The Catholic League used the clip art at left in a press release in regard to the Boston Victims’ Summit. To use such art in relation to the issue of clergy sex abuse is reprehensible. Regardless of what you think about the law suits, the media or the issue in general – the bottom line is that children were harmed. This artwork and the press release is not only highly inappropriate – it couldn’t be less Christ-like. The actual press release is no better.
I find it very disturbing that our Church leaders support an organization that would do this. Below is Archbishop Chaput’s testimonial from the Catholic League’s Web site.
“The Catholic League has the courage to speak up candidly and forcefully for the Church when circumstances call for fighting the good fight. The League should be on every Catholic’s short list of essential organizations to support.”
— Most Rev. Charles Chaput, O.F.M. Cap.
Archbishop of Philadelphia
Please let Archbishop Chaput and the Catholic League know that you find this unacceptable.
Bill Donahue…………………a reincarnation of “Archie Bunker”……..
the personality, the sensitivity, compassion and character traits of Archie……………….our Mr. Donahue has them all……..
Yes, indeed, that image and press release from the Catholic League is reprehensible.
Archie Bunker never attacked child rape victims, or did anything remotely close. With the exception of the Catholic church (where Archbishop Dolan does it in a more subtle way thru social media so that kids can see it), you can’t name anyone else that attacks victims, although Jim Boeheim did it for a month at Syracuse.
That says more about the Catholic League and their supporters than it does about anything else. I actually would love to see that go viral…Yahoo News…let the world know exactly what a Catholic organization is doing to those that had the courage to tell the truth.
After it goes viral, the title of my cartoon would be, “Who’s crying now?”
Honestly, who takes them seriously anyway? They are like that loud-mouthed, obnoxious yapper in the back of the bus that everyone eventually tunes out.
Apparently our Bishops take them seriously and advise us to support them, too. It’s getting harder and harder…
That’s just one more in a long list of reasons that I have no respect for most bishops.
Frankly, I don’t think that kind of posting by the Catholic League deserves a response!
I think to humor myself I’ll add my own captions underneath that crying baby clip-art.
Oh, the list is endless.
Survivor’s wife, I’ve been doing the same. But I realized it would need to be a bigger diaper for all the bulls%$# that comes out of there.
pardon me.
Susan — Thank you! I laughed out loud when I read your post — it’s great — because it’s sooooo true! They make me sick – the catholic league and chaput — I can’t even capitalize their names.
No wilting violet there.
Good on you Susan.
Although they lost their credibilty (and compassion) along time ago whoever wrote that article and used that clipart should be fired. If that picture was placed next to an article on holocaust victims there would be lawsuits and media outrage. They owe victims an apology.
survivor’s wife…….I agree with you………I hope and pray that this is picked up throughout the Internet and the national news……
NO ORGANIZATION should be allowed to get away with such an evil, vicious and callous disregard for the victims and their families…….
I will be contacting Board Members of the Catholic League directly to voice my outrage………
Rev. Philip Eichner, President, Kellenberg Memorial High School, Long Island, NY, phone (516) 292-0200……He is the Chairman of the Board, Catholic League
Disgusting!!!
Rev. Eichner, I’m waiting for your apology.
I too already expressed my outrage to the Catholic League and told them this isn’t over by a longshot. Absolutely disgusting. They have no shame or compassion.
‘We should have the courage to speak up candidly and forcefully for the Church’. Well, it sounds like Archbishop Chaput is a little confused as to who is the Church. As we’ve been taught, the Church is all its members like the victims, children, the elderly, the poor, the sick, the rich, women, men, etc. regardless of their station in life or whether they are non-ordained or ordained. It is not only the hierarchy and the clergy. Maybe he and the Catholic League should read that part of the gospel about when Jesus speaks of those who mistreat children. It is shameful that what they have printed is so hurtful and arrogant. Thank goodness there are so many Catholics who are speaking up candidly and forcefully for the victims.
Here is my evaluation of 99% of modern Catholics, where the other 1% are people like the creators, posters, and commenters here.
This past weekend tells you all you need to know about the Catholic church.
Ten years ago, a few hundred courageous, embarrassed victims of Catholic child rape came forward in Boston. A couple of courageous newspapers ran the story, despite the fact that Cardinal Law publicly threatened the “wrath of God” on the newspapers. God was on the side of the supporters.
Ten years later, there is a convention for the victims. Catholics don’t show up to support them or apologize. They just don’t care. They have followed their leaders perfectly.
