2014 Archive
NEWS RELEASE
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2014
CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE
(617) 524-6309
CATHOLICACTIONLEAGUE@GMAIL.COM
CATHOLIC ACTION LEAGUE CONDEMNS ILLEGAL VOTE AT ALLIED WAR VETERANS COUNCIL
The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts today condemned the illegal vote,
orchestrated by a politically pressured minority, to allow a homosexual group
to impose its message on Boston's 2015 Saint Patrick's Day Parade.
Under intense lobbying from Mayor Martin Walsh, Congressman Stephen Lynch,
and State Representative Nick Collins, a vote of 5 to 4 was taken last night
at a meeting of the Allied War Veterans Council of South Boston to allow
a homosexual group specifically contrived for this controversy, OUTVETS,
to carry signs and banners identifying their sexual behavior.
It was the first Council meeting in fifty years missed by parade organizer
John “Wacko” Hurley. Parade Adjutant Phil Wuschke has denounced the
meeting and the vote as illegal and vowed to overturn it.
The Catholic Action League characterized the reversal as
“an unlawful coup d’état, manipulated by parliamentary piracy, deception, and
underhanded dealing.”
Catholic Action League Executive Director C. J. Doyle made the
following comment: “This was an illegal vote, at a meeting without a quorum,
conducted by a suborned minority, subservient to outside political interests, who
deliberately failed to notify the Council majority of the measure to be acted upon.
No one, of course, should be surprised by such tactics, given
the manifest contempt homosexual groups and their political enablers
have always shown towards the democratic process.”
“The Catholic Action League will support the efforts of Phil Wuschke and others
to restore majority rule, and reverse this crooked vote.”
The predecessor organization of the Catholic Action League provided legal
assistance to the Allied War Veterans Council in the U. S. Supreme Court case,
Hurley v. GLIB.
NEWS ANALYSIS
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2014
CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE
(617) 524-6309
CATHOLICACTIONLEAGUE@GMAIL.COM
CARDINAL O'MALLEY SENDS MIXED MESSAGE
ON CALLS FOR WOMEN PRIESTS
In an interview last night with the CBS News program 60 Minutes, the Archbishop of Boston,
Cardinal Sean O'Malley, conspicuously failed to offer a vigorous defense of Catholic doctrine on the
necessity of an all-male priesthood. Responding to a series of questions on the issue from reporter Norah O'Donnell,
the Cardinal did point out that “the priesthood reflects the incarnation of Christ, Who in His humanity is a male.”
When asked if the exclusion of women was “immoral,” O'Malley responded, “Well, Christ
would never ask us to do something immoral.”
In an apparent attempt to placate his persistent questioner, however, O'Malley then added “Well,
it's a matter of vocation. And what God has given us. And this is, you know, if I were founding a church,
I'd love to have women priests. But Christ founded it and what he has given us is something different.”
(God, evidently, wasn't as broadminded as Sean).
The reaction was predictable. The Boston Globe obligingly ran a story entitled “Cardinal gives
theoretical nod to female priests.” The liberal National Catholic Reporter said the
interview “revealed clearly the increasingly untenable nature of the Catholic teaching that women
cannot be ordained priests,” and that O'Malley's remarks “more than anything, seemed to
underscore the weakness of church teachings.”
Catholic Action League of Massachusetts Executive Director C. J. Doyle made the following comments: “The
Cardinal gave a disappointing performance, missing an opportunity to articulate a forceful defense of a
Catholic doctrine little understood by secular society. His tepid, reluctant, low-key, almost apologetic
tone was a reminder of his statement during the defense of marriage struggle in Massachusetts,
when he said that support for traditional marriage was ‘neither bigoted nor sectarian.’”
“Although he did allude, in his remark on the Incarnation, to a priest being an Alter Christus, the
Cardinal could have gone on to explain that the ethos of Catholicism is not empowerment, or self fulfillment,
or gender equality, but contrition for sin, interior conversion, and the personal pursuit of holiness,
all leading to the glory of God and the salvation of souls. He also might have mentioned that
Jesus Christ did not found His church so that it could conform to the cultural norms of 21st century, morally dysfunctional, bourgeois America.”
“More disturbingly, Cardinal O'Malley neglected to mention that the 1994 Apostolic Letter of Saint John Paul II,
Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, was an exercise of the Extraordinary Magisterium with a note of infallibility,
and was consistent with 2000 years of Catholicism, with the practice of the Oriental Churches,
and with that of the Jews of the Old Testament, who saw priestesses in the numerous pagan cults then extant.”
“As for his remark that he would ‘love to have women priests,’ reasonable persons might
reasonably conclude that Cardinal O'Malley was ambivalent about this church teaching, but was
constrained by his office from saying so. Instead of presenting credible arguments for an
intellectually defensible position, the Cardinal reduced church teaching to an atavistic institutional policy, or,
perhaps, an historical anachronism which the church was saddled with by her Founder.
His purpose, it seems, was not to convince, but to appease. For a successor to the Apostles, it was not very apostolic.”
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2014 — Published November 12
Letters
Boston Herald
P. O. Box 55843
Boston, MA 02205-5843
To the Editor:
Peter Gelzinis was inaccurate when he asserted that the Catholic bishops who
covered up sexual abuse "waged a war" on American nuns,
(Gelzinis: Unlike others, O'Malley on same page as Francis, 11/9/2014).
The initiative to reform female religious orders in the U. S. came from Pope Benedict XVI.
Unlike the conservative Cardinal Burke, not one of these left leaning nuns has been fired, demoted, or transferred.
Apparently, for liberals like Gelzinis, just asking nuns to support Catholic doctrine,
including the right to life, now constitutes a hostile act.
Sincerely,
C. J. Doyle
Executive Director
Catholic Action League of Massachusetts
(617) 524-6309
CATHOLICACTIONLEAGUE@GMAIL.COM
MEMBER ADVISORY
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2014
CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE, (617) 524-6309
CATHOLICACTIONLEAGUE@GMAIL.COM
CATHOLIC ACTION LEAGUE TO HOLD ANNUAL CURLEY COMMEMORATION
League Executive Director C. J. Doyle (LEFT) is seen at the Curley gravesite on November 12th
with (left to right) Mrs. Kathy Flynn, Ambassador Raymond L. Flynn, and Kevin J. Hartigan of the
James Michael Curley Division of the Ancient Order of Hibernians (photo by Phyllis Iago).
This Wednesday, November 12, 2014 is the 56th Anniversary
of the death of Massachusetts Governor and Boston Mayor James Michael Curley.
The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts will hold its Annual Rosary at
the Curley grave site in Old Calvary Cemetery, off Cummins Highway in Roslindale, at 12 noon.
Mayor Curley's grave is located directly behind the chapel at the top of the
hill, visible from Cummins Highway. All Catholic Action League members are invited to participate.
November is the month of the Holy Souls, when the Church remembers in
her prayers the faithful departed. Please pray for the repose of the
souls of all deceased members of the Catholic Action League, and those
of our predecessor organization, the Massachusetts Chapter of the
Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, including those listed below:
Joseph L. Ahern
Joseph Arena
Helene Armeno
Catherine Barden
Mr. and Mrs. Emile J. Beauregard
Hon. Angelo Berlandi
Mrs. Gloria Brackett
Elisabeth Bresnahan
Mary Louise Burckhart
Rev. William C. Burckhart
David R. Burke
Leona Carlsen
Bertrand G. Chasse
Mr. and Mrs. George A. Coleman
Hon. and Mrs. John F. Collins
Martin J. Costello
Leo J. Coveney
Hon. and Mrs. James J. Craven, Jr.
Ann Cutress
Rev. Msgr. John Dillon Day
Robert J. Delery
Francis A. Doyle, Sr.
Gregory and Marie Dunn
William S. Farrell
Robert J. Flanagan
Thomas A. Flatley
Thomas J. Flatley
Yvonne Goddard
Roger B. Gill
Charles P. Gourlis
Thomas Hamill
Edward B. Hanify, Jr.
Mrs. Marion Hardy
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph L. Healy
H. Noel Hebard
Rev. Cornelius J. Heery
Rev. Harold J. Johnson
Hon. James M. Kelly
Eugene F. Kiely, Jr.
H. E., Edward J. King
Alfred A. Lagan
Florence MacIsaac
John J. MacIsaac
Albert James Healy Madden
Richard Malone
Paul McCarthy
Andrew J. McCauley, Esq.
Celia McClory
Gino Michelutti
William P. Monahan, Esq.
Walter T. Mulry
Hon. James J. Nixon
Hon. Joseph R. Nolan
Dante Pattavina
Frances Pattavina
Rev. Gilbert S. Phinn
Janet E. Ray
Thomas F. Reynolds
Most Rev. Lawrence J. Riley
John S. Ring
Elinore C. Sheils
Francis N. Sheils
John W. Spillane, KHS, Esq.
Dr. and Mrs. Joseph R. Stanton
Virginia Teehan
Peter L. Travers, Jr.
Hon. John T. Tynan
Bro. Bartholomew Varden, CFX
Thomas A. Walsh
Thomas A. Welch
L. Thomas White
Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.
May they rest in peace. Amen. May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed,
through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
"It is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they might be loosed from sins." - 2 Maccabees 12:46
MEMBER ADVISORY
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2014
CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE, (617) 524-6309
CATHOLICACTIONLEAGUE@GMAIL.COM
CATHOLIC ACTION LEAGUE MOURNS THE LOSS OF BILL MONAHAN
It is with profound sorrow that the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts
has learned of the death of our old friend, trusted advisor and longtime attorney,
William P. Monahan, who entered into eternal life on October 31st. He was 80 years old.
Bill Monahan was a genuine Catholic hero. He was the counsel of record
in the League's landmark court case, Connors v. City of Boston,
which overturned Boston Mayor Thomas Menino's illegal domestic partners program for municipal employees.
Please pray for the repose of the soul of this good man,
and for the consolation of his wife, Edie, and for his children and his
grandchildren, who have suffered an inexpressible loss. We will have more on
the life and legacy of Bill Monahan in the next few days.
Bill's funeral will be from the Brown & Hickey Funeral Home,
at 36 Trapelo Road in Belmont, on Thursday, November 6th, at 8:00 AM.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at Saint Joseph's Parish
Church, at 128 Common Street, in Belmont, at 9:00 AM, followed by
internment at the Highland Meadow Cemetery in Belmont. He will be waked at
Brown & Hickey from 4:00 to 8:00 PM, on Wednesday, November 5th.
Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May he rest in peace. Amen.
May his soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
“It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for
the dead, that they might be loosed from sins.” — 2 Maccabees 12:46
ACTION ALERT!!
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2014
CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE, (617)524-6309
CATHOLICACTIONLEAGUE@GMAIL.COM
OPPOSE CASINO GAMBLING!
VOTE YES ON QUESTION 3
The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts today is urging all of its members
and supporters to vote in favor of Ballot Question 3, the proposed law by
initiative petition to Expand Prohibitions on Gaming in the Commonwealth.
This measure would halt casino construction in our state.
Casino gambling is a predatory, exploitative industry, opposed to the common good,
whose profits are fiscally regressive — disproportionately victimizing the poor,
the elderly, and those with pathologies of addiction. It destitutes the vulnerable,
destroys families, injures local small businesses, and alters the character of communities.
Despite denials, it is inextricably linked to organized crime, and is accompanied by a rise
in prostitution, pornography, violence, and racketeering.
Through the power of money, the gambling industry perverts democracy,
corrupts politics, and turns elected officials into the tools of a powerful special interest.
Perhaps most disturbing, it makes state and local government dependent on vice as a revenue stream.
You now have an opportunity to prevent this evil from invading Massachusetts.
PLEASE VOTE YES ON QUESTION 3!
State Election Day is Tuesday, November 4th, 2014.
PRAYER REQUEST
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2014
CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE, (617) 524-6309
CATHOLICACTIONLEAGUE@GMAIL.COM
Please pray for the repose of the soul of Helene Ameno,
who died on October 23rd, after a long struggle with cancer.
A humble and faithful Catholic, Helene was a longstanding member of
the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts. She was also a Tertiary of the
Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Richmond, New Hampshire.
When they were young, Helene and her identical twin sister, the late Johanna Armeno,
gave up promising careers in the entertainment industry — pretty twin sisters could always find work
in television commercials — to become Catholic lay sisters, seeking first the kingdom of heaven.
Please pray also for the soul of our old friend, John L. Riley, who, like Helene,
died on October 23rd. John, who was only 59 at the time of his death,
was a teacher, a civil engineer, and a veteran of the United States Marine Corps.
A daily communicant, John was the nephew of one of the founding board members of the
Catholic Action League, the Most Reverend Lawrence J. Riley, the late Auxiliary Bishop of Boston.
Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.
May they rest in peace. Amen. May their souls, and the souls of all the faithful departed,
through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
"It is therefore, a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they might be loosed from sins." — 2 Maccabees 12:46
NEWS RELEASE
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2014
CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE (617) 524-6309
CATHOLICACTIONLEAGUE@GMAIL.COM
CATHOLIC ACTION LEAGUE CRITICIZES PARADE ORGANIZERS, NEW
YORK ARCHDIOCESE, FOR ADMITTING HOMOSEXUAL GROUP TO SAINT PATRICK'S DAY
PARADE
The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts today criticized the
organizers of New York's Saint Patrick's
Day Parade for inviting a homosexual group to march in the 2015
parade. The parade committee said its "change of tone and expanded
inclusiveness is a gesture of goodwill to the LGBT community in our
continuing effort to keep the parade above politics."
The organizers also said the parade was "remaining loyal to church
teachings" and the Archbishop of New York, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, was
"very supportive" of the change. Dolan, who will be grand marshal next
year, said parade organizers have his "confidence and support."
