Press Release: Catholic League's Bill Donohue Continues Partisan Attacks

For Immediate Release Contact:

May 30, 2008 James Salt

305-978-1056 or jsalt@catholics-united.org

Chris Korzen

202-903-0856 or ckorzen@catholics-united.org

Catholic League’s Bill Donohue Continues Partisan Attacks

Washington, D.C. – Catholics United executive director Chris Korzen issued the following statement today in response to Catholic League president Bill Donohue’s latest attack on Sen. Barack Obama:

“Today Bill Donohue issued a set of frivolous comments on Rev. Michael Pfleger’s recent inappropriate remarks about Hillary Clinton. Instead of focusing on the nature of Pfleger’s remarks, Mr. Donohue chose the unfortunate path of using the incident to question the character of Sen. Barack Obama. Catholics United is concerned that Donohue’s comments appear part of a systematic campaign to influence the outcome of the upcoming presidential election by maligning Sen. Obama to Catholic voters.”

“This pattern of partisan rhetoric is nothing new to the Catholic League under the leadership of Mr. Donohue. Donohue has targeted Senator Obama and his advisors in recent months over similarly petty issues. Earlier this year, he let John McCain off easy over an endorsement from the anti-catholic John Hagee, while in 2007 he vowed to make John Edwards’ hiring of two anti-catholic junior staffers the central issue of the election. In 2004, Donohue pursued a relentless campaign to challenge the credibility of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry by painting him as a bad Catholic. And we know from Deal Hudson’s book Onward Christian Soldiers that Donohue participated in at least one campaign meeting with Karl Rove during the run-up to the 2000 election.”

“Catholics United wholeheartedly supports the Catholic League’s noble mission of ‘defending the right of Catholics – lay and clergy alike – to participate in American public life without defamation or discrimination.’ It is difficult, however, to understand how Donohue’s own political activity as Catholic League president is consistent with this mission or the organization’s 501(c)(3) nonprofit tax status.”

“We are also concerned that Donohue’s media profile risks creating an appearance of partisanship on the part of the entire Catholic community. Although he often seems to pretend otherwise, Mr. Donohue has absolutely no authority to speak for Catholics or the Church institution.”

Chris Korzen is co-author of A Nation for All: How the Catholic Vision of the Common Good Can Save America from the Politics of Division.

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Catholics United is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to promoting the message of justice and the common good found at the heart of the Catholic Social Tradition. This is accomplished through online advocacy and educational activities. For more information, visit www.catholics-united.org.