Instead, their $400,000 a year spokesman actually mocks the victims. The spokesman is endorsed by Cardinal Dolan of New York (the president of the US bishops), Cardinal O’Malley of Boston, Chaput, and others.
This is today’s Catholic church – where 99% won’t do a thing while children are raped, pedophiles are protected, and victims are mocked. Money is preserved, and that’s the important thing.
The clip art is a parody– a work of art having, via comic effect, the intent to ridicule.
On the surface, Donahue ridicules victims, their plight, and the people, groups and organizations that work to support them. In ridiculing them, he minimizes them.
However, on a deeper level, Donahue really intends to ridicule and minimize the liberal-progressive voice in the Church, the voice he fears and hates the most, the voice of reform, the voice of the “bleeding hearts,” and the voice he holds responsible for continually bringing to light the moral failures of his beloved conservative hierarchy.
Donahue’s piece is fundamentally about conservative vs. progressive.
Like a rant. Indicating he is unstable.
P.S. Chaput and Dolan, you make me sick.
I don’t think there is anything “political” about what the RCC is doing or the people who are not doing anything. or any of us who comment GET RID OF THAT LINE!l. This is “SPIRITUAL WARFARE” we are going through! THE PEOPLE OF GOD. are fighting for our precious vulnerable and for our LORD JESUS’S WORDS TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY BY THE GOD FEARING PEOPLE WHO CARE in this world.The RCC won’t care a whit, as they are already taken over by the evil one.
Always Speak God’s Words when you can and not your own.
I was thinking the same thing is shows how sick and diseased his heart has become and this is coming from someone that is very conservative.
That was in response to the top of your blog Hadit and I was refering to Donahue.
I would suggest including a link to the archbishop & to the league which would allow those of us who wish to express our sentiments directly to them can readily do so via email, as phone #s these days only get a menu of choices which do not relate, and addresses for USPS mail probably do not, for the most part, happen. I think facilitating speaking up, even if perceived as a waste of time (my perception in this instance, albeit I hope to be wrong, as my faith teaches that hope springs eternal), allows those not in power (that is, today, the great, great majority of the Body of Christ) to do something which will facilitate the Holy Spirit’s vitalization of the Bride of Christ, somehow, someday.
However, I have found it much more difficult to directly email the archbishop than it was to do so when he was the bishop of Denver, when he had his own email address & would regularly respond to my inquiries.
lmulligan, I believe that Archbishop Chaput’s email is now on an auto reply having been swamped with local Catholics expressing their opinions since the announcements last Friday.
I think that’s the same with the Australian Apostolic Nuncio these days.
With whats going on down under after, escaping the wrath of Ireland with the Murphy Report he can’t get away from anything or anyone.
I wonder what his private views are, he seems such a gentle person, but alas just another cog in the wheel.
Right now he is sending automatic responses for those that send anything about school closings. I don’t know about other issues. He has 3x the people as in Denver which is a challenge. Try is FB page on the Archdiocese website.
I just left him a sweet little message on his facebook pae. I expect no response, of course. There was a long message on there from a young woman who is a victim of the schools closing. I did post a response to her, commending her for haing the courage to write to chaput…
I have also contacted the Catholic League about this insulting item. They are way out of line with this type of un-Christ like articles and they are harming the church by allowing such things to be published. I also have a great deal of trouble with radical individuals like Pat O’Malley who seem to have little or know understanding of Christ teachings with his constant insulting and unthinging comments damning majority of all Catholics. He demonstrates a very sick attitude toward anyone or anything he disagress with rather than try to cure the problem by taking corrective, POSITIVE action.
I don’t agree with everything (but most of it) that is said by Pat O’Malley. I however can understand why he is completely feed-up with the leadership of the Church. The behavior of the bishops along with that of the Catholic League is simply despicable.
Pat O’Malley, I believe has become so disgusted with their behavior that he is now to the point where he simply feels the need to bash and trash them. I understand his reaction. We have tried every reasonable approach to deal with the Church’s leadership, and the bishops just respond by kicking us in the teeth again and again!
“Nice” and “reason” does not work when dealing with worthless bishops.
Pat O’Malley is one of the first to deal with them as they have dealt with us, by kicking them right back in the teeth. I believe that a lot more of us will become much more militant toward these loathsome bishops.