The Catechism of the Catholic Church, promulgated by Saint John Paul
II, characterized homosexual behavior as "grave depravity" [CCC
2357]. In Catholic tradition, the sin of impurity against nature is
one of four sins which
"cry out to heaven for vengeance."
The Catholic Action League called the decision "an appalling betrayal
of Catholic principles and a shameful surrender to secular culture and
the spirit of the times."
Catholic Action League Executive Director C. J. Doyle commented: "A
parade in honor of a Catholic saint will now host a group who not only
express pride in rejecting Catholic morality, but who castigate that
morality as prejudice and homophobia, and who demonize defenders of that
morality as haters and bigots. Saint Patrick Catholicized Ireland,
rescuing it from paganism. Now, those who want to return to the pagan
practices of pre-Christian antiquity will be permitted to exploit the
feast of Saint Patrick to showcase their anti-Catholic message."
"No one should mistake this dishonoring of Saint Patrick for anything
other than what it is, a cowardly capitulation to political correctness,
corporate pressure, elite opinion, and the relentless hostility of an
aggressive sexual minority. What role, if any, homosexuals in the
Catholic priesthood played in this episode remains, for now, unclear.
The organizers preposterous assertion that they remain loyal to Catholic
teachings only tells us that their lack of courage is equaled by their
lack of intellectual honesty."
"This departure is disappointing, but hardly surprising. The
parent group of the Parade Committee, the Ancient Order of Hibernians,
has, like the Knights of Columbus, long provided safe harbor to
nominally Catholic politicians who support the killing of pre-born
children. As for the Cardinal of New York, his reversal of his
predecessors' positions speaks to the increasingly dysfunctional
character of post-conciliar Catholicism, which seems unable to mount a
sustained, or even coherent, resistance to modern secularism."
LETTER TO THE EDITORSeptember 1, 2014
Letters to the Editor
The Boston Globe
P. O. Box 55819
Boston, MA 02205-5819
To the Editor:
James Carroll's tedious obsession with maligning the Papacy surfaced,
once again, with his noxious proposal---echoing that of so-called
Catholics for Choice---that the Holy See abandon its sovereignty, and
reduce itself to a non-governmental organization, (Abolish Vatican
statehood, 9/1/2014).
Were Rome to follow his improvident advice, the Pope and the central
administration of the Church would owe allegiance to the authority of a
secular government. If Carroll's object is to revive the persecution of
Catholicism, he could find no more compelling example than the seven
centuries when the Vicar of Christ was a subject of the Roman Empire,
its Byzantine counterpart, and its barbarian successor states.
Carroll was inaccurate in asserting that modern Vatican statehood is
a twentieth century construct derived from the 1929 Lateran Treaty
between the Holy See and the Kingdom of Italy. The Holy See, which has
the world's oldest diplomatic corps, has continuously exercised
sovereignty for more than thirteen hundred years. Following the seizure
of Rome by Savoyard forces in 1870, the Vatican maintained diplomatic
relations with other states during the 59 years between the invasion and
the final settlement with Italy.
As we approach, at the end of this month, the 23rd anniversary of
Carroll's column, perhaps the time has come for The Boston Globe
to reconsider the value of providing a forum to an excommunicated
priest, who uses it to ventilate his unrelenting hostility towards the
institution which he deserted.
Sincerely,
C. J. Doyle, Executive Director
Catholic Action League of Massachusetts
(617) 524-6309
CATHOLICACTIONLEAGUE@GMAIL.COM
Attention: Matthew Bernstein
LETTER TO THE EDITORAugust 30, 2014
Letters
Boston Herald
P. O. Box 55843
Boston, MA 02205-5843
To the Editor:
Ambassador Ray Flynn is to be commended for his cogent and timely
column on the ethnic cleansing of Christians in Iraq, ( Flynn:
Christians slaughtered, who cares? 8/30/2014).
A generation ago, Christians were a majority in Lebanon, and a double
digit minority in Syria and Iraq. Today, they are a minority in Lebanon,
endangered in Syria, and are facing extinction in Iraq.
By the standards of Nuremberg, crimes against humanity are being
perpetrated. The United States must act to prevent genocide.
Sincerely,
C. J. Doyle, Executive Director
The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts
(617) 524-6309
CATHOLICACTIONLEAGUE@GMAIL.COM
NEWS ANALYSIS
SATURDAY, AUGUST 30, 2014
CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE (617) 524-6309
CATHOLICACTIONLEAGUE@GMAIL.COM
THE GLOBE'S KEVIN CULLEN DEFINES ONCE
CATHOLIC IRELAND AS "BACKWARD"
In a metro column of The Boston Sunday Globe of August 24th,
serial Catholic basher Kevin Cullen wrote about the controversy in
Ireland over the discovery of unmarked graves of children at the site of
a maternity home in Tuam administered by the Bon Secours Sisters. Though
disturbing questions remain, the affair has been characterized by
hysterical press coverage and extravagant claims, almost all of which
have now been discredited.
Despite his usual vitriolic inclinations, Cullen, in this matter, was
prepared to make a few concessions to the truth. He even referred to the
pernicious sensationalism of the British owned and inspired media in
Dublin. He would then go on however, to repeat many of the same
absurdities peddled by the Dublin media, alleging that parish priests
regularly condemned unwed mothers at Mass, "every Sunday," or that the
Catholic Church believed that children born out of wedlock were
"undeserving of human dignity."
Cullen made one revealing comment that told us all we need to
know---about Kevin Cullen. He described post independent, mid twentieth
century, devoutly Catholic Ireland as "backward" and "clerically
dominated." Apparently, faithful adherence to the Catholic religion
defines Cullen's criteria for an enfeebled, retrograde culture.
Presumably, by Cullen's standards, modern Massachusetts, which kills
pre-born children, sodomizes marriage, and distributes contraceptives to
minors, is an example of progress and enlightenment.
Cullen's bigoted crack insulted a generation of Irishmen and Irish
women who defeated the largest empire in history to gain their freedom
and independence---albeit an incomplete, or, as DeValera would say, a
"mutilated" independence. A few things ought to be said in defense of
that generation. Moreover, some facts, being facts, ought to be
acknowledged:
- At a time when Europe was convulsed by authoritarianism,
totalitarianism, wars of aggression, crimes against humanity,
genocide, atrocities, religious pogroms, ethnic cleansing, and all
manner of extremism, independent Ireland created a stable, peaceful,
free, and democratic society governed by the rule of law. Even
Winston Churchill, in his second premiership, admitted this.
- Despite 800 years of occupation and oppression, and 400 years of
confiscation and religious persecution, the Irish, upon securing
their independence, perpetrated no acts of vengeance upon the
religious minority associated with the occupation. Instead, they
welcomed members of that minority as citizens, left them undisturbed
in their liberties and property, refrained from any discrimination
against them, recognized them in the national constitution, and even
elected one of their number to the presidency of the state, and
later, another, to the presidency of the Republic.
- At a time when state governments in New England, and, more
ominously, in Germany, were sterilizing those with intellectual
handicaps, independent Ireland defended the sanctity of innocent
human life from conception to natural death, opposing all forms of
abortion, contraception, sterilization and euthanasia.
- At a time when Western nations were weakening prohibitions and
restrictions on divorce---the principal cause of female poverty in
modern society---independent Ireland upheld the integrity and
indissolubility of marriage.
- At a time when the major Western democracies were complacent in
the practice of appeasement, independent Ireland, small, poor,
neutral, and virtually unarmed, became one of the first countries to
oppose the Fascist aggression in Ethiopia.
- Ireland, upon independence, effectively eradicated from its
capital city that form of human degradation known as prostitution,
(which flourished there under British rule) and kept out of the
country the Anglo-American vice of pornographic literature.
- After independence, Ireland established a constitution, a code
of laws, and a system of public policies which held that the family
was superior to the state, that parents, not the government, should
choose the education of their children, and that mothers who chose
to care for their children, should, ideally, not be forced to work
outside the home.
Given the disasters which afflicted so many post colonial societies
in the 20th century, any fair minded observer would view the
achievements of independent Ireland with admiration and respect. For
Kevin Cullen however, this is all ecclesiastically inspired
backwardness.
One is left to wonder in astonishment at the origin of this kind of
quisling mentality: political correctness, human respect, a bad
conscience, professional self interest? Who knows? On one point, Cullen
is obviously quite lucid. Given his attitude towards Irish Catholicism,
he is, on Morrissey Boulevard, certainly working for the right employer.
PRAYER REQUEST
SATURDAY, AUGUST 23, 2014
CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE (617) 524-6309
CATHOLICACTIONLEAGUE@GMAIL.COM
Please pray for League member Helene Armeno, who is struggling with
cancer. A pious and faithful Catholic, Helene has been, for many years,
a supporter of both the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts and the
Saint Benedict Center of Richmond, New Hampshire. Any prayers which you
may offer for this humble and gracious Catholic lady would be gratefully
appreciated.
Thank you.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
August 21, 2014
Letters to the Editor
The Boston Globe
P. O. Box 55819
Boston, MA 02205-5819
To the Editor:
In its editorial opposing a modest memorial for William Bulger in his
neighborhood, the Globe argues, among other things, that Bulger,
as Senate President, engaged in intimidation, (Linehan stirs up
resentments with proposal to honor Bulger, 8/15/2014).
In this matter, the Globe may want to take the beam out of its
own eye. The editorial was an object lesson in intimidation.
The implicit message to anyone in public life is that if you reject
the positions and values of The Boston Globe, as Bulger has, and
criticize the institution itself, as Bulger has, then the Globe
will continue to publish editorials against you, even when you are
eighty years old and eighteen years out of elective office. Now, that is
intimidation.
Sincerely,
C. J. Doyle, Executive Director
Catholic Action League of Massachusetts
(617) 524-6309, CATHOLICACTIONLEAGUE@GMAIL.COM
Attention: Matthew Bernstein
NEWS RELEASE
WEDNESDAY, JULY 30, 2014
CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE (617) 524-6309
CATHOLICACTIONLEAGUE@GMAIL.COM
CATHOLIC ACTION LEAGUE CONDEMNS NEW
BUFFER ZONE LAW
PHOTO: Gov. Patrick, surrounded by the abortion
cartel, signs the new bill
The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts today condemned the
Commonwealth's
new buffer zone statute, which was signed into law this
afternoon by Governor Deval Patrick. The Senate and the House of
Representatives passed the measure for enactment yesterday. As the
legislation has an emergency preamble, it will take effect immediately.
Under the new law---the third buffer zone law in force in the Bay
State since 2007---a single police officer can order someone found, in
the sole judgment of the officer, to be "substantially impeding" access
to an abortion clinic, 25 feet away from the entrance of the facility
for a period of eight hours. Severe and escalating criminal and civil
penalties can be imposed for blockages or non-compliance.
The Catholic Action League characterized the measure as "a punitive,
unnecessary, misdirected, and vindictive piece of legislation, intended
to penalize victims of constitutional rights violations for having the
determination to defend their First Amendment freedoms before the
Supreme Court."
Catholic Action League Executive Director C. J. Doyle made the
following comment: "The selective targeting of one group, the immediate,
unhesitating and unconditional acceptance of the assertions of one side,
the draconian civil and criminal penalties, and the indecent haste with
which this flawed measure was stampeded to the Governor's desk, all
smack of retaliation towards pro-life activists for McCullen v.
Coakley. After the June 26th U. S. Supreme Court decision, Attorney
General Martha Coakley notoriously urged abortion supporters 'not to get
mad, but to get even.' It would seem that the General Court and His
Excellency, the Governor have followed, with precision, the Attorney
General's advice."
"Overlooked in this controversy over alleged violence in front of
abortion clinics, is the very real and lethal violence which these
facilities were built to perpetrate on a daily basis and on an
industrial scale. An estimated 9,000 unborn children are killed each
year in the Planned Parenthood clinic on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston
alone."
ACTION ALERT!!!
TUESDAY, JULY 22, 2014
CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE (617) 524-6309
CATHOLICACTIONLEAGUE@GMAIL.COM
DEMAND YOUR STATE REPRESENTATIVE OPPOSE THE NEW,
AMENDED BUFFER ZONE BILL
The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts is urging all faithful
Catholics to contact their state representative and demand he or she
oppose the new buffer zone bill, the amended version of which is even
more restrictive than the hastily crafted measure filed last week. The
House of Representatives has scheduled a formal session for tomorrow,
Wednesday, July 23rd, during which this punitive legislation, targeting
and demonizing peaceful pro-life citizens, will be debated and likely,
voted upon.
Now, with the amended bill, a single police officer can "disperse" a
"group" as small as one person, if, in the discretionary judgment of
the single officer, that person has "substantially impeded access" to a
"reproductive health care facility," which is defined as a place which
performs abortions.
The penalties are draconian. Criminal punishment for a first offense
is a fine up to 1,000 dollars, and/or a term of imprisonment in a jail
or house of correction for up to six months. Civil penalties for a first
offense however, include a fine up to 10,000 dollars, and an award to
the Attorney General, and/or an "aggrieved entity," of court costs,
attorneys' fees, and expert witness fees. It is obviously designed not
only to punish, but to destitute pro-lifers.
Please contact your state representative at (617) 722-2000, or go to
the website of the Catholic Action League---www.CatholicActionLeague.org--where
you can find the telephone numbers and e-mail addresses of individual
legislators.
Demand they vote against this mean spirited, unnecessary, and
misdirected measure, S2283, which is nothing less than retaliation
against the pro-life community for having the temerity of defend its
constitutional rights before the Supreme Court!
Tell them also that the unseemly haste to stampede this measure
through, without adequate public notice or debate, makes a mockery of
the democratic process!
Thank you.
