The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, often shortened to the Catholic League, is an American Catholic organization whose stated purpose is to "defend the right of Catholics – lay and clergy alike – to participate in American public life without defamation or discrimination." The Catholic League states that it is "motivated by the letter and the spirit of the First Amendment ... to safeguard both the religious freedom rights and the free speech rights of Catholics whenever and wherever they are threatened." According to the Encyclopedia of American Religion and Politics, the league "is regarded by many as the preeminent organization representing the views of American lay Catholics."
Founded in 1973 by the Jesuit priest Virgil Blum, the Catholic League was formed to counter discrimination against Catholics in American government and popular culture. The low-profile group initiated public education campaigns and some lawsuits. In 1993 the group became much more aggressive with a new president, the former sociology professor Bill Donohue, who also increased its size to become the largest Catholic advocacy organization in the US. The Catholic League is known for press releases about what it views as anti-Catholic and anti-Christian themes in mass media.
The Catholic League has taken a stand against anything they perceive as anti-Catholic, including the entertainment industry, certain art exhibits, school programs for sex education, government-funded contraception and abortion, media bias, restrictions against anti-abortion activism, and restrictions on religious schools. It publishes a journal, Catalyst, and operates a website.
The league under Donohue's leadership is criticized for its conservatism and for its combative responses to high-profile media stories. Besides education campaigns, the group issues condemnations, initiates boycotts and protests, defends priests against accusations of child sexual abuse, fights proposed legislation and threatens legal action against what it sees as bigotry against Catholics, irreverence against religious figures, and attacks on Catholic dogma. However, the Catholic League stresses that "it does not speak authoritatively for the Church as a whole."
Organizational overview
History
The league was founded in Milwaukee on May 12, 1973, by Virgil Blum. Blum served as president of the Catholic League until 1988. John Tierney served as president from October 1990 to 1993.
Bill Donohue
Since 1993, the league has been led by its board of directors president, Bill Donohue, who works with a small number of organizational staffers. In a 1999 New York Times article, a reporter said Donohue is pragmatic in regards to religion, "media savvy" and "steers clear of divisive debates on theological doctrines and secular politics". The article said Donohue "fans simmering anger with inflammatory news releases, a Web site and newsletter" with "scathing attacks on the blasphemous and the irreverent". In a 2007 interview, Salon Life staff writer Rebecca Traister discussed Donohue with Frances Kissling, former head of the organization Catholics for Choice, which opposes Catholic teaching on abortion, who characterized Donohue as "abusive", and stated she avoided doing media interviews with him for this reason.
Operations and organization
The league is organized under a board of directors chaired by Walter Knysz. The league also has board of advisors, consisting of prominent lay Catholics like Brent Bozell, Linda Chavez, Mary Ann Glendon, Alan Keyes, Tom Monaghan, and George Weigel. 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.
Association with the Catholic Church
The Catholic League is a lay Catholic organization that is independent of the Catholic Church. However, it is listed in The Official Catholic Directory (see the Miscellaneous section under the Archdiocese of New York). According to a New York Times interviewer, the organization "maintains close ties to the New York Archdiocese leadership. Several bishops make personal donations. John Cardinal O'Connor spoke at the group's 25th anniversary reception in 1998 and vacated part of his suite for its expanding operations, said Joseph Zwilling, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of New York." Timothy Cardinal Dolan spoke at the Catholic League's 50th anniversay celebration on April 27, 2023. The league includes on its website endorsements from many prominent clerics.