“Outrage is easy. Outrage is comfortable. Outrage makes us feel good about ourselves and our moral superiority. But unless it is transformed into real action, outrage is useless.” These words spoken by John Salveson the founder of the Foundation To Abolish Child Sex Abuse at the November press conference in Harrisburg. The one thing that is consistent about the advocates I have met in the past few months is that although of course they are angry and vent at times -they are not stuck in that cycle. They also do not interact with people in a “my way or the highway” approach. I have found in life that whenever I want someone to see my side of an issue -if I come at them that they are wrong or stupid -they are gone before I even finish the conversation.
Kathy’s Salverson quote is important. Outrage relative to the Catholic League or Bishops who publicly support it is completely understandable, but it’s action that is ‘productive’. (and there is always a danger that one gets stuck in rage, fed by a Catholic League ‘rant’ which makes it so much harder to then proceed to action).
On a neighboring C4C blog, dealing with Philadelphia and everything catholic, there are a lot of productive comments, that may well be useful to Philly Catholics as they go through a wrenching school closing situation. And it’s that slow and steady reasonable response to AD behavior that will, hopefully, be ‘productive’ in that it will cause pew folks to see what most of us already know, re Church.
Just a thought.
jjgable,
I have as much knowledge of Christ’s teachings as most Catholics, having been through 12 years of Catholic school. I understand honesty, so I use my real name. I understand evil, and I know that there isn’t much that’s more evil that raping a child. There isn’t much more evil than lying about it. There isn’t much more evil than fighting the victims because you don’t want to pay for therapy for the victims. Christ never said “protect thy money and big buildings”.
The leaders of this Catholic church aren’t the least bit Christ-like.
The followers of those leaders have done almost nothing in the last ten years with the exception of a handful of people on this site and others. If you have, use your real name and what real positive action you’ve taken.
P.S. I love the fact that you criticize whether I think in my comments, and you call them “unthinging”. Awesome.
Patrick, yes, Joe Gable is my real name and I also am a product of Catholic School educaton. I have taken the time to write, via snail mail and e-mail to Cardinal Rigalli and now to Archbishop Chaput about my anger about the cover up of a major crime. Chaput has responded but in 4 years Rigalli and his vast staff ignored communications. This led to me singleing him out at 2 events and forcing a discussion of my views. I have met with my pastor more than once and with a number of priest and 1 other bishop. I believe that you bring about “change” by working at it and not being rude or negative. I believe in the Eucharist & Scripture & I am not going away so the heirarchy will have me at their door workig for “change” that includes married priest, women priest and open financials. I will not leave the Catholic faith and will continue to speak up in an effort to get the church inot the 21 century and follow Christ teachings.
Patrick, I actually have been down the road that Joe speaks and didn’t have success. But I am not going to attack him or tell him he is wrong. In a few weeks when the trial starts I am sure that we will have many new people visiting the site, some seeking info or getting involved in this issue for the first time. If you attack them -guess what- you have accomplished nothing. You might feel good about trashing them and hammering away at them -but what good does that do? I have taken baby steps with people that have turned out to have some of the most unbelievable results. You meet people where they are – not where you are. We will posting a revised comment policy soon.
People in power, people who are very immature, people who just don’t get it and will never get it, think that this “cartoon” is funny and meaningful. It reminds me of a “joke” that adolescent boys used to tell when I was a youth – boys who had no sense of reality and the hurtfulness of humor. The “joke” went like this: “There is no such things as rape. Everyone knows that a woman can run faster with her skirts up than a man can with his pants down.” This “cartoon” is just that insensitive – but is put in place by a supposedly grown up man. People in power are all too often completely incapable of understanding how their attitudes, opinions and actions will affect others. It’s all about them – it always is.
Reid
Maureen, it is NOT time to leave the church — it is time to stand up and speak out not just on web sites but directly to the church heirarchy — I have no heistation of writing to them and speaking, politely, at events they attend in the public. We must talk to fellow Catholics and to priest to get them or keep working for change that embarsses Christ teachings. Never walk away from an issue,because then NOTHING will change, stand up that is what our Founding Fathers taught all Americans. I suggest you readk Bishop Chaput’s book, “Render unto Caesar” and you will see he also supports and urges Catholics to be active and speak up!
I’m starting to see leaving the Church as analogous to leaving the Nazi Party. Once a person becomes aware of their agenda, they have a moral obligation to leave. The Nazi party had all the guns; once you became a dissenter you were disarmed, and had no chance of changing anything.