PRAYER REQUEST
JULY 21, 2014
CONTACT: C.J. DOYLE (617) 524-6309
CATHOLICACTIONLEAGUE@GMAIL.COM
The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts received, with sadness,
this morning, the news that our old friend, Paul Likoudis, 59,
News Editor of The Wanderer, has suffered a setback in his
valiant struggle with cancer. Paul has been one of the foremost
defenders of the Catholic Faith in America for three decades. Please
pray for Paul and his wife Paulette, and their six children!
Thank you.
MEMBER ADVISORY
FRIDAY, JULY 18, 2014
CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE (617) 524-6309
CATHOLICACTIONLEAGUE@GMAIL.COM
CATHOLIC ACTION LEAGUE MOURNS LOSS OF GREG DUNN
The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts today is mourning the
loss of one of its founding members, Gregory M. Dunn, Sr., who died on
July 15th, at the age of eighty-five. Greg Dunn served nineteen years on
the Board of Directors of the Catholic Action League, and, prior to
that, four years on the Board of Advisers of our predecessor
organization, the Massachusetts Chapter of the Catholic League for
Religious and Civil Rights.
A U. S. Army veteran of the Korean War, Greg had a long and
successful career in the investment business as a securities trader at
such firms as Oppenheimer, and later, Jefferies & Company. Greg and his
loving wife Marie, who died before him, raised seven children. He was
also a grandfather to seven grandchildren.
A daily communicant and Knight of the Holy Sepulchre, with a strong
dedication to defending the moral teachings of the Church, Greg was a
wonderful man, a good friend, and a Christian gentleman. A loyal and
generous supporter of the League, he was---before old age and ill health
overtook him---always ready to help in any way that he could, always
trying to recruit others to the mission of the League, and always
offering words of encouragement. Greg will be terribly missed. Please
pray for the repose of the soul of Greg Dunn.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at Saint Mary of the
Hills Church in Milton on Saturday, July 19th, at 10:AM. Greg will be
waked today, Friday, July 18th, from 4:PM to 8:PM, at the Dolan Funeral
Home, at 460 Granite Avenue in East Milton Square.
Eternal rest grant unto him O Lord, and let perpetual light shine
upon him. May he rest in peace. Amen. May his soul, and the souls of all
the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
"It is therefore, a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead,
that they might be loosed from sins." (2 Maccabees 12:46)
ACTION ALERT!!!
THURSDAY, JULY 17, 2014
CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE (617) 524-6309
CATHOLICACTIONLEAGUE@GMAIL.COM
LEGISLATURE RUSHES THROUGH NEW BUFFER ZONE LAW
Yesterday, in a complete travesty of the democratic process, a public
hearing was held on the new buffer zone bill, and before the scheduled
end of the hearing, the measure was reported out of two committees,
passed through three Senate readings, and passed to be engrossed by the
Massachusetts Senate! The bill had only been filed on Monday night, July
14th, the text was not made available until Tuesday afternoon, July
15th, and less than 36 hours notice was given for the hearing.
Legally, Massachusetts may be part of the United States, but
politically, the Bay State is a Third World country. This brazen attempt
to circumvent a U. S. Supreme Court decision will replace a permanent,
mandatory, 35 foot buffer zone with a temporary, discretionary, 25 foot
buffer zone, the discretion being exercised by a single police officer,
who can decide that a group as small as two people are "impeding access"
to an abortion mill.
The Massachusetts House of Representatives may vote on this as early
as today!
Please contact your state representative immediately and express your
opposition to this shameful attempt to penalize peaceful, pro-life
citizens exercising their First Amendment rights! Tell your state rep.
that you are against S2281---the new buffer zone bill---and that you are
outraged by the mockery of the democratic process with which this
flawed, misdirected, measure is being stampeded through!
You may call the Massachusetts House of Representatives at (617)
722-2000. You may also go to the website of the Catholic Action League
---
www.catholicactionleague.org --- and click on the link to the House
of Representatives, which will give you the telephone number and e-mail
address of individual legislators. Please act now, before it is to late!
Thank you.
CONTACT YOUR STATE REP!
UPDATE: The bill was passed by the
senate! So call your representative and urge him to oppose the clinic
dispersal bill!
State representative:
click here
___________________
NEWS RELEASE
TUESDAY, JULY 15, 2014
CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE (617) 524-6309
CATHOLICACTIONLEAGUE@GMAIL.COM
CATHOLIC ACTION LEAGUE DENOUNCES BUFFER ZONE
REPLACEMENT BILL
The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts today criticized the
so-called "dispersal area" bill, intended as a replacement for the 2007
Massachusetts buffer zone law, which was struck down by the U. S.
Supreme Court in June as an unconstitutional abridgement of free speech.
The bill---An Act to Promote Public Safety and to Protect Access to
Reproductive Health Care Facilities---was filed yesterday by Senator
Harriet L. Chandler (D-Worcester), with the support of Governor Deval
Patrick, Attorney General Martha Coakley, and the Planned Parenthood
League of Massachusetts.
Chandler claimed that the Supreme Court ruling left the state "in an
emergency situation" which requires new protections to head off
"harassment, intimidation, and violence." The measure would empower
police to disperse groups as small as two people, and force them behind
a 25 foot exclusion zone for eight hours, if, in the sole judgment of a
single police officer, they "substantially impeded" access to an
abortion clinic.
The Catholic Action League called the proposed legislation "a thinly
disguised attempt to revive buffer zones under the guise of crowd
control."
Catholic Action League Executive Director C. J. Doyle made the
following comment: "This measure would replace a permanent, mandatory,
35-foot buffer zone with a temporary, discretionary, 25-foot buffer
zone, the discretion being exercised by police, without any guarantees
against arbitrary and capricious behavior, or due process protections
for the objects of their discretion. One might think that a 9 to 0
Supreme Court decision would have a chastening effect on the
Massachusetts political class, but such a reasonable assumption is
obviously unwarranted in this matter."
"Senator Chandler's fear mongering about an 'emergency' has no
foundation in reality. Since the end of buffer zones on June 26th, Bay
State abortion clinics have been the object of constant police
vigilance, extensive media coverage, a heightened presence of clinic
escorts, and, as before, surveillance by security guards and ubiquitous
video cameras. No arrests have been made, however, nor credible evidence
of pro-life misconduct presented."
"A public hearing on a bill---the text of which is only now becoming
available---has been scheduled with less than 48 hours notice. More
disturbingly, the chief law enforcement official in the state, the
Attorney General, is treating one side in a public controversy, Planned
Parenthood, as a partner and client of the Commonwealth, while viewing
peaceful, pro-life citizens as a threat to public safety, who need to be
restrained. There is not even the pretense here of fair play. This is an
ideological version of raw, special interest politics."
LETTER TO THE EDITORJULY 14, 2014 -
Published July 22
Letters to the Editor
The Boston Globe
P. O. Box 55819
Boston, MA 02205-5819
To the Editor:
William Cotter is to be commended for his incisive, and refreshingly
accurate, debunking of the conventional wisdom regarding what transpires
on the sidewalks in front of Massachusetts abortion facilities, (Buffer
zone rhetoric belies facts about pro-life demonstrators, 7/14/2014).
As Cotter pointed out, no credible evidence has ever been produced to
document the frequently asserted claims by Planned Parenthood and NARAL
alleging abusive and unlawful behavior by pro-life advocates near the
entrances to the clinics. Perhaps, this is because there have been no
organized acts of civil disobedience in front of Massachusetts abortion
clinics since 1992, before the John Salvi shootings, and long before the
first buffer zone legislation.
The reality is that abortion clinic operators want no pro-life
presence, message or expression near their facilities, and are prepared
to make the most reckless and irresponsible charges to achieve that end.
Sincerely,
C. J. Doyle, Executive Director
Catholic Action League of Massachusetts
(617) 524-6309, CATHOLICACTIONLEAGUE@GMAIL.COM
Attention: Matthew Bernstein
NEWS ANALYSIS
FRIDAY, JULY 11, 2014
CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE (617) 524-6309
CATHOLICACTIONLEAGUE@GMAIL.COM
MEDIA BIAS IN COVERAGE OF BUFFER ZONE RULING
Local media coverage of the United States Supreme Court decision in
McCullen v. Coakley---which struck down the 2007 Massachusetts
law imposing a thirty-five foot so-called buffer zone around Bay State
abortion clinics---provided compelling evidence of the intense,
reflexive, and seemingly pervasive bias of the news media, both print
and electronic, when it comes any issue which touches the third rail of
liberal politics, abortion.
BOSTON TELEVISION:
WBZ-TV, Channel Four in Boston, began its story with grim looking
anchors announcing that they would present reaction "to this devastating
ruling." Without any comment from the successful plaintiffs, or from
experts in constitutional law, CBS4 went right to Martha Coakley and
Planned Parenthood President Marty Walz.
Perhaps, even more egregious was the lapse of journalistic ethics by
WFXT-TV, FOX 25 Boston, which resurrected ancient, out of state video
footage showing people being carried away by police from an apparent
sit-in in front of an unidentified building in an unidentified location.
Viewers watching this might reasonably conclude that pro-life activists
were currently blockading abortuaries in the Commonwealth.
A careful examination of the videotape however, reveals that the
police are wearing brown, black striped deputy sheriff's uniforms,
unknown to Massachusetts police departments. Moreover, the quality of
the footage suggested it was more than twenty years old.
Immediately after Marty Walz claimed on camera that pro-lifers were
standing shoulder to shoulder obstructing clinic entrances, FOX 25 ran
video of demonstrators holding pro-life signs crowded together. Just
then a transit bus, painted cream with a red belt, passes in front of
the crowd. Needless to say, neither the MBTA nor any RTA (Regional
Transit Authority) in Massachusetts uses such a color scheme.
THE BOSTON GLOBE:
The Boston Globe's response was predictable, tendentiously so. As
soon as the ruling was announced on June 26th, there came the expected
editorial alleging "circus-like protests around Planned Parenthood's
Boston clinic...", "unruly protests," and attempts to "impede and harass
women..." The editorial ended with a call for new legislation to
restrict the pro-life presence on the sidewalks in front of the clinics.
The paper's editorial was restrained in comparison with the
hysterical Joanna Weiss column which accompanied it. Weiss, using the
kind of language one would expect from a hate group, made the following
characterization: "the stereotypical abortion protester---foaming at the
mouth and screaming slurs---". She asserted that no matter how soft
spoken and polite sidewalk counselors were, they were still harassing
and intimidating women (the mass killing of the unborn is not violence,
but imploring someone not to kill is violence), and even suggested that
77 year old Eleanor McCullen was standing "literally---in your way to
get health care."
Weiss went on to repeat various accusations fabricated by
abortionists and their supporters, including the bizarre charge that
pro-lifers, when not filming women, impersonated police officers to
acquire their telephone numbers.
Ex-Catholic Yvonne Abraham, in a metro column three days later,
continued the disinformation campaign, claiming that pro-lifers recorded
the license plate numbers on women's cars, dressed up as security
guards, screamed at women and obstructed them. Neither Weiss nor Abraham
offered any documentation to substantiate their assertions.
(Congratulations, by the way, to League member Gail Ryberg, for her
letter to the editor, published by the Globe, criticizing Abraham's
column.)
Pro-abortion former Boston City Councilor Tom Keane, in another metro
column, defended the court's decision, but then called for new,
constitutionally permissible legislation to restrain pro-lifers.
THE BOSTON HERALD:
The Boston Herald editorialized in favor of the ruling, but
then, with the schizophrenia, or, if you prefer, double dealing,
characteristic of the city's tabloid, allowed, or directed, the
intellectually challenged Margery Eagan, with her cocktail party level
of discourse, to excoriate the decision. Interestingly, Eagan, claimed
(in what may be a self-revealing admission) that pro-life activists
wanted to "shame and judge" women.
THE WORCESTER TELEGRAM:
The Telegram & Gazette of Worcester, which is no longer owned
by the Globe, provided a refreshing exception to the party line
propagated by most of the Massachusetts media. In a June 29th editorial
entitled "Free to disagree," the Telegram supported the court ruling,
expressed skepticism over claims of pro-life violence, and said that for
critics of the decision, their argument was with the First Amendment.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
MONDAY, JULY 7, 2014 - Published July 9
Telegram & Gazette
Attention: Letters to the Editor
P. O. Box 15012
Worcester, MA 01615-0012
To the Editor:
The vile insinuation of dual loyalty---made by nativists and
anti-Semites to impugn the patriotism of Catholics and Jews---found an
echo in Dianne Williamson's column on the Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby
decision, (Women, science lose to religion, 7/3/2014).
Contrary to standard journalistic practice, and in an apparent effort
to incite latent sectarian prejudice, Williamson identified the
religious affiliation of the five majority justices as Roman Catholic,
and asserted that their religion matters. The clear, and malicious,
implication behind this crudely bigoted line of argument is that these
jurists compromised their oath to "faithfully and impartially" discharge
their duties because of their Catholicism.
Williamson offers no evidence to substantiate her malevolent
conjecture, omits the fact that the plaintiffs in the case were not
Catholic, but Evangelical and Mennonite, and conveniently forgets that
one of the justices, Anthony Kennedy, has voted in the past to uphold
Roe v. Wade.
Generations of American liberals have held that race, religion and
ethnicity are irrelevant to positions of public leadership, and that
only bigots bent on discrimination would raise objections based on these
issues. Williamson has now departed from that liberal consensus,
preferring her antagonism towards Catholics to the modern conventions of
tolerance.
Sincerely,
C. J. Doyle, Executive Director
Catholic Action League of Massachusetts
(617) 524-6309
CATHOLICACTIONLEAGUE@GMAIL.COM
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
SATURDAY, JULY 5, 2014
Letters to the Editor
The Boston Globe
P. O. Box 55819
Boston, MA 02205-5819
To the Editor:
If Joanna Weiss made the kind of sweeping generalization about an
ethnic or religious group which she made about pro-lifers:
"stereotypical abortion protester---foaming at the mouth, screaming
slurs---," she would justly be accused of bigotry, (Supreme Court is
naive on buffer zones, 6/26/2014).
