Index: charges of anti-Catholicism, 2000-2003.2000 * Presidential candidate George W. Bush is accused of anti-Catholicism after he speaks at Bob Jones University in South Carolina, a fundamentalist Christian university with a long history of anti-Catholicism whose president believes that Catholicism is a "false religion." (1) * Members of Congress allege that anti-Catholicism is behind the rejection of a Roman Catholic priest to serve as chaplain to the House of Representatives. House Republican leaders instead select a Presbyterian minister, causing some to charge that Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert and Majority Leader Dick Armey "were influenced by an anti-Catholic bias." (2) * The Catholic League suggests that author and former priest James Carroll should be recognized as "the biggest anti-Catholic bigot on the block," for his book, Constantine's Sword, the Church and the Jews: A History, an investigation of the church's response to the Holocaust. (3) 2001 * The Catholic League condemns Rep. Jim McDermott of Washington for making remarks that are "offensive to Catholics" during a speech on embryo experimentation in the House of Representatives. The League claims McDermott "... appealed to the worst appetite in anti-Catholics...." (4) 2002 * Gaff Quinn, the executive director of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops' Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities, accused Catholics for a Free Choice Catholics for a Free Choice (CFFC) is a pro-choice political organization whose founders hold the belief that "the Catholic tradition supports a woman's moral and legal right to follow her conscience in matters of sexuality and reproductive health. of producing adverts "laden with anti-Catholic bigotry." The bus shelter adverts carried the slogan, "Because the bishops ban condoms, innocent people die." (5) * Reverend C. John McCloskey C. John McCloskey, III is a Catholic priest and member of Opus Dei. He is the former director of the Catholic Information Center of the Archdiocese of Washington. He worked on Wall Street - Citibank and Merrill Lynch - for some years before becoming a priest, being ordained in 1981 III, a representative of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross Pontifical University of the Holy Cross is a Roman Catholic university under the Curial Congregation for Catholic Education, which it has entrusted to the Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei, or more commonly called Opus Dei. , accuses The Boston Globe of having a history of being anti-Catholic. He says, "It gets a little interesting why they are not covering the Protestant church. The [Catholic] church seems to be unfairly singled out ... Underneath there is an anti-Catholic [agenda]." (6) * Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, a leading church official from Honduras and a possible successor to Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (Latin: Ioannes Paulus PP. II, Italian: Giovanni Paolo II, Polish: Jan Paweł II) born Karol Józef Wojtyła , gives an interview with the Catholic magazine 30 Giorni (30 Days) in which he accused much of the US media of promoting anti-Catholic sentiments. He argues "... newspapers like the New York Times, the New York Times, The Morning daily newspaper, long the U.S. newspaper of record. From its establishment in 1851 it has aimed to avoid sensationalism and to appeal to cultured, intellectual readers. Washington Post, and the Boston Globe ... were protagonists of what I do not hesitate to define as a persecution against the church." (7) * Archbishop John Myers of Newark, N J, criticizes Voice of the Faithful Voice of the Faithful (VOTF) is an organization of lay Catholics, formed in early 2002 in response to the Roman Catholic sex abuse cases. Founding and mission VOTF began when a small group of parishioners met in the basement of St. (VOTF VOTF Voice of the Faithful VOTF Vengeance of the Fang (gaming guild) ), an international organization formed in response to the clergy sex abuse scandal, for being anti-Catholic. Archbishop Myers writes that VOTF "has used the current crisis in the church as a springboard for presenting an agenda that is anti-church and, ultimately, anti-Catholic." (8) 2003 * Two conservative groups, the Committee for Justice and the Ave Maria List, publish a series of newspaper advertisements featuring a sign reading, "Catholics Need Not Apply" hanging on the doors to a courthouse, suggesting that the opposition by the Senate Judiciary Committee The U.S. Senate established the Committee on the Judiciary on December 10, 1816, as one of the original 11 standing committees. It is also one of the most powerful committees in Congress; among its wide range of jurisdictions is investigation of federal judicial nominees and oversight of to certain judicial nominations reflects an "anti-Catholic bias." (9) * Senator Charles Schumer is accused of being "anti-Catholic" for his opposition to the judicial nomination of William S. Pryor. (10) * Andrea Sheldon Lafferty Andrea Sheldon Lafferty is the Executive Director of the Traditional Values Coalition, working from the group's offices in Washington, D.C. She is also the daughter of the organization's chairman, Lou Sheldon. Like her father and the TVC, she is opposed to LGBT rights. , the Executive Director of the Traditional Values Coalition The Traditional Values Coalition is a Christian Right organization that claims to represent over 43,000 conservative Christian churches throughout the United States of America. Headquartered in Washington, D.C. , calls Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy an "anti-Catholic bigot" during an appearance on C-SPAN'S "Washington Journal" in reference to Pryor's nomination. (11) (1) Frank Bruni, "The 2000 Campaign: The counterattack; McCain campaign admits calls to Catholics," New York Times, February 23,2000. (2) Bob Franken, "House vote on new chaplain delayed as charges of anti Catholic bias leveled against Republicans," CNN, January 14, 2000. (3) Catholic League for Civil and Religious Rights, "The biggest anti-Catholic bigot on the block?" Catalyst, December 2000. (4) Catholic League for Civil and Religious Rights, "Rep. McDermott's darker side exposed," News Releases, August 3, 2001. (5) Gail Quinn, "Bishop-bashing abounds in D.C.," Life Issues forum, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, January 4, 2002. (6) David Cisneros, "Coverage of church scandal praised by theologian," American Society of Newspaper Editors, April 11, 2002. (7) Philip Pullella, "Cardinal criticizes US press coverage," Reuters, June 8, 2002. (8) Fred Martinez, "Is VOTFs agenda stilt stilt, common name for some members of the family Recurvirostridae, shore birds including the avocet. Stilts, as their name implies, have the longest legs of any bird except the flamingo. 'ultimately anti-Catholic'?" Conservative Monitor, September 15, 2003. (9) Jan Crawford Greenburg Jan Crawford Greenburg, a University of Chicago Law School alumna, is a legal correspondent for ABC News. She previously was legal affairs editor for the Chicago Tribune and provided legal analysis on the Supreme Court of the United States for the PBS program , "Ads claim anti-Catholic bias blocking Bush court nominee," Chicago Tribune, July 23, 2003. (10) Marie Cocco, "Accusations insulting to Catholics," The Times Union, August15, 2003 and Robert Marus "Is 'anti Catholic bias' at heart of Democrats' judicial blocking?" Associated Baptist Press The Associated Baptist Press was founded in 1990 and is the first and only independent Baptist news agency in the United States. The ABP annually publishes over 600 news and feature stories. It is based in Jacksonville, Florida and has news bureaus in Washington, D.C. , August 1, 2003. (11) Marie Cocco, "Accusations insulting to Catholics," op cit. |
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