The bishops have all the power (guns.) The layperson is unarmed, and has no chance of defeating them from within. I believe that fighting them from outside the Church itself may be more effective. I’m thinking along the lines of now the French Resistance Movement responded to the Nazis.
The problem is that most Catholics still support “the party” by giving them money. As long as the bishops are being funded, there is no way that their going to be stopped. As long as this support continues leaving may be to only option. “If you’re not with them, you’re again them.”
I think you are wrong to stay in a church doing hand to hand combat with the devil…you are helping the devil continue his work by your presence. Remember the “Kingdom of God is Within you!! What do they care whether you’re in or out. Just for the money in the collection box is why they need you. Stay if you must but Pray ! Do not PAY for their hideious Crimes Against Humanity.It’s called aiding and abetting! Like driving the get -a-way-car! Just get His Word Out! That’s what counts. It is a FAUX CHUCH! YOU ARE THE CHURCH!
Of course Speak Out… Talk to people who are in the media. EVERYBODY YOU MEET…GO ON FACEBOOK. I’M NOT AFRAID. You are the media too as we speak out now. Don’t stop. I havent for over ten years. and have found many words I have said in blogs and comments are being used over and over by others. I never plan what I will say I just let the Lord guide me. You do the same.
Yes unfortunately you are so right.
Reid you are right
Why would anyone be surprised? the underbelly of the church harbours pedophiles. The church has a history of this. Remember the “Witches Hammer?” The recent canon law changes not excommunicating priests for pediophilia but for THOUGHTS about women’s ordination have always been symptoms of it’s dysfunction. I am just saying.
I thought that was a caricature of that big mouth ‘bill donahue” , has it sunk in as to why chaput was sent to Phila ?
this is insane. It’s time to leave the church. Then they will wake up– maybe
Maureen, if they don’t wake up with all the suicides attributed to sex-buse they never will.
In fact, I was at a gathering for just that: No More Suicides, and survivor speaker Stephen Woods encouraged those in counselling, who at different intervals consider taking their life, don’t, because you let them win.
Stand up and fight like hell.
L. Newingotn — Just curious — is that the same Stephen Wood who wrote the “Breaking Free” pamphlet about purity for men?
Reading a Donahue / Catholic League statement is like being abused. Why go back for more pain ?
Maybe, while everyone is grieving over the school closings…this clip should be posted on that site.
Ask them if Chaput should be spending their money to support such an organization. Or better yet, ask them how they would feel if the cartoon had been applied to them.
Just a thought.
I am actively seeking an organization that promotes true separation of church and state through recinding the tax benefits that churches and other “eligible” organizations get.
The RCC only pays attention to power. The power of the almighty dollar is what they respect. It is time to be serious about curbing the power of the RCC and other organizations that do not value the people who make them possible.
Like to know how much the premiums and the stipilations on the policies the different dioceses pay to insurance companies because of this scandal. Also would like to know the risk assesstment for each diocese, order and congregation . Besides attorney fees, insurance fees, and payouts, what cost in victims lives and loss of vocations are a result of this scandal. Then maybe we can see who should be crying.
Just discussed with a person how she has index cards with contact info about changing the SOL s in PA with some points to include in a letter. Gives a small discussion and leaves the cards for those interested.
Archbishop Dolan has also publicly praised the Catholic League and posted its angry, hurtful news releases on his website, including this one that attacks a teenager who reports having been abused by a priest just a few months ago
http://blog.archny.org/?p=1556
http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/archbishop-dolan-bashes-church-rape-victims/news/2012/01/09/32869
David Clohessy
SNAP Director
Donahue never has had any credibility and we now know that Chaput is right in the gutter with him.
If you do not DESPISE Chaput after his statment regarding the Catholic League, please let me know how you do it.
laughing, deriding or minimizing anyone’s pain and suffering is at its best insensitive, at its worst cruel and hurtful….anyone who thinks the victimization of someone else is a passing episode or a minor incident is sorely lacking in understanding and compassion. One might as well visit a hospice and ridicule the plight of cancer patients. How truly sad it is that one loses all reason and sympathy for others. The cartoon of an infant crying sarcastically portrays a further irony, it was children who were violated and regardless of their present age, they are still in need of healing.
http://www.facebook.com/ArchbishopChaput
Shameful. All of it. How dare they preach to us every Sunday, yet this is what is supported? Not in the church I believed in. This institution has supported the crushing of souls through it’s arrogance way too long. This response is appalling, and Chaput’s support of it, even more so.