Nonetheless, Weiss's column is a useful illustration of the
authoritarian disposition of some who support legal abortion. More than
one and a quarter million unborn children are killed in this country
every year through surgical abortion alone, with the full protection of
the law.
Now, in the view of some, such as Joanna Weiss, merely asking a woman
to consider an alternative to abortion constitutes harassment and
intimidation, which ought be to be restrained by law. The double
standard is astonishing.
Sincerely,
C. J. Doyle, Executive Director
Catholic Action League of Massachusetts
(617) 524-6309
CATHOLICACTIONLEAGUE@GMAIL.COM
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
FRIDAY, JULY 4, 2014 - Published July 9
Letters
Boston Herald
P. O. Box 55843
Boston, MA 02205-5843
To the Editor:
Margery Eagan's column on the Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby decision
was a composite of falsehoods, misdirection, calculated omissions, and
raw, anti-Catholic bigotry, (Eagan: Catholic justices attack women's
rights, 7/1/2014).
Eagan's mendacious---and entirely ludicrous---suggestion that the
court's majority was less interested in defending religious freedom,
than in imposing the Catholic position on contraception, was an
undisguised, demagogic, and thoroughly contemptible appeal to
anti-Catholic prejudice. Eagan neglected to mention that one of the
majority justices, Kennedy, voted in the past to uphold Roe v. Wade,
while another, Roberts, was the swing vote who saved Obamacare. She also
neglected to point out that the plaintiffs in the case were not
Catholic, and were not opposed to birth control, only to abortion
inducing drugs.
Eagan's deliberate distortion of the dissent of Justice Ginsburg, to
imply that Ginsburg believed that the ruling favored the Catholic
religion, is contradicted by the obvious fact that the plaintiffs were
Evangelicals and Mennonites.
For Eagan, every public issue involving abortion, contraception, or
homosexuality becomes an opportunity to ventilate her sick, hateful, and
bigoted obsession with the Catholic Church.
Sincerely,
C. J. Doyle, Executive Director
Catholic Action League of Massachusetts
(617) 524-6309
CATHOLICACTIONLEAGUE@GMAIL.COM
cc: Patrick J. Purcell, Publisher
Attention: Mark Pickering
NEWS RELEASE
TUESDAY, JULY 2, 2014
CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE (617) 524-6309
CATHOLICACTIONLEAGUE@GMAIL.COM
CATHOLIC ACTION LEAGUE CRITICIZES CLAIMS BY PLANNED
PARENTHOOD
The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts today criticized the
claims made by Martha Walz, President and CEO of the Planned Parenthood
League of Massachusetts, about public safety conditions in front of Bay
State abortion clinics. In a press conference held in the State House
this afternoon announcing plans to impose new restrictions on pro-life
expression outside of clinics in response to McCullen v. Coakley,
Walz claimed that the U. S. Supreme Court had returned women to the
world of "screaming protesters" and blocked entrances to clinics.
The media event was also attended by Governor Deval Patrick, Attorney
General Martha Coakley, and Megan Amundson of NARAL ProChoice
Massachusetts.
The Catholic Action League characterized Walz's remarks "as part of a
disinformation campaign intended to stampede legislators into mandating
new limitations on the free speech of pro-life citizens of the
Commonwealth."
Catholic Action League Executive Director C. J. Doyle made the
following comment: "Since the end of the buffer zones last Thursday, the
sidewalks in front of Massachusetts abortion facilities have been the
object of constant police vigilance, extensive media coverage, and a
more intensive presence by clinic escorts. The federal FACE Act,
prohibiting clinic blockages, remains in force. Curiously, despite
Walz's charges, no arrests have been made, and no credible evidence has
been presented to substantiate her claims."
"Planned Parenthood has a financial interest in suppressing pro-life
speech, has a history of demonizing pro-lifers, and has an entirely
utilitarian view of the truth. Their method is to make sweeping
assertions, and to expect all such assertions to be taken at face value
by a compliant media and political class. Perhaps the renewed debate on
civil liberty in front of abortion clinics will be the occasion of
closer scrutiny of their claims."
NEWS RELEASE
MONDAY, JUNE 30, 2014
CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE (617) 524-6309
CATHOLICACTIONLEAGUE@GMAIL.COM
CATHOLIC ACTION LEAGUE APPLAUDS U.S. SUPREME COURT
RULING IN HOBBY LOBBY CASE
The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts today applauded the
decision by the United States Supreme Court in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby,
in which the justices held that the Christian owned company could not
forced to subsidize abortifacient contraceptive coverage in its employee
group health insurance plan. The court said that the HHS regulatory
mandate---stemming from the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
of 2010---requiring employers to fund abortifacients, contraceptives,
and sterilizations for their employees, violated the religious liberty
protections of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993.
The five to four ruling, written by Associate Justice Samuel Alito,
was made public this morning.
The Catholic Action League called the decision "a triumph for
religious freedom, moral sanity, and the rights of conscience, which
bode well for the outcome of similar cases brought by Catholic
institutions."
Catholic Action League Executive Director C. J. Doyle made the
following comment: "The constitutional and jurisprudential tradition of
the United States has always understood the free exercise clause of the
First Amendment to guarantee not merely the right to worship---which
even the old Soviet constitution recognized on paper---but the right to
act in accordance with a religiously formed conscience. To impose
limitations upon this, the burden is on the government to demonstrate a
compelling state interest, a high hurdle to clear."
"The public policy preferences of the Obama Administration in matters
of abortion and birth control do not supersede the religious freedom
guarantees of the U. S. Bill of Rights. To coerce citizens to pay for
practices which they understand to entail the destruction of innocent
human life would have been an unconscionable assault on their
constitutional rights, their religious beliefs, and their moral
convictions. The Supreme Court is to be commended for its defense of the
Constitution."
NEWS RELEASE
THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2014
CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE (617) 524-6309
CATHOLICACTIONLEAGUE@GMAIL.COM
CATHOLIC ACTION LEAGUE HAILS U.S. SUPREME COURT
DECISION STRIKING DOWN BUFFER ZONE LAW
The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts today hailed the
unanimous decision of the United States Supreme Court in McCullen v.
Coakley, which struck down the 2007 Massachusetts law imposing a
thirty-five foot buffer zone limiting free speech around Bay State
abortion clinics.
The majority opinion, written by Chief Justice Roberts, and joined by
Justices Breyer, Ginsburg, Kagan, and Sotomayor, held that the law was
an "extreme step," and that "buffer zones burden substantially more
speech than necessary to achieve the Commonwealth's asserted interests."
A minority opinion by Justice Scalia, joined by Justices Kennedy and
Thomas, and concurred by Justice Alito, went further, stating that the
law was "unconstitutional root and branch."
The Catholic Action League called the ruling "a significant victory
for the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of speech, and a rare
judicial defeat for one of the nation's most powerful special interests,
Planned Parenthood."
Catholic Action League Executive Director C. J. Doyle made the
following comment: "As even four liberal Supreme Court justices
implicitly acknowledged, the buffer zone law had nothing to do with
public safety, and everything to do with criminalizing peaceful prayer
and pro-life counseling on public sidewalks. The only beneficiary of the
law was the abortion industry, whose financial interests were promoted
by depriving women with troubled pregnancies of the opportunity to hear
compassionate alternatives to this gruesome procedure."
"Cynically, shamelessly, and opportunistically, abortion proponents
exploited the John Salvi shootings as a kind of Reichstag fire, to
inhibit the civil liberties of their opponents. In the hysteria
following Salvi, they concocted the manifest absurdity that a painted
line in the street would deter an armed, mentally unstable gunman bent
on homicide."
"The narrative they told of assault, harassment and screamed
obscenities was fiction. As one former clinic security guard candidly
admitted in testimony before the Massachusetts Legislature, the
principal sources of violence outside of abortion clinics were the
boyfriends of pregnant women, who were determined that their partners
get rid of the unborn child."
"Buffer zones were never reasonable, content neutral 'time and place'
restrictions on the exercise of free speech. As Justice Scalia
maintained, they were blatant examples of viewpoint discrimination,
selectively enforced only against one side."
"Congratulations to Eleanor McCullen, the other plaintiffs, Attorneys
Mark Rienzi, Michael DePrimo, and Phil Moran, and to Operation Rescue:
Boston and its President, Bill Cotter, who not only defended the
innocent unborn, but, in this case, vindicated the Bill of Rights."
The Catholic Action League was one of the organizations which filed
an amicus curae brief with the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial
Court before that court issued its advisory opinion on the
constitutionality of the original buffer zone statute.
LETTER TO THE EDITORJune 25, 2014
Letters
Boston Herald
P. O. Box 55843
Boston, MA 02205-5843
To the Editor:
Margery Eagan's gift for trivializing any subject was apparent, once
more, in her column on the Pope's opposition to the legalization of
drugs, (Eagan: Light up---and lighten up, Pope Francis, 6/21/2014).
Eagan's impertinent suggestion that the Holy Father experiment with
marijuana raises an interesting question. Has Eagan herself used this
controlled substance?
If so, we may have discovered a convincing chemical explanation for
the decades of impaired logic, factual imprecisions, and plodding
intellectual indolence displayed by Margery Eagan.
Sincerely,
C. J. Doyle, Executive Director
Catholic Action League of Massachusetts
(617) 524-6309
CATHOLICACTIONLEAGUE@GMAIL.COM
Attention: Mark Pickering
MEMBER UPDATE
FRIDAY, JUNE 20, 2014
Catholic Action League Executive Director C. J. Doyle had a speaking
engagement today at the "Nooners Luncheon" at Saint Thomas Aquinas
Parish in the Jamaica Plain District of the City of Boston. Doyle spoke
on the topic of "The Challenge of Being a Counter-Cultural Catholic in
Today's Secular Society." Following his talk, there was an extended
question and answer session. Approximately fifty people attended.
Our thanks go out to League member John Materazzo, who arranged the
invitation, and to everyone who helped make the event a success.
NEWS UPDATE
THURSDAY, JUNE 19, 2014
CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE (617) 524-6309
CATHOLICACTIONLEAGUE@GMAIL.COM
FRANCISCANS PARTICIPATE IN PRIDE FESTIVAL---
ARCHDIOCESE EVADES RESPONSIBILITY
The Franciscan Friars of Boston's Saint Anthony's Shrine---members of
the same religious family as our Capuchin Cardinal Sean
O'Malley---manned a so-called information booth at the city's homosexual
Pride Festival on City Hall Plaza on Saturday, June 14th. The booth
featured banners, buttons and t-shirts emblazoned with the words: "Who
am I to judge?" There was nothing evident which suggested traditional
Catholic teaching about the mortally sinful, soul endangering character
of homosexual relations, which The Catechism of the Catholic Church,
promulgated by Pope Saint John Paul II in 1984, described as "grave
depravity."
When contacted by concerned Catholics, Franciscans assured callers
that they had "the full support of the archdiocese." The Archdiocese of
Boston however, issued no public statement on this scandal. The closest
thing to an official response was an e-mail sent by the Archdiocesan
Cabinet Secretary for Parish Life and Leadership, the Very Rev. Kevin M.
Sepe, who told one outraged Catholic:
St. Anthony Shrine, although within
the Archdiocese of Boston, is a parish of the Franciscan Order and
so I encourage you to contact them directly with your questions and
concerns. The Archdiocese has no knowledge of the intent of this
initiative and is not associated with it. Thank you for your
correspondence.
Catholic Action League Executive Director C. J. Doyle made the
following comment: "Religious orders operate churches in the archdiocese
with the permission of the archbishop. A telephone call from the
cardinal could have put a halt to this scandal in five minutes."
"The archdiocese was silent about the aggression of homosexual
militants against the Saint Patrick's Day Parade. It was silent about
the anti-Catholic hate group, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence,
leading the homosexual Pride Parade. It is now dodging responsibility
for Franciscan participation in the Pride Festival."
"The 'Welcoming Mass' and 'Rainbow Ministry' at Saint Cecilia's in
the Back Bay obviously enjoy the tacit endorsement of the archdiocese,
as does the LGBT group at Saint Anthony's. When pro-life scholar and
attorney Dan Avila---who spent years serving the church---suggested a
link between homosexuality and the demonic, the official newspaper of
the Archdiocese of Boston, The Pilot, became a forum for pastors,
priests, and deacons of the archdiocese to savage Avila in the letters
to the editor column."
"When the Pastor of Saint Paul's Parish in Hingham declined to enroll
the child of a lesbian couple in his parochial school, the Director of
the Catholic Schools Foundation---whose Chairman is the
Cardinal---threatened to withhold funding; the leading member of the
Archdiocesan Council of Finance ridiculed the pastor's decision to the
secular media; the Archdiocesan Superintendent of Schools hastened to
find another school for the couple; and the Archdiocesan Communications
Director refused to publicly defend the priest, who was being viciously
maligned in the media."
"When the courageous pro-family organization, Mass Resistance,
mounted a referendum campaign to restore the 1913 law limiting Bay State
acceptance of certain out of state marriages (a statute which gained new
relevance with some states recognizing same sex unions as marriages),
the Cardinal, after some coaxing in the middle of a pro-life event,
signed the referendum petition, albeit with the wrong address. His aides
then attempted to retrieve the petition sheet. When Mass Resistance
publicized the Cardinal's signature---which was, after all, on a public
document---they were told to stop using the Cardinal's name, and
forbidden to collect anymore signatures in front of Catholic churches."
"Betrayals of Catholic principles never permitted under Cardinal Law
are now becoming routine under Cardinal O'Malley. It should be apparent
to any informed Catholic that this archdiocese, under its current
leadership, will offer no meaningful opposition to the homosexual
agenda, either in civil society, or even in the church itself."
