Church. (If he hasn't heard about it by now, hopefully some enterprising reader will send him this column. You can snail mail or fax it to CLRCR, 450 Seventh Ave., New York, NY 10123, Phone: (212) 371-3191, Fax: (212) 371-3394.) According to its website, the Catholic League" is the nation's largest Catholic civil rights organization. Founded in 1973 by the late Father Virgil C. Blum, S.J., the Catholic League defends the right of Catholics - lay and clergy alike - to participate in American public life without defamation or discrimination. "Motivated by the letter and the spirit of the First Amendment, the Catholic League works to safeguard both the religious freedom rights and the free speech rights of Catholics whenever and wherever they are threatened…. In essence, the Catholic League monitors the culture, acting as a watchdog agency and defender of the civil rights of all Catholics. Much of what we do is reported in our monthly journal" (for more from the League, see http://www.catholicleague.org/ The League's Board of Advisors, made up of high-powered longtime conservative leaders and activists, includes Brent Bozell III, Linda Chavez, Dinesh D'Souza, Robert George, Mary Ann Glendon, Alan Keyes, Thomas Monaghan, Michael Novak, Kate O'Beirne, and George Weigel. Many major Catholic leaders, including Anthony Cardinal Bevilacqua, Archbishop of Philadelphia, Edward Cardinal Egan, Archbishop of New York, Roger Cardinal Mahony, Archbishop of Los Angeles have endorsed the League. Here is what Bernard Cardinal Law, Archbishop of Boston said:
The Catholic League is ubiquitous. During the past month alone it issued press releases attacking the Napa, California Museum for the defecation exhibit; criticizing NobleWorks, a greeting card company from Hoboken, New Jersey, for a line of Catholic-bashing Christmas cards; Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, over remarks he made "indicting" Pope Pius XII; political correctness responsible for "making Christmas disappear" in a number of places around the U.S.; a World Wrestling Federation-sponsored "attack on Catholicism"; a "ban" on Santa in Arizona. Obviously the League has a right to state its mission and choose its battles. It may seem out of place to criticize an organization but I can't help but think that one of the most pervasive problems effecting the morale of Catholics these days is the large number of reported incidents of the molestation of young Catholics, mostly boys, by priests. Equally disturbing is the mounting evidence of shameful and scandalous cover-ups by Church officials. The Catholic League is currently devoting time and resources to a boycott of the cable network Showtime, a "letter writing campaign to have the pro-abortion group Catholics for a Free Choice's non-governmental organization (NGO) status at the United Nations revoked," and to whitewashing the controversial role Pope Pius XII played during World War II. That the League is turns its back and refuses to deal with an explosive internal situation causing the disaffection of thousands of young people is unconscionable. How big a problem is the sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests? According to "Clergy Sex Scandals," posted at http://biblia.com/christianity/clergy.htm , up to the year 2000 the Roman Catholic church in the U.S. "has paid out about $1 billion in sexual abuse lawsuits and settlements, legal fees and counseling. Tom Economus, President of Link Up, said the figure is based on a review of 1400 court cases and information from insurance companies and abuse victims." You can stack up all the artists, playwrights, authors and others who have been in the cross hairs of the League and condemned by Donohue over the years and it does not come close to the damage a group of predator priests have caused the Catholic Church. If the League is as it claims, dedicated to protecting the civil rights and dignity of all Catholics, then it cannot to sit idly by while hundreds of victims come forward and testify about the mistreatment that they have incurred at the hands of Catholic priests. It's time to unfurl the banners and roll out the picket signs Mr. Donohue! Bill Berkowitz is a freelance writer covering right-wing movements. Contact him at wkbbronx@aol.com |
Catholic League President William Donohue 
Cardinal Bernard Law 
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