All the children that were violated. And now, all these poor kids and thier families who are making attempts to save their schools, schools/parishes that begged for thier support for years, and no one cares. No, decisions cannot be made on emotions alone, but where is Christ in these crule responses?
Where is Christ? I, as all, have been given freewill. God will not take it away from anyone. You must choose what is Christ-like and what is not. You also take the consequences of aiding the devil in his works if you continue on in an evil institution. How do you do that? Well you don’t stay in an evil place. You read Scriptures and ask the Holy Spirit to give you the guidance that you need. HE will .
THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS WITH IN YOU!
It is a balancing act -to even post this Catholic League press release in some ways feels like feeding the fire but to ignore it doesn’t seem right either. I think of when we tell kids to ignore the bully in the schoolyard but then again we tell them to stand up for what they believe is right,to do the right thing.I placed a few calls this morning. I called the Archdiocese of Boston 617-254-0100 and spoke to staff in Cardinal O’Malley’s office. I have read the interviews that Cardinal O’Malley has given over the past week and this press release does not match up with the thoughts he has expressed. I also called Father Eichner’s Chair of the Board of the Catholic League 516-292-0200.
I also called the office of the Catholic League (212) 371-3191. The woman I spoke with told me I could leave my thoughts on the contact section of the website. Instead I asked for some questions to be answered. First I asked if she had seen the post herself. She did. Did she have a problem with it? She did not have a problem with it. I asked how this post reflected any type of healing that is supposed to take place? How is this bringing people together as catholics? How is it in any way Christ like? I received no answers. I told her as a Catholic I thought it was one of the most depraved things I had ever seen. All of the offices I called took my name and number. I am not expecting any return calls -just something I needed to do.
I really must be getting old. I thought the cartoon was O’Donauhe’s self potrait. Looks just like him.
AW
BRAVO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
KATHY…YOU ARE DOING A WONDERFUL JOB BY POSTING THE PHONE #’S FOR THE PA. PEOPLE. CALL,CALL, CALL.I’M IN COLO. & I MIGHT CALL. CHAPUT WAS OUR ? BISHOP?YUCK !
I as a victim of childhood sexual abuse by a Catholic priest in the Boston area do find tears in my eyes at the insensitivity of the Catholic League towards victims of abuse suffered by the hands of the their own church members. My abuser nearly destroyed my life. Forty years after my abuse in 2002 The “Clergy sex scandal” erupted in Boston. The secrete of my abuse I vowed to take to my grave tormented me. The constant bombardment in the news media of the Catholic Church’s complicity overwhelmed me. Cardinal Law caught in his own lies of over-ups, and transferring perpetrators only to reoffend children, resigned in disgrace.
This caused me to go into a very deep depression. In my mind I had forgiven my abuser I thought of him as “a bad apple”. The Church I was raised in that I loved and served faithfully as a high school CCD teacher for 18 years choose to protect their name and abusers over the protection of innocent children. This outraged me, and should you William Donohue!
My tears are not for the torment of my own sexual abuse, they are tears for an insensitive and uncaring church.
David I care about you and all our victims in the church . I want you to know that is why I am very involved in Lobbying to change the laws for all children……. it is not right what is going on and I am doing as much as I can humanly do with God’s help and the help of many other good people. I want you and other victims to know there are alot of good things being done by good people behind the scenes. Please pray for us and as we will pray for you.
I’m sick about what happened to you. The sons of satan have taken over the Catholic church, and the 99% of the congregation that goes along with it are forwarding his agenda. It’s literally anti-Christ like.
David I am so sorry for all that you have suffered at the hands of your abuser and also the treatment that so many victims have suffered. Nothing about this refelcts what I learned in my 16 years of Catholic education…nothing. When I called the Catholic League today I actually got choked up on the call,I was thinking of all the victims and family members I have met or interacted with over the past year. I will never be able to make sense of children being abused and then cast aside in many ways by those within the Church…it does not reflect any Gospel message I ever learned.
Kathy,
I was thinking of the Sisters and teachers that taught me at Prendie this is not what they taught me……they taught me compassion and to always do the right thing. I remember Sister Kathleen in Engish class always had us say affirmations after prayers in the beginning of class. If I remember correctly the first one we said is “God loves me therefore I like myself”. We use to laugh and think she was corny but now I appreciate the lesson she was trying to teach us. We are all made in the image and likeness of God and we are special to him and we should have a healthy love for ourselves because of it. Other affirmations also had to do with our neighbor. I think Mr. Donahue(or whoever wrote and allowed this article) seems to have lacked this basic understanding of himself and others.