NEWS RELEASE
SATURDAY, JUNE 14, 2014
CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE, (617) 524-6309
CATHOLICACTIONLEAGUE@GMAIL.COM
CATHOLIC ACTION LEAGUE SCORES PRIDE PARADE FOR
SHOWCASING SISTERS OF PERPETUAL INDULGENCE
The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts today denounced Boston's
homosexual Pride Parade for featuring as parade marshals the notorious
anti-Catholic group, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, whose
transvestite members costume themselves as grotesque caricatures of
Catholic nuns.
The SPI---whose motto is "Go and sin some more"---have a long history
of mocking the Catholic Faith, producing obscene parodies of Catholic
art and worship, exploiting Catholic imagery, and profaning Catholic
symbols and sacramentals, such as the crucifix. Their blasphemies and
sacrileges include the pornographic "Hunky Jesus Contest," held annually
on Easter Sunday, and the "Condom Savior Mass," where contraceptives are
distributed as a substitute for Holy Communion.
In 1987, they conducted a burlesque "exorcism" of Pope, now Saint,
John Paul II. In 2006, one member of SPI, known as "Peaches Christ," who
claims to be a descendant of Jesus Christ, waved a sex toy in the shape
of a crucifix at a public event at Most Holy Redeemer Parish in San
Francisco.
The parade is being held in the city this morning.
The Catholic Action League is describing the role of the SPI as
parade marshals as "a callous expression of contempt by parade
organizers for the beliefs and sensibilities of Catholics."
Catholic Action League Executive Director C. J. Doyle made the
following comment: "Honoring members of an anti-Catholic hate group as
parade marshals really tells us all we need to know about how homosexual
activists in Boston feel toward Catholics, their Church, and their moral
values. For a class of people who are always ready to invoke charges of
hatred, prejudice and bigotry against anyone who opposes them,
homosexual activists seem curiously unrestrained in ventilating their
own prejudices."
"Twenty-five years ago in Massachusetts, homosexuals told legislators
all they wanted was to end discrimination in housing and employment.
Now, they march through the streets of an historically Catholic city,
proudly exhibiting their scorn for the religious faith of millions of
their fellow citizens. Respect for diversity, apparently, does not
extend to Catholics."
"PRIDE" PARADE, SATURDAY JUNE 14 - ABOVE: Hoisting the banner at the
Saint Anthony Shrine booth at City Hall Plaza.
BELOW: Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence (actually men in drag)
marching past State House.
NEWS RELEASE
THURSDAY, JUNE 12, 2014
CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE (617) 524-6309
CATHOLICACTIONLEAGUE@GMAIL.COM
CATHOLIC ACTION LEAGUE CRITICIZES SAINT ANTHONY'S
SHRINE FOR JOINING BOSTON PRIDE FESTIVAL---URGES CARDINAL O'MALLEY TO
ACT
The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts today criticized Boston's
Saint Anthony's Shrine---administered by Franciscan Friars, members of
the same religious family as the city's Capuchin archbishop, Sean
O'Malley---for their decision to
host an information booth at
this year's homosexual "Pride Festival" on June 14th. The festival
will be held in Boston City Hall Plaza, where the city's annual "Pride
Parade" ends.
The Grand Marshals of the 2014 parade will be the Sisters of Perpetual
Indulgence, a transvestite group whose members costume themselves as
Catholic nuns. The SPI have a long history of mocking the Catholic
Faith, producing obscene parodies of Catholic worship, exploiting
Catholic imagery, and profaning Catholic symbols and sacramentals, such
as the crucifix.
Their sacrileges include the "Hunky Jesus" contest and the "Condom
Savior Mass," where contraceptives are distributed in place of Holy
Communion. In 1987, they conducted a burlesque "exorcism" of Pope, now
Saint John Paul II.
Although staffed by a religious order, rather than diocesan priests,
Saint Anthony's is a Catholic church inside the Archdiocese of Boston,
which operates with the permission of the archbishop. Accordingly, the
League is also calling upon Catholics to contact Cardinal O'Malley and
urge him to put a halt to this outrage.
The Catholic Action League is calling Saint Anthony's participation
in the Pride Festival "a scandalous betrayal of Catholic principles,
compounded by a shocking indifference to the specifically anti-Catholic
character of this year's event."
Catholic Action League Executive Director C. J. Doyle made the
following comment: "The message of the Boston Pride Parade and its
subsequent festival is one of radical rejection of Catholic morality,
exacerbated, in this case, by overt contempt for the Catholic religion.
It is accompanied by lewd behavior, immodest dress, displays of
exhibitionism, and men marching in leather masks, dog collars and
chains, the apparel of sadomasochism."
"Whatever rationalizations are offered, any sane person would
reasonably conclude that the presence of the Shrine sends a signal of
support and approval to a celebration of homosexuality. No one in
secular society should be expected to take seriously Catholic teaching
on marriage, on chastity outside of marriage, or on the need for modesty
and purity in speech, dress, or behavior when one of Boston's best known
Catholic institutions takes part in something as course, vulgar, and
indecent as a homosexual pride festival."
"Finally, it is also uncharitable to the souls who may be lost,
because the friars, instead of calling for their conversion, are
affirming them in their sins. It is grievously deplorable."
_____________________
From Saint Anthony's web site:
BostonPride
Saturday, June 14
BostonPride kicks off this Friday, June 6 and runs through next Sunday, June 15.
St. Anthony Shrine strives to reach out to those who are outside the four walls of the church.
Echoing Pope Francis's words, our underlying theme is “Who am I to Judge?”
This weekend, our sole activity will be hosting an information booth on City Hall Plaza about
the Shrine's ministries and volunteer opportunities, inviting those who are waiting for
an invitation from the Church to join us. The Shrine has some wonderful t-shirts and
buttons for sale that help spread the Pope's message: “Who Am I to Judge?”
Also on the web site is this announcement.
ACTION ALERT !!!
TUESDAY, JUNE 10, 2014
CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE (617) 524-6309
CATHOLICACTIONLEAGUE@GMAIL.COM
SAINT ANTHONY'S SHRINE JOINS "PRIDE" FESTIVAL
Boston's annual homosexual "Pride" Parade---which will occur this
Saturday, June 14th---is a cauldron of depravity. It is characterized by
lewd behavior, immodest dress, and lurid displays of exhibitionism and
sadomasochism. The message of the parade, and that of the festival which
follows it in City Hall Plaza, is one of radical rejection of Christian
morality, of pride in mortal sin.
Incredibly, this year it will actually be worse. The marshals of the
2014 parade will be the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a grotesque
group of transvestites whose members costume themselves as Catholic
nuns. They have a long history of mocking the Catholic Faith, producing
obscene parodies of Catholic worship, exploiting Catholic religious
imagery, and profaning Catholic symbols and sacramentals, such as the
crucifix. Their blasphemies and sacrileges include the "Hunky Jesus"
contest and the "Condom Savior Mass," where contraceptives are
distributed in place of Holy Communion.
Astonishingly, one of Boston's most popular Catholic churches,
Saint Anthony's Shrine---administered by Franciscan friars, members
of the same religious family as our Capuchin archbishop---will host
an
information booth at the festival in City Hall Plaza, where the
parade ends. Whatever evasions, excuses, or rationalizations are
offered, any sane person would reasonably conclude that the presence of
the friars will send a signal of support and approval for an event which
celebrates the sin of impurity against nature.
This is a betrayal of the Catholic Faith, and it is uncharitable to
the souls who will be lost by confirming them in their deadly sins.
Sadly, when it pertains to homosexuality, this is not the first time
that Saint Anthony's has compromised its Catholic identity.
Please contact Cardinal Sean O'Malley and ask him to put a halt to
this grave scandal! You may e-mail His Eminence at
ArchbishopSean@RCAB.org or
leave a telephone message at 617-254-0100 or 617-782-2544.
No one in secular society should be expected to take seriously
Catholic teaching about marriage, about chastity outside of marriage, or
about Catholic ideals of modesty and purity in speech, dress, and
behavior, when one of Boston's best known Catholic institutions
participates in something as course, as crudely lascivious, and as
flagrantly pornographic as a homosexual pride festival. Please urge your
family and friends to join you in contacting the Cardinal!
Thank you.
NEWS UPDATE
FRIDAY, MAY 30, 2014
CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE (617) 524-6309
CATHOLICACTIONLEAGUE@GMAIL.COM
HOLY CROSS HONORS OBAMA SPEECHWRITER
Last Friday, May 23rd, the Jesuit administered College of the Holy
Cross in Worcester conferred an honorary degree on
Jon Favreau, who delivered the commencement address to graduating
seniors and their families. Favreau served as White House Director
of Speechwriting for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013. Prior to
that, Favreau was a speechwriter for the Obama campaign, and a deputy
speechwriter for the 2004 presidential campaign of then U. S. Senator
John Kerry.
A believer in the superstition that two persons of the same gender
can contract marriage, Favreau likened a recent Kansas law protecting
the religious freedom rights of businessmen to segregation era Jim Crow
legislation. He wrote that Catholic education is based on "guilt, shame
and fear," has called the Catholic Church a "damaged and hypocritical"
institution, and excoriated Pope Benedict XVI for allegedly insulting
Islam, reinstating Holocaust deniers, criticizing sodomy, and enabling
child molesters. Curiously, during his commencement speech, Favreau said
the greatest gift of Jesuit education was "faith in human progress."
The Catholic Action League called Favreau's selection "another
expression of contempt for faithful Catholics struggling to protect life
and marriage, and another betrayal of the Catholic immigrants who built
Holy Cross."
Catholic Action League Executive Director C. J. Doyle made the
following comment: "Last Friday, the unmistakable message sent by Holy
Cross to its graduates was that political power and professional success
are higher values than the Catholic Faith and Christian morals. It seems
the real purpose of Jesuit education is to produce financially empowered
and socially respectable cultural conformists."
"In 2014, all three Jesuit institutions of higher learning in
Massachusetts, Boston College, Boston College Law School, and the
College of the Holy Cross, presented as commencement speakers and
conferred honorary degrees upon political figures who repudiate
fundamental Catholic moral teaching. This goes far beyond mere
indifference, a desire for societal acceptance, or an overriding
obsession with institutional fundraising."
"We have, sadly, arrived at the point where reasonable persons may
reasonably conclude that the New England Province of the Society of
Jesus, overtly and unambiguously, supports legal abortion and so-called
same sex marriage. It is shameful and deplorable, a disgrace and a
betrayal."
__________________
PHOTO: Benediction by Worcester Bishop Robert
McManus at Holy Cross commencement.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
MAY 27, 2014 - Published May 29
Letters to the Editor
The Boston Globe
P.O. Box 55819
Boston, MA 02205-5819
To the Editor:
In his second column in twelve months castigating us, Kevin Cullen
recycles last year's invectives to reproach the Catholic Action League
for protesting the award of an honorary degree to John Kerry by Jesuit
led Boston College, (Open season on free speech, 5/20/2014).
For Cullen's information, censorship is prior restraint by the
government. Free speech does not require a university, or a newspaper,
for that matter, to facilitate expression contrary to its values. Our
object, however, was not the censure, or censorship of John Kerry, but
the reform of Boston College.
The Catholic religion teaches that abortion is the "direct killing of
the innocent." Contrary to the explicit injunction of America's Catholic
bishops, BC, and its law school, repeatedly offer as commencement
speakers, and confer academic honors upon, public figures who believe
that the killing of unborn children ought to remain legal.
Faithful Catholics deserve the reasonable expectation that their own
Catholic institutions should support Church teaching about the sanctity
of innocent human life from conception to natural death. It is apparent
that Boston College, sadly, does not.
Sincerely,
C. J. Doyle, Executive Director
Catholic Action League of Massachusetts
Attention: Matthew Bernstein
NEWS RELEASE
FRIDAY, MAY 23, 2014
CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE (617) 524-6309
CATHOLICACTIONLEAGUE@GMAIL.COM
CATHOLIC ACTION LEAGUE CRITICIZES BOSTON COLLEGE
LAW SCHOOL FOR HOSTING GOVERNOR DANNEL P. MALLOY
The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts today criticized Jesuit
administered Boston College Law School for presenting Connecticut
Governor Dannel P. Malloy as the school's 2014 Commencement speaker.
Commencement Exercises were held this morning at Conte Forum, on BC's
Chestnut Hill campus.
Dannel Malloy is a supporter of legal abortion, same sex marriage,
transgendered rights, taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood, and the
HHS mandate requiring employers, including religious institutions, to
provide group insurance coverage for abortifacients, contraceptives, and
sterilizations. As Governor, he issued a press release commemorating the
anniversary of Roe v. Wade.
The Catholic Action League called Malloy's selection "yet another act
of infidelity to Catholic moral teaching and another signal that BC is
comfortable with legal abortion."
Catholic Action League Executive Director C. J. Doyle made the
following comment: "For each of the last five years, Boston College Law
School, a nominally Catholic institution, has featured as a graduation
speaker a public figure who believes that the killing of pre-born
children ought to remain legal in this country---Senator Scott Brown,
Chief Justice Roderick Ireland, Victoria Kennedy, Senator Mo Cowan, and
now Governor Dan Malloy."
"This goes far beyond tolerating or even promoting dissent from
Catholic principles. BC Law School seems to be actually excluding from
commencement honors those who hold Catholic beliefs about the sanctity
and dignity of innocent human life from conception to natural death.
Dissent, it would seem, has its own orthodoxy."