David,
I don’t think I could say it any better than Beth did.
I am sorry.
I am fighting for reform in many areas for all victims.
David, Dear David. I have not known anyone who actually was abused but I do know this; that those people have committed the UNPARDONABLE SIN AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT! They cannot be forgiven by God. You may forgive them but God cannot! IMHO!
A child, a handicapped person,a marginalized young one, or a needy teenager,what ever the reasons these persons did these acts of evil were because they were persons of authority in the lives of our precious vunerable and knew they could get away with it. They are an abomination to our sweet Jesus. And should be to all, called by God.
We are all vunerable to the seduction of evil, especially when it is brought to us by a supposed holy person..Which of course makes it the worst sin, in comparrison to any and all other sins. .
You must restore the Holy Spirit to yourself, AS NEVER BEFORE!. Speak to HIM at all times, day and night and ask Him to put HIS Hedge of Holy Protection around you and your memories. You will remember only our Dear Lord Jesus, walking with you every step of your journey in life. HE loves you and so do we.
PS I am a wife, mother, grandmother and great grand mother and we left this evil place in 2001. God is with us and happy we are not contrubuting to this evil by continuing to seek comfort there, where there is none.,
THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS WITHIN YOU! HE is out here , He has created the World and all that is in it but not the RCC as detestable as it has been and is today. A Faux church. We are the church!
“HE will never leave you or forsake you” You are such a caring person to think of all those who have been and still could be abused, rather than feeling sorry for your self. God has given you a job to do and you’re doing it ,by speaking out for our Redemer, Jesus Christ The Lord.
This attitude is one of the main reasons I left the Roman catholic church. You shame the spirit of the gospels by your arrogance.
What can I do?
I thought long and hard about this.
I phoned the office of my diocesan bishop in NY. The office person I spoke to knew nothing about the Catholic League press release. She knew nothing about C4C. She does now. She took my name and phone number. She assured me that my concern would be relayed to my bishop “immediately.” Indeed, she, herself, seemed concerned.
The reason I chose this route is not because it is “better.” The reason I chose it is because there are hundreds of bishops around the U.S. who endure no pressure or heat whatsoever when the organization they fully support speaks in a deplorable manner. They sit and twiddle their thumbs while the likes of Chaput and Dolan take the heat (or ignore it).
ALL of the U.S. bishops need to be thrown into the inferno of our disgust.
Catholic League president Bill Donohue is nothing but a big mouth blogger with absolutely no authority, and he has the freedom to post anything he wants.
On the other hand, the head of the snake is Chaput (Prince of the Church.) He stated that “The Catholic League has the courage to speak up candidly and forcefully for the Church when circumstances call for fighting the good fight. The League should be on every Catholic’s short list of essential organizations to support.”
If there was any doubt before, that statement certified Chaput an enemy of the laypeople within the Church of God. You now know exactly who he is. I believe he is our enemy, and I’ll do everything I can to disrespect this despot. I will not accept any authority the Church has bestowed upon him.
This is the time to take sides. Please decide if he is the one you want to follow, or the one you want to vigorously oppose. Forget about trying to reason with him. His statement showed that he is not a reasonable person.
I short Chaput is my enemy and my days of being civil with him are over.
Fellow posters, please let the people on this blog know what your position is regarding this man, friend or foe? He was clear in his statement; lets be equally clear of what we think of him, thumbs up or thumbs down on Chaput?
For what it’s worth, I spoke with the Chairman of the Board of the Catholic League, Fr. Eichner, President of Kellenberg Memorial HS on Long Island about the cartoon and Donohue essay. He told me that he had not seen the article and cartoon (hard to believe, I told him) though he did ask what was wrong with it. Well, let’s put it this way, Fr. Eichner was INFORMED about real crying children when they were abused and violated, crying families and spouses living through the torment of the victims’ pain, anguish, depression and suicide and such a cartoon made a mockery of all of that pain, humiliation, sadness, loneliness and disgust suffered by victims and families.
I told him that I would speak with him later today or tomorrow after he has had a chance to read the article and look at the accompanying cartoon. I told him quite clearly……..VICTIMS AND THEIR FAMILIES, LIVING OR DECEASED, DESERVE AND ARE ENTITLED TO A WRITTEN APOLOGY FROM THE CATHOLIC LEAGUE AND MR. DONOHUE.
I will continue to carry this message to other members of the Board, not because they give a damn about our concerns and our children, but because NO ONE should be allowed to spew such venom, evil and hurt.
Next up…….David Gregory, General Counsel to the Catholic League at St. John’s Univ School of Law…….718-990-6019
516-292-0200…….Fr. Eichner’s phone……..give him a call and mention my name………they made me spell it for him……….
Thanks, Bob. I live in Kansas. I will call him now!
“…Chairman of the Board of the Catholic League, Fr. Eichner…” and “…he had not seen the article and cartoon…”
That filthy Chaput at one time said that he had never read the Phili Grand Jury documents either.
What is it that these guys do? They’re not even aware of what’s taking place within their own orginizations (Yea, fat chance.)
It’s your decision folks; follow these these creeps if you wish.
How does one find out if a diocese contributes to the Catholic League?
Everyone -obviously people are upset but please refrain from name calling or using deragatory descriptions -those comments will be pulled.
I think efforts need to be in two directions. One is feedback to the Catholic League and it’s supporters. The second has to be the catholics in the pews, so they know where their money is going and how it’s being used.
The first group, I have found, don’t seem to really care. But the second group needs to see this so they can get a good belly full and put pressure on the first group who don’t seem to care.
Cut out the article with the clip-art and send it to your parish priests. Make copies and place it in the vestibule with a caption that says, “Our parish collections are paying for this.”
Get to the people in the pews. If the people are upset about their school closings, dig into the reasons why your money has been mismanaged!!!!
Here’s what The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life tells us the USCCB spent on POLITICAL LOBBYING in 2009:
United States Conference of Catholic
Bishops
2009 2008-2009 Consolidated Financial Statements,
Total Operating Expenses
$143,004,802
Policy Activites Expenses
$26,662,111
Link:http://www.pewforum.org/uploadedFiles/Topics/Issues/Government/all-expenditures.pdf
$26 MILLION. Page 18, folks.
Stop giving to the Church IMMEDIATELY!
I think an appropriate response is no money in the collection basket. The almighty dollar will decide who runs the church. We do need to publish a list of bishops who use diocesan money that support catholic League.
Here is what Dolan (Chaput’s buddy in NY) thinks about the Catholic League:
“Bill Donohue hardly needs me to defend him. He’s well-able to do it himself, and has a lot of experience doing so. But, he’s stood up for a lot of us before, and I am glad to express my encouragement for the work he does. Some may take occasional issue with his style. Fair enough, and he’s open to such criticism. Some might even discuss whether the image is offensive. However, no one should doubt the high value and necessity of his efforts, or dismiss him in crude terms. Even the recent high-volume critiques of his stand on this controversy exhibit nasty anti-catholic canards. Keep at it, Bill! We need you!”
Dolan has a blog. Here is the link. http://blog.archny.org/
Let him know what you think!
Charles,
When and where did Dolan say this?
SW – Here’s the link:http://blog.archny.org/?p=931
Thanks Charles.
I am a survivor and SNAP leader. Just a week or so ago, I spoke with a woman for the first time. Without getting into details that would break confidentiality, I’ll just say this is one of the worst stories I have ever heard, full rape beginning in early elementary school and involving more than one perp-priest. Another member of her family committed suicide; she believes this person was also victimized by the same priests. When she contacted the church for help, she was met with sarcasm and nastiness.
That’s why I don’t think it’s just Bill Donahue being Bill Donahue, nor can it be ignored. There is something deeply wrong at the core of the Catholic church. I left many years ago, but as long as the RCC is a public player trying to influence laws, not paying taxes but taking tax money for thier “charities” and otherwise acting as a part of society, they need tobe held accountable.
Disgusting beyond belief. I imagine that it would not be shocking to Chrissie Foster, author of “Hell on the Way to Heaven” and whose link I’ll share below. I am neither Catholic nor a survivor of clergy abuse, but reading Chrissie’s book enraged me, and made me determined to support work like that of my friend Janet. Thanks all of you who are standing against the silencing, cheating, slandering and reabusing of survivors, this time it would appear, with ridicule. I hope they rot. I can’t bear that the body that supports these perpetrators is getting away with this.
I am a registered Republican (registered so that I can have a say in who is put on the ballot for president and, because I tend to lean conservative, I went Republican).