"The Catholic community and Catholic institutions should not honor
those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They
should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest
support for their actions." -
Catholics in Political Life, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
(2004)
NEWS RELEASE
MONDAY, MAY 19, 2014
CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE (617) 524-6309
CATHOLICACTIONLEAGUE@GMAIL.COM
OPERATION RESCUE: BOSTON AND CATHOLIC ACTION LEAGUE
PROTEST AWARD TO JOHN KERRY
The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts today joined with
Operation Rescue: Boston to protest the conferral of an honorary Doctor
of Laws degree on U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry by Jesuit
administered Boston College. The honor was awarded this morning at the
university's 2014 Commencement Exercises, which also featured Kerry as
the principal speaker.
Among those in attendance was Cardinal Sean O'Malley, the Archbishop
of Boston. The Cardinal had boycotted last year's graduation, saying the
2013 award recipient, Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny was "aggressively
promoting abortion legislation." At the time Kenny' government wanted to
legalize abortion in cases of threats to the life of the mother.
John Kerry is a supporter of unrestricted legal abortion, partial
birth abortion, contraception, same gender marriage, embryonic stem cell
research, physician assisted suicide, cloning, and the distribution of
condoms to minors. In an August, 2003 story in The Boston
Herald, Kerry accused Pope, now Saint John Paul II of violating the
American separation of church and state over the issue of same sex
marriage.
In their 2004 statement, Catholics in Political Life, the U.S.
Conference of Catholic Bishops said: "The Catholic community and
Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our
fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors or
platforms which would suggest support for their actions."
The Catholic Action League called the award to Kerry "a betrayal of
Catholic principles, of faithful Catholics struggling to protect the
unborn, and of what little remains of BC's tattered Catholic identity."
Catholic Action League Executive Director C. J. Doyle stated: "No
rational person can reasonably be expected to take seriously Catholic
opposition to abortion when a leading Catholic university honors a
political figure who has spent the last thirty years working against the
right to life, while the U.S. bishops Pro-Life Chairman, Sean O'Malley,
looks on."
"The reversal in the Cardinal's response is deeply disappointing.
John Kerry's record on this issue is more longstanding, more wide
ranging, and more extreme than that of Enda Kenny. Moreover, this is the
second time in a week that the Cardinal has participated in honors for a
politician who supports legal abortion. Last week, Catholic Charities
dedicated a plaque for former Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino."
(From Cardinal Sean's Blog)
MEDIA ADVISORY
SUNDAY, MAY 18, 2014
CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE (617) 524-6309
CATHOLICACTIONLEAGUE@GMAIL.COM
OPERATION RESCUE: BOSTON AND CATHOLIC ACTION LEAGUE
WILL PROTEST AWARD FOR JOHN KERRY AT BOSTON COLLEGE COMMENCEMENT
The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts will join Operation
Rescue: Boston in protesting the conferral of an honorary Doctor of Laws
degree on U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry by Jesuit administered
Boston College. The award will be made tomorrow at the university's 2014
Commencement Exercises.
In their statement, Catholics in Political Life, the U.S.
Conference of Catholic Bishops said: "The Catholic community and
Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our
fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors or
platforms which would suggest support for their actions."
John Kerry is a supporter of abortion, contraception, same gender
marriage, embryonic stem cell research, physician assisted suicide and
condom distribution to minors.
Pro-Life Catholics from the two organizations will be present
tomorrow at the entrance to Alumni Stadium on Beacon Street, near the
boundary of Boston and Newton, from 8:00 AM TO 10:00 AM.
Catholic Action League Executive Director C. J. Doyle made the
following comment: "No rational person could reasonably be expected to
take seriously Catholic opposition to abortion when one of America's
leading Catholic universities gives an honor and a platform to a
political figure who has spent the last thirty years working against the
Catholic Faith on this issue, while the Pro-Life Chairman of the
American Catholic bishops, Cardinal O'Malley, looks on."
"Cardinal O'Malley withdrew from last year's commencement because of
the pro-abortion policies of Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny. Kerry's
record on abortion is more longstanding, more wide ranging, and more
extreme than that of Kenny. The Cardinal should recuse himself again."
ACTION ALERT II !!!
FRIDAY, MAY 16, 2014
CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE (617) 524-6309
CATHOLICACTIONLEAGUE@GMAIL.COM
CATHOLIC ACTION LEAGUE WILL JOIN OPERATION RESCUE
BOSTON IN PROTESTING AWARD FOR JOHN KERRY AT BC COMMENCEMENT
On Monday morning, May 19th, the Catholic Action League of
Massachusetts will join with Operation Rescue: Boston in protesting the
decision of Jesuit administered Boston College to confer an honorary
degree on U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry, who will also address
the graduates as the principal speaker at the university's 2014
Commencement Exercises.
Kerry, who once accused Saint John Paul II of violating the
separation of church and state, is a proponent of abortion,
contraception, same gender marriage, cloning, embryonic stem cell
research, and physician assisted suicide.
TIME: 7:30 AM to 10:00 AM
LOCATION: Entrance to Alumni Stadium on Beacon Street near the
boundary of Boston and Newton
Parking is limited. Some on-street parking might be available
on the side streets off of Beacon Street.
If you are traveling by MBTA, the Chestnut Hill Station on the
D branch (Riverside Line) of the Green Line is a half mile walk on
Hammond Street and Beacon Street. The terminal of the B branch (Boston
College via Commonwealth Avenue Line) of the Green Line is a half mile
walk on Saint Thomas More Road, Chestnut Hill Drive, and Beacon Street.
Please join us on Monday morning to bear
witness against this scandalous betrayal of our Faith, the pro-life
movement, and the innocent unborn!
ACTION ALERT!!
FRIDAY, MAY 16, 2014
CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE (617) 524-6309
CATHOLICACTIONLEAGUE@GMAIL.COM
URGE CARDINAL O'MALLEY TO WITHDRAW FROM BOSTON
COLLEGE COMMENCEMENT
The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts is calling upon its
members and supporters to urge Cardinal Sean O'Malley to withdraw from
Boston College's 2014 Commencement Exercises. This year's graduation
speaker, who will also receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree, is
U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry, a longstanding supporter of
abortion and contraception.
In their 2004 statement, Catholics in Political Life, the
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops said: "The Catholic
community and Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in
defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given
awards, honors, or platforms which would suggest support for their
actions."
Kerry's selection clearly contravenes the bishops' directive. Few
American politicians have compiled records comparable to John Kerry's
extensive and longstanding opposition to Catholic moral teachings.
Moreover, no other major American political figure, Catholic or
non-Catholic, ever publicly attacked Pope, now Saint John Paul II. In
August, 2003, Kerry accused the now canonized Pontiff, then elderly and
infirm, of violating the separation of church and state over the issue
of so-called same sex marriage.
Last year, Cardinal O'Malley boycotted the commencement, saying Irish
Prime Minister Enda Kenny---2013's speaker and degree recipient--- was
"aggressively promoting abortion." Kenny's position pales in comparison
with that of John Kerry.
Please contact Cardinal O'Malley and urge him to repeat his decision
of last year and avoid this scandalous betrayal of Catholic principles,
and this treacherous abandonment of the innocent unborn! Urge him to
withdraw from the Boston College commencement!
You may deliver a message to His Eminence by calling 617-782-2544 or
617-254-0100. You may also e-mail him at
ArchbishopSean@RCAB.org.
Thank you.
NEWS RELEASE
FRIDAY, MAY 16, 2014
CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE (617) 524-6309
CATHOLICACTIONLEAGUE@GMAIL.COM
CATHOLIC ACTION LEAGUE CRITICIZES BOSTON COLLEGE
FOR HONORING JOHN KERRY, URGES CARDINAL O'MALLEY TO WITHDRAW
The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts today criticized Jesuit
administered Boston College for its decision to confer an honorary
Doctor of Laws degree on U. S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry, who has
also been invited to serve as the university's 2014 Commencement
speaker. The League is also urging Cardinal Sean O'Malley, the
Archbishop of Boston, to repeat his 2013 decision to withdraw from the
commencement because of the honoree's advocacy of abortion.
In their 2004 statement, Catholics in Political Life, the U.S.
Conference of Catholic Bishops said: "The Catholic community and
Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our
fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors or
platforms which would suggest support for their actions."
Secretary Kerry is a supporter of legal abortion, the public funding
of abortion, partial birth abortion, abortions at military hospitals and
buffer zones limiting free speech around abortion clinics. He has also
endorsed contraception, cloning, embryonic stem cell research, physician
assisted suicide, same gender marriage, federal gay rights legislation,
the distribution of condoms to minors, family planning programs as part
of U.S. foreign aid, and taxpayer financing of both Planned Parenthood
and the U. N. Fund for Population Activities.
As a U.S. Senator, Kerry received a 100% rating from NARAL Pro-Choice
America. As a presidential candidate in 2004, Kerry was endorsed by the
Planned Parenthood Action Fund, and promised, if elected, to appoint
only those jurists who agree with Roe v. Wade to the U.S. Supreme Court,
effectively disenfranchising believing Catholics from high judicial
office.
More disturbing however, was Kerry's August, 2003 attack on Pope, now
Saint John Paul II in the pages of the Boston Herald. Kerry accused the
recently canonized pontiff of "crossing the line," of violating the
American separation of church and state because of a Vatican exhortation
to Catholic political leaders to oppose same gender marriage.
The Catholic Action League called Kerry's selection "an outrageous
insult to faithful Catholics, to the pro-life movement and to Saint John
Paul II."
Catholic Action League Executive Director C. J. Doyle made the
following comment: "Few American politicians have managed to compile
John Kerry's record of prolonged, sustained, and pervasive opposition to
the moral teachings of the Catholic Church."
"Last year, Cardinal O'Malley withdrew from the BC commencement and
criticized the choice of Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny as the
graduation speaker because the cardinal said Kenny was 'aggressively
promoting abortion legislation.' Nothing in Kenny's position on abortion
begins to remotely compare however with John Kerry's 30 year, wide
ranging, career long, lockstep support for Planned Parenthood and NARAL."
"Three weeks after the canonization of Saint John Paul II, the
Jesuits at Boston College are honoring a political figure who launched a
demagogic, intellectually dishonest, cheap shot attack on that saint
while he was alive and infirm, and the man created Archbishop of Boston
by that saint is, reportedly, participating in the proceedings. It's
really quite appalling."
The Catholic Action League will join with Operation Rescue Boston,
and other Catholic and pro-life groups in protesting John Kerry's award
on Monday. League Executive Director C. J. Doyle is an alumnus of Boston
College.
NEWS UPDATE
WEDNESDAY, MAY 14, 2014
CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE (617) 524-6309
CATHOLICACTIONLEAGUE@GMAIL.COM
HARVARD BLACK MASS CANCELLED
Less than three hours before the infamy was to occur, a Black Mass
scheduled for Monday evening in Harvard University's Memorial Hall was
unexpectedly cancelled. The obscene, demonic ritual was to be conducted
by the New York based Satanic Temple, under the auspices of the Cultural
Studies Club of the Harvard Extension School.
After days of evading responsibility for this abomination with
disingenuous claims of "freedom of speech" and "academic freedom" -- not
even Harvard was willing to defend the content of this atrocity -- the
university administration finally succumbed to the volcanic cascade of
Catholic outrage. Following the cancellation, a hastily arranged second
venue fell through, and organizers were reduced to a furtive
performance, with a handful of attendees, under false pretenses, in the
back room of a Cambridge restaurant.
Among the voices raised against this diabolic insult to Our Lord, the
Holy Eucharist, and the Catholic Faith were the Catholic alumnae and
students of Harvard University (and of nearby MIT), the Pastor and
congregation of Saint Paul's Parish in Cambridge, the Archdiocese of
Boston, and the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts.
Perhaps as many as 1500 faithful participated in a Eucharistic
Procession from the MIT chapel to Saint Paul's, followed by a Holy Hour
of Adoration and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, culminating in
the rapturous, celestial harmony of the Tantum Ergo.
The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts organized a Rosary of
Reparation (which turned out to be a Rosary of Thanksgiving) in front of
Memorial Hall before the Holy Hour. It attracted eighty people and
gained extensive media coverage.
The League wishes to thank all those who participated, including
Brother Thomas Augustine---Catholic champion in the Saint Patrick's Day
Parade struggle---and the brothers and laity of the Saint Benedict
Center in Still River, MA; Brother Andre and those from the Saint
Benedict Center in Richmond, NH; the members of Tradition, Family and
Property (TFP); our own members; and, of course, Ambassador and Mrs.
Raymond Flynn.
The media presence of the Catholic Action League included WFXT-TV FOX
25, WBZ-TV CBS Boston, New England Cable News, The Boston Globe,
The Harvard Crimson, Catholic News Service, The New American,
and even the United Kingdom's Daily Mail.
Monday's events constituted a clear and decisive triumph for the
Faith and a defeat for the Adversary. They also represent an example of
and an instruction on what might be accomplished if the slumbering
Goliath of American Catholicism might be aroused from its torpor.
Harvard is the world's richest, most influential, and most
prestigious university. It long ago abandoned its Congregationalist
founders and embraced an aggressive secularism. For much of its history,
it has been anti-Catholic. Yet even Harvard proved to be a reed in the
wind when confronted by an angry and awakened Catholicism. The President
of Harvard was among those in Saint Paul's Monday night.
Much has been written about the so-called John Paul II generation of
young Catholics. Perhaps history will record the events of May 12, 2014
as the first public victory of that generation, and with it the
beginning of a profound generational change in the American Church.
A final word is in order about the bogus argument invoking free
speech, used by some to defend the indefensible. Under the U. S.
Constitution, there is no free speech right to obscenity, for a Black
Mass is as obscene and pornographic as it is blasphemous and
sacrilegious. There are no constitutional protections attached to the
commission of a crime, and a Black Mass entails the theft and
destruction of a consecrated object, a host. Lastly, the First Amendment
right to freedom of speech does not obligate an unwilling third party,
such as a university, to subsidize someone else's speech with platforms
or facilities. Incredibly, even The Boston Globe recognized that.