For the first time in my voting life, I have to say that I would purposely NOT vote for a strongly and publicly Catholic candidate because,based on what I have learned in the last year, that candidate will most surely be “bought” by the RCC and I know who the “RCC” really is now. It is not the laity. It is the corrupt group of powerful leaders who do not want to be overthrown. They will do anything they feel is needed to maintain what they call “the Church.” Their “Church” for them is not Jesus’ Church of the people. It is simply “their power.”
The power that the RCC exerts legislatively is scary. Not only does the Church hierarchy need to be exposed, but so do the politicians who have swayed legislation because of influence and contributions from the RCC.
Jackie,
As a former Catholic seminarian who once was a “true believer,” I can attest that the RCC has a very slimy underbelly, that’s not only scarey and immoral, but often criminal. It’s not the type of place where one feels “at home.” If the lowlifes within the the Church know that a candidate is “for sale,” that candidate will most surely will be “bought.”
Your remark, “”Their “Church” for them is not Jesus’ Church of the people. It is simply “their power.”” Jackie, this was exactly what I experienced while I was in seminary.
On the other hand, I’m about as far away from being a Republican as one can get, sorry Jackie.
Jackie, as a former RC seminarian I can attest to the fact that the Church has a very slimy underbelly; it’s immoral, and often criminal. I at times found my experience within the Church to be very scary. It’s not the type of place one would wants to call “home.”
You’re right on the mark, “”Their “Church” for them is not Jesus’ Church of the people. It is simply “their power.””
There’s no question that they’re in bed with many politicians. You know what took place in Boston, and you can check out the sentence that the Bishop of Kansas City recently received. There are brainwashed RC’s who still follow him, and blindly follow many other bishops who are far worse.
Sorry, went I first submitted I received a massage that the C4C site was temporary down.
Jackie and drwho13,
While your party affiliations may divide you, you are one and the same when it comes to reading and interpreting the Catholic Church.
I’d say you are a couple made in heaven.
Interesting how Donahue perceives the sex abuse crisis to be over and done with except for a handful of progressive discontents who like to wallow in it, while, in reality, in PA and across the U.S., efforts to expose it, understand it, talk about it, and bring peace and justice to it have just begun. Either he is misinformed or blind.
http://www.pennlive.com/editorials/index.ssf/2012/01/in_wake_of_scandals_pa_must_ex.html
Agreed. Just yesterday PA’s (Conservative Republican) Governor Tom Corbett announced a task force on child sex abuse. Smell the coffee…America is finally waking up on this issue.
I spoke today with David Gregory, General Counsel, Catholic League (law professor, St. John’s University School of Law) and it was a reasonable conversation. However, he’s another one that claimed he hadn’t seen the cartoon and article and I expressed my outrage at such a evil and despicable cartoon that mocks the victims, their families and their pain, suffering and loss.
Interestinglly, he told me, that if it were up to him, that he believes that there should be NO statute of limitations civilly and criminally for child sex crimes. I reminded him that the Catholic League, the USCCB and all other US Cathollic bureacracies and lobbies are doing an injustice to ALL children. These groups may be interested in protecting their reputation and assets but windows legislation is something that we must do for ALL children, victims of sexual abuse.
He told me that he would talk with Mr. Donohue about the article and cartoon and to send him an e-mail with outlining my concerns and criticisms. He supported Donohue in his outspoken support of the Church but I reminded him that the man delivers his messages in a mean-spirited, vicious and demeaning manner and he certainly is not a professional in any sense of the word.
I told him that my advocacy with regard to the cartoon and article will continue until the cartoon is removed and/or an apology is forthcoming from the Catholic League on its website. If necessary, I will contact each and every member of the Board of the Catholic League, if, for no other reason, then to determine if I can identify who will admit to me that they have seen the cartoon and article.
He will never apologize nor will anyone involved in the RCC apologize to you or anyone for their evil behavior. They are an elite, arrogant group that “knows” they are above the law…they show it in each and every move, gesture , word and deed. Disgusting to those who love Jesus Christ and put HIM first in their lives. Sorry but the devil doesn’t apologize!
I am putting aside my anger – for a moment – and closing my eyes to give thanks for the life and work of Mary Raftery. RIP.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/0110/breaking10.html
Journalist Mary Raftery dies aged 54
http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0110/rafterym.html
May her determination and fearlessness inspire all of us.
Rest in peace, Mary. Job well done.
A true hero. Literally, she was one in a billion.
Just hit the paper a half hour ago…..
Pa. high court is asked to review charges against monsignor
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/20120112_Pa__high_court_is_asked_to_review_charges_against_monsignor.html