Black Mass cancelled!!
About 80 pro-Christ people were present outside of
Harvard University's Memorial Hall Monday night, where they received a
late but welcome notice that the Black Mass had been cancelled! Hundreds
- 1500, according to the
Globe!
- packed the nearby Saint Paul's Church to overflowing for the Holy Hour
and Benediction.
Boston Globe article: “The Satanic Temple has informed us that they will stage
their own black mass ceremony at an undisclosed private location to
reaffirm their respect for the Satanic faith and to demonstrate that the
most powerful response to offensive speech is to shame those who marginalize
others by letting their own words and actions speak for themselves,” the Harvard cultural studies club said.
Margery Eagan column
Harvard Crimson article
MEDIA ADVISORY
MONDAY, MAY 12, 2014
CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE (617) 524-6309
CATHOLICACTIONLEAGUE@GMAIL.COM
CATHOLIC ACTION LEAGUE WILL PRAY ROSARY OF
REPARATION AT HARVARD
The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts will pray a Rosary of
Reparation this evening outside of Harvard University's Memorial Hall,
where a Black Mass will be conducted by the New York based Satanic
Temple, under the auspices of the Cultural Studies Club of the Harvard
Extension School.
The Rosary will be recited at 7:30PM. Memorial Hall is located at 45
Quincy Street in Cambridge.
Catholic Action League Executive Director C. J. Doyle made the
following comment: "Contrary to assertions by organizers, a Black Mass
is not a cultural event, nor does it have any intrinsic educational
value. This is a mockery, an expression of contempt for the Catholic
Faith, its liturgy, its sacraments, and the Person of its Savior."
" It is unimaginable that Harvard would have permitted such an
obscene parody of the sacred rites of another religion. Anti-
Catholicism, however, remains a respectable prejudice."
ACTION ALERT!!!
SATURDAY, MAY 10, 2014
CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE (617) 524-6309
CATHOLICACTIONLEAGUE@GMAIL.COM
CATHOLIC ACTION LEAGUE WILL HOLD ROSARY OF
REPARATION AT HARVARD
Monday, May 12 - 7:00 PM
The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts will recite a Rosary of
Reparation outside of Harvard University's Memorial Hall this Monday
evening, May 12th, beginning at 7PM. The Rosary is a response to the
abomination of a Black Mass being performed on the Harvard campus.
The Harvard Extension School has granted permission to a student
group---the Cultural Studies Club---to sponsor the demonic rite, which
will be conducted by the New York based Satanic Temple.
Memorial Hall is located at 45 Quincy Street, between Cambridge
Street and Kirkland Street, on the north side of Harvard Yard, a five
minute walk from Harvard Square. It is a massive, red brick, neo-Gothic
building, with a high tower crowned by a mansard roof.
League members will assemble near the main entrance, at the corner of
Quincy and Kirkland Streets.
DIRECTIONS:
BY MBTA---Leaving the Harvard Square bus, trackless trolley and Red
Line subway station, walk north on Peabody Street alongside Harvard
Yard, (Massachusetts Avenue and Cambridge Common should be to your
immediate left); turn right on Cambridge Street, and then turn left on
The Plaza, the wide pedestrian deck over Cambridge Street, and then turn
right again until you reach Memorial Hall.
BY AUTOMOBILE---Approaching Harvard Square from the east on
Massachusetts Avenue, or from the south on John F. Kennedy Street (which
connects with Storrow Drive and Memorial Drive), bear right on Peabody
Street, (which parallels Massachusetts Avenue and is immediately
alongside Harvard Yard). Then turn right on to Cambridge Street, go
under the overpass and take the first and sharpest right onto Broadway.
Your first left, very acute, will be Quincy Street.
Approaching from the north and west on Massachusetts Avenue or
Gardiner Street, make a left U-turn past the bus tunnel entrance (just
before Harvard Square) and follow Peabody Street and the above
directions.
PARKING---Parking is very limited. There are a few metered spaces
nearby on Kirkland Street and Oxford Street, and on Mass. Ave. and
Gardiner Street near Cambridge Common. There are also some spaces close
to St. Paul's Church, on and around Bow and Arrow Streets---a ten minute
walk away.
As Catholics we must not allow this insult to Our Lord to go
unanswered. Please join us for the Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin
Mary on Monday at 7PM!
NEWS RELEASE
MAY 10, 2014
CONTACT:
C. J. DOYLE (617) 524-6309
Catholicactionleague@gmail.com
CATHOLIC ACTION LEAGUE CONDEMNS HARVARD FOR ALLOWING BLACK MASS
The
Catholic Action League of Massachusetts today condemned Harvard
University for allowing a student group to have a Black Mass
performed on campus. The New York based Satanic Temple, under the
sponsorship of the Cultural Studies Club of the Harvard Extension
School, will conduct the rite on
Monday evening, May
12th, in the university's Memorial Hall.
In a statement, the Extension
School characterized the Black Mass as "part of a student led effort
to explore different cultures," and said the club would also host a
Shinto tea ceremony, a Shaker exhibition, and a Buddhist
presentation on meditation.
The Catholic Action League is
describing the planned event as "an appalling sacrilege, a
deliberate provocation, and a barefaced exercise in unconcealed hate
speech."
Catholic Action League Executive
Director C. J. Doyle made the following comment: "A Black Mass is an
occult, obscene, and demonic parody of the Holy Sacrifice of the
Mass, intended to effect a ritual desecration and humiliation of the
Holy Eucharist. It is impelled by a preternatural hatred of God, the
Person of Jesus Christ, and the Catholic and Apostolic religion."
"As the entire purpose of a Black Mass
is to debase the Blessed Sacrament, assertions by the organizers
that unconsecrated bread will be used ought not to be taken at face
value. Black Masses invariably entail the theft of consecrated
hosts, a crime made easier in recent years by the lamentable
practice of communion in the hand."
"This vile, impending profanation is
one more wretched example of the inordinate hypocrisy which afflicts
American academic life in the matter of whose sensibilities may and
may not be offended. The double standard is as shameless as it is
deplorable."
The Catholic Action League will join
other Catholic organizations in a peaceful picket and Rosary of
Reparation outside of Memorial Hall prior to the event on
Monday evening.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
APRIL 27, 2014 - Published April 30
Letters
Boston Herald
P. O. Box 55843
Boston, MA 02205-5843
To the Editor:
Margery Eagan's breathtaking hypocrisy was on display
when she wrote that Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI
wanted to re-emphasize "sin, rules and condemnation over mercy,
forgiveness and comforting the poor..." (Eagan: John XXIII breathed
new life into church, 4/27/2014).
Eagan demonstrates no mercy and remorseless condemnation
towards those described by another recent saint, Mother Teresa
of Calcutta, as the poorest of the poor---unborn children. Eagan's
chilling, truly pitiless, lack of mercy was revealed in her column
last month when she characterized the killing of the unborn not as a tragedy,
but as "a relief."
Sincerely,
C. J. Doyle, Executive Director
Catholic Action League of Massachusetts
Attention: Mark Pickering
NEWS RELEASE
APRIL 8, 2014
CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE (617)
524-6309
Catholicactionleague@gmail.com
CATHOLIC ACTION LEAGUE HAILS OUTCOME OF NORWOOD VOTE TO RESTORE CHRISTMAS
The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts today commended the voters of
the Town of Norwood for providing a 76% majority in favor of restoring the
name "Christmas Recess" to the town's school department calendar.
A non-binding referendum was held yesterday. The Norwood School Committee,
which changed the name to "Winter Recess" in 2011, must now decide to accept or
reject the voters' advice.
The Catholic Action League called the outcome "a victory for common sense and
a defeat for political correctness."
Catholic Action League Executive Director C. J. Doyle stated: "Thanks to the wisdom
of the citizens of Norwood, the school recess allowing families to celebrate the
feast of Christmas may, once again, be called by its rightful name.
Respect for diversity should not require disrespect for tradition, concealing
our country's origins, or gratuitously offending the sensibilities of the majority.
'Inclusion' must not be used as an excuse for mandatory secularization or a
coerced cultural conformity."
"Congratulations to Wanderer columnist Jim Drummey, to Theresa McNulty,
and to everyone else involved in the successful referendum campaign."
MEMBER ADVISORY
SUNDAY, MARCH 30, 2014
CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE, (617) 524-6309
catholicactionleague@gmail.com
PLEASE PRAY FOR PAUL LIKOUDIS!
The Wanderer has announced that its longtime News Editor, Paul Likoudis,
has taken a six month leave of absence to undergo surgery, chemotherapy,
and radiation treatment for colon cancer. Paul, who is 59, is one of the foremost
defenders of the Catholic Faith in America today.
As a Catholic journalist, Paul Likoudis has a well deserved reputation for being
honest, fearless, lucid, and orthodox. His range of writings include American
Catholic history, just war ethics, Catholic social justice principles and
meticulously researched expose's of modernism and corruption in the Church.
He is also an old friend of the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts.
Please remember Paul and his family in your prayers, and ask Almighty God
to grant a full recovery to this valiant soldier of Christ. If you would
like to help Paul with his overwhelming medical expenses, a fund has been
established at his parish church. Please send any donations to Saint James
the Apostle Church, 17 Whig Street, Trumansburg, New York, 14886. Checks may
be made payable to St. James Church: Paul Likoudis Fund.
If you have any questions, you may contact the Pastor, Father John Tokaz,
at (607) 387-6781. You may also reach Paul Likoudis at
paullikoudis@empacc.net.
The Catholic Action League would be very grateful for any prayers which
can be offered, and for any materiel aid which our members can provide
for Paul and his family!
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
MARCH 29, 2014 - Published April 9
Opinion
Daily Hampshire Gazette
115 Conz Street
Northampton, MA 01060
To the Editor:
In the editorial on the Boston and Holyoke Saint Patrick's Day parades,
which quoted part of our news release, the Gazette argued that not
every group which marches in these parades is there to promote Irish culture,
but are willing to “support, respect and honor” that culture,
(Editorial: Two parades, both Irish, 3/22/2014).
Police, military, neighborhood and business groups which march do not represent
the serious counter witness to the Catholic Faith and heritage of the Irish
which homosexual groups symbolize. Homosexual organizations not only express pride
in repudiating the moral code of Saint Patrick's religion, but derogate anyone
who defends that code as a bigot, a hater, and a homophobe.
No one would expect a homosexual parade to host a message critical of homosexuality.
The organizers of a parade in honor of a Catholic saint should not be coerced into
hosting a message which is anti-Catholic.
Sincerely,
C. J. Doyle, Executive Director
Catholic Action League of Massachusetts
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
MARCH 21, 2014
Letters to the Editor
The MetroWest Daily News
33 New York Avenue
Framingham, MA 01701
To the Editor:
It was, certainly, thoughtful of The MetroWest Daily News to trivialize
Saint Patrick's Day with Glenn Ickler' unsuccessful attempt at parody,
(Ickler: March in the invisible parade, 3/16/2014).
What the unfunny Ickler makes so obtuse, is actually quite simple.
Public identification of homosexual behavior in Boston's Saint Patrick's Day
parade is incompatible with a) the religion of Saint Patrick;
b) the family character of the parade; and c) the explicit wishes of
the parade organizers---who have a constitutionally protected right to control
their own free speech, of which the parade is an expression.
Sincerely,
C. J. Doyle, Executive Director
Catholic Action League of Massachusetts
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
MARCH 21, 2014
The Anchor
Letters to the Editor
P. O. Box 7
Fall River, MA 02722-0007
To the Editor:
I find it terribly sad that a Catholic newspaper would characterize
the struggle of a group of Catholic men to defend Catholic moral
sensibilities in the public square as a distraction, (DISTRACTIONS FROM
OUR LENTEN CALL, 3.7.14).
Perhaps, even more disturbing, was the rationale offered to excuse
the silence of the Archdiocese of Boston in the Saint Patrick's Day
parade controversy. Ten of the original Twelve Apostles suffered
martyrdom. Apparently, in the view of The Anchor, their
successors should say nothing which would cause them to suffer public
criticism.
Most deplorable of all however, was The Anchor's treatment of
the notorious Catholic basher Kevin Cullen---who recently savaged the
Bishop of Providence in a lengthy polemic filled with demeaning ad
hominem attacks---as a credible source on a Catholic priest who died
in good standing with the Church more than thirty-five years ago.
Contrary to the assertion by The Anchor, the very public
witness of Immaculate Heart of Mary School proved to be of vital
importance. As even The Boston Globe implicitly acknowledged in
its editorial on "push back," the school exercised a decisive influence
at a crucial moment, affecting the ultimate outcome of the issue. All
faithful Catholics should commend them.
Finally, I cannot believe the words of Pope Francis should be
interpreted to mean that Catholics ought to surrender to aggression,
allow a parade in honor of a Catholic saint to become a celebration of
sodomy, or to be silent when their constitutional rights are in
jeopardy.
Sincerely,
C. J. Doyle, Executive Director
Catholic Action League of Massachusetts
LETTER TO THE EDITORMARCH 19, 2014
- Published March 21, 2014
Letters Editor
The Standard-Times
25 Elm Street
New Bedford, MA 02740
To the Editor:
It would seem we arrived at the point that proponents of homosexual
participation in St. Patrick's Day parades have become so desperate that
they are willing to resort to the crude intellectual dishonesty of
quoting Northern Irish bigots who deny the very Catholicity of Saint
Patrick, (Our View: Beginning, not the end, of the rainbow---Time to end
exclusion of LGBTQ marchers, 3/19/2014).
Mr. Killen of Ulster engaged in revisionist history with his
ludicrous assertion that the Apostle of Ireland was not a Roman
Catholic. The historical record is clear. Saint Patrick was a Catholic
bishop sent to Ireland by Pope Saint Celestine. As the Anglican
historian Edmund Curtis candidly admitted, Patrick was attached to "the
Latin Eucharist, the invocation of the saints, and the sacraments and
doctrines of the Catholic Faith."
When the Anglican primate tried to use Mr. Killen's argument on Prime
Minister William Gladstone, the PM, an Evangelical Protestant, famously
responded: "Who believes that?"
Sincerely,
C. J. Doyle, Executive Director
Catholic Action League of Massachusetts
HAPPY SAINT PATRICK'S DAY TO ALL OUR FRIENDS AND SUPPORTERS FROM THE
CATHOLIC ACTION LEAGUE OF MASSACHUSETTS!
MARCH 17, 2014
CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE (617)
524-6309
Catholicactionleague@gmail.com
Perhaps nowhere else in Christendom can an entire nation and its vast
diaspora of descendants trace their Catholic Faith and culture --- and
their prospects for eternal salvation --- to a single saint. Our debt of
gratitude to Saint Patrick is immense and unmeasurable. Saint Patrick
(+461) is the Apostle of Ireland and was the first bishop and archbishop
of Armagh. He is also the principal patron saint of the Archdiocese of
Boston.
The feast of Saint Patrick is not "a municipal festival," as one
non-Catholic judge erroneously asserted during the Saint Patrick's Day
parade case twenty years ago. Nor is it merely a communal celebration of
ethnic pride, as one low wattage and recently retired state senator
tried to tell us.
We commemorate the feast of our patron saint because he brought the
Catholic Faith to Ireland, delivering that nation, and us, from the
darkness of paganism, and showing us the fountains "that rise in the
heart of Our Savior above."
Contrary to expectations, and against overwhelming odds, the
aggression of the neo-pagan forces of darkness was repulsed in Boston
this year. Despite obscenity laden threats from politicians, financial
pressure from corporations, venomous insults from apostates in the
media, and duplicitous attempts at manipulation by those who reject the
natural order, Saint Patrick's Day parade organizers refused, in the
end, to surrender.
Only two Catholic organizations, the Immaculate Heart of Mary School
and the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts, publicly supported the
Allied War Veterans Council of South Boston, which organizes and
controls the parade. As the contemporary forces of paganism continue
their assault against the Christian character of March 17th, and attempt
to deform our feast day, let us never forget that Saint Patrick's Day is
a Catholic holy day in honor of a Catholic Saint. Sanctus Patricius,
Ora pro nobis.
O God, You deigned to send Blessed Patrick, Your Confessor and
Bishop, to preach Your glory to the Gentiles; grant by his merits
and intercession, that those things which You command us to do, we
may be enabled to accomplish by Your mercy. Through our Lord Jesus
Christ, Your Son, Who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the
Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.
- Collect of the Feast of Saint Patrick from the Missal
and Breviary of Saint Pius V
NEWS RELEASE
MARCH 16, 2014
CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE (617)
524-6309
Catholicactionleague@gmail.com
CATHOLIC ACTION LEAGUE CONGRATULATES ALLIED WAR VETERANS COUNCIL
The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts today congratulated the
Allied War Veterans Council---the organizers of Boston's Saint Patrick's
Day Parade---for successfully resisting the political strong arm tactics
of Mayor Martin Walsh and Congressman Stephen Lynch. Walsh and Lynch
tried to pressure the veterans to abandon their 22 year prohibition
against groups which identify their sexual preferences from
participating in the event. (Lynch, ironically, ended up marching in the
parade.)
The Catholic Action League hailed the veterans for their "determined
defense of their Faith, moral principles, and constitutional rights."
Catholic Action League Executive Director commented: "In the end, the
veterans refused to surrender, despite demands from politicians,
criticism from the media, tensions with some sponsors, and duplicity
from homosexual activists. It was an admirable example of courage,
fidelity, and integrity."
"The homosexual group which tried to force its way into the parade
cared nothing for Saint Patrick or Irish culture, and had nothing but
contempt for the Catholic religion. MassEquality wanted to use the
parade to promote its own agenda. As this controversy unfolded, more and
more ordinary people came to understand that."
The predecessor organization of the Catholic Action League provided
legal assistance to the Allied War Veterans Council in Hurley v.
Irish American GLIB Association.
NEWS RELEASE
MARCH 15, 2014
CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE, (617)
524-6309
Catholicactionleague@gmail.com
CATHOLIC ACTION LEAGUE URGES VETERANS TO REJECT POLITICAL ARM
TWISTING
The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts today urged the Allied
War Veterans Council---the organizers of Boston's Saint Patrick's Day
Parade---to reject the unprecedented political arm twisting being
applied by Mayor Martin Walsh. According to reports received by the
Catholic Action League, the mayor is escalating his pressure tactics
against the veterans in his campaign to force them to abandon their
longstanding prohibition against sexual advocacy groups in the parade.
The Catholic Action League characterized Walsh's last minute
offensive as "a brazen attempt to bully parade organizers into
relinquishing both their moral values and their constitutional rights."
Catholic Action League Executive Director C. J. Doyle commented: "The
1995, 9 to 0 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Hurley v. Irish American
GLIB Association concluded by declaring that disapproval of the
parade organizers message does not legitimize the use of government
power to compel them to alter that message, by including one more
acceptable to others. That, however, is exactly what Mayor Walsh is
trying to do. It suggests he regards the political support of the
homosexual community as more important than the protections of the First
Amendment."
"The so-called 'inclusion' demanded by the mayor will result in the
exclusion of the moral principles and religious beliefs which Saint
Patrick brought to Ireland. In a choice between political correctness
and the legacy of Saint Patrick, the veterans should stand by Saint
Patrick---and their hard won constitutional rights."
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
MARCH 14,
2014
The Boston Globe
P. O. Box 55819
Boston, MA 02205-5819
To the Editor:
The assertion contained in both
the headline and text of the
Globe's editorial, claiming that
Brother Thomas Dalton's views on
homosexuality are his own, was not
accurate (Brother Thomas Dalton:
Educator's brimstone stance on
parade is his own, 3/14/2014).
Rooted in Scripture and tradition, Catholic moral prohibitions
against homosexual behavior are numerous, clear, consistent,
longstanding, definitive---and irreformable. Brother Thomas was merely
restating perennial and dogmatic Catholic teaching found in the
Catechism, magisterial documents, and the writings of the Fathers and
the Doctors of the Church, and those of the saints.
The Globe's editorialists have an unwarranted view of papal
authority if they believe the Pope can change Catholic doctrine during
media interviews, as in "Who am I to judge?" As the First Vatican
Council---which defined papal infallibility---stated, the Pope cannot "make known new doctrines," but must "religiously guard and faithfully expound the deposit of faith transmitted by the Apostles."
Sincerely,
C. J. Doyle, Executive Director
Catholic Action League of Massachusetts
Attention: Matthew Bernstein
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
MARCH 11, 2014 - Published March 18, 2014
Telegram & Gazette
20 Franklin Street
Box 15012
Worcester, MA 01615-0012
To the Editor:
In her second attack on Immaculate Heart of Mary School in twelve months, Dianne Williamson sheds crocodile tears over the possibility of Catholic students not marching in a parade which would have included the homosexual advocacy group, MassEquality (St. Pat's parade pullout is puzzling, 3/4/2014).
Contrary to Williamson's biased assertions, the leadership of the school has imparted a useful and edifying message to its students. The students have been reminded of the need for Catholics to be counter cultural in a secular society that is increasingly hostile to religious freedom and traditional moral values. If anyone seeks evidence of that hostility, one need look no further than the repeated and rancorous efforts of Dianne Williamson to revile the Catholic Faith.
Sincerely,
C. J. Doyle, Executive Director
Catholic Action League of Massachusetts
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
MARCH 11, 2014
The Boston Globe
P. O. Box 55819
Boston, MA 02205-5819
To the Editor:
Reading the criticisms directed at Brother Thomas Dalton of Immaculate Heart of Mary School, one comes to appreciate the truly broad latitude Kevin Cullen enjoys as a columnist, (Irish should smile on those shunned, March 4, 2014).
After all, Cullen does not have to construct a logical argument or adopt a rigorously reasoned position. Whomever he dislikes, he can treat with derision and contempt, demeaning them---"holy rollers"---or just sneering at them---"somebody named Brother Thomas..." Intellectually, it requires no heavy lifting.
It used to be said that journalists should comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. With Cullen, the opposite seems to apply. The objects of his vitriol, all too often, appear to be those who hold unfashionable opinions, lack political power or financial clout, and certainly, are in no position to cause him any professional injury.
What a brave, tough guy Kevin Cullen is, always ready to take on anyone who can't fire back.
Sincerely,
C. J. Doyle, Executive Director
Catholic Action League of Massachusetts
Attention: Matthew Bernstein
PRAYER REQUEST
SATURDAY, MARCH 8, 2014
CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE
(617) 524-6309
CATHOLICACTIONLEAGUE@GMAIL.COM
A number of our members have made a holy and helpful suggestion, with which we wholeheartedly concur. They have asked me to encourage all members of the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts to recite Saint Patrick's Breastplate, the prayer composed by the Apostle of Ireland himself, to ask the protection of the Holy Trinity in his struggle to deliver the people of Ireland from the darkness of paganism.
Let us therefore recite the prayer of our patron saint to repel the neo-pagan darkness which threatens to engulf Boston's Saint Patrick's Day Parade!
The Breastplate of St. Patrick,
also known as The Lorica
I. I bind to myself today The strong power of an invocation of the Trinity, The faith of the Trinity in Unity The Creator of the Universe.
II. I bind to myself today The might of the Incarnation of Christ with that of His Baptism, The might of His Crucifixion with that of His Burial, The might of His Resurrection with that of His Ascension. The might of of His Coming on the Judgment Day.
III. I bind to myself today The power in the love of the Seraphim, In the obedience of the Angels, In the ministration of the Archangels, In the hope of Resurrection unto reward, In the prayers of the Patriarchs, In the predictions of the Prophets, In the preaching of the Apostles, In the faith of the Confessors, In the purity of the holy Virgins, In the deeds of righteous men.
IV. I bind to myself today The power of Heaven, The brightness of the Sun, The whiteness of Snow, The splendor of Fire, The speed of Lightning, The swiftness of the Wind, The depth of the Sea, The stability of the Earth, The firmness of Rocks.
V. I bind to myself today God's Power to pilot me, God's Might to uphold me, God's Wisdom to guide me, God's Eye to look before me, God's Ear to hear me, God's Word to speak for me, God's Hand to guard me, God's Way to lie before me, God's Shield to shelter me, God's Host to secure me. Against the snares of demons, Against the seductions of vices, Against the lusts of nature, Against everyone who meditates injury to me, Whether far or near, Whether few or with many.
VI. I invoke today all these virtues Against every hostile merciless power Which may assail my body and my soul. Against the incantations of false prophets, Against the black laws of heathenism, Against the false laws of heresy, Against the deceits of idolatry, Against the spells of women, and smiths and Druids, Against every knowledge that blinds the soul of man.
VII. Christ protect me today Against poison, against burning, Against drowning, against wounding, That I may receive abundant reward.
VIII. Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ at my right, Christ at my left, Christ when lying down, Christ in sitting, Christ in rising up.
IX. Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me, Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me.
X. I bind to myself today The strong power of an invocation of the Trinity, The faith of the Trinity in Unity The Creator of the Universe.
XI. Salvation is of the Lord, Salvation is of the Lord, Salvation is of Christ; May Your salvation, O Lord, be with us forever.
SAINT PATRICK, PRAY FOR US
ACTION ALERT!!! FRIDAY, MARCH 7, 2014
CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE
(617) 524-6309, CATHOLICACTIONLEAGUE@GMAIL.COM
URGE VETERANS TO REFUSE DEAL
Boston
Mayor Martin Walsh now claims both
sides are once again close to a deal
that would allow the anti-Catholic
homosexual group MassEquality to
march in Boston's Saint Patrick's
Day Parade.
Under political pressure from Mayor Walsh
and Congressman Stephen Lynch, the Allied War Veterans Council---the
sponsors of South Boston's parade---unwisely made an initial concession,
only to discover that they were deliberately lied to by the militants of
MassEquality. Realizing the extremists which they were negotiating with
were completely untrustworthy, the Veterans Council withdrew from the
arrangement on Tuesday night. Now Walsh is turning up the pressure
again, believing he can coerce the veterans to abandon their hard won 9
to 0 victory before the U. S. Supreme Court.
PLEASE CONTACT THE SOUTH BOSTON ALLIED WAR VETERANS COUNCIL
AND URGE THEM TO HOLD FIRM AND REJECT ANY DEALS THAT WOULD ALLOW
HOMOSEXUAL GROUPS, SYMBOLS OR MESSAGES TO DISHONOR SAINT PATRICK AND
DEFORM HIS PARADE!
You may telephone the veterans at (781)
436-3377, fax them at (781) 341-1191, or e-mail them at
info@southbostonparade.org.
A collection of fanatics who have nothing
but contempt for the Catholic Faith are trying to exploit a parade in
honor of a Catholic saint to force public acceptance of their sexual
behavior. Don't let them succeed with this unscrupulous aggression!
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
MARCH 6,
2014
Letters
Boston Herald
P.O. Box 55843
Boston, MA 02205-5843
To the Editor:
Margery Eagan fabricated history with her
preposterous assertion that St. Patrick's Day is about celebrating
Christianity, rather than Catholicism, coming to Ireland (Eagan: "It's
time to scrap Southie's St. Patrick's parade," 3/4/2014).
It is certainly encouraging that some
Episcopalians celebrate St. Patrick's Day, but Saint Patrick was a Roman
Catholic bishop sent to Ireland by Pope Saint Celestine. As the Anglican
historian Edmund Curtis admitted, Saint Patrick was attached to "the
Latin Eucharist, the invocation of the saints, and the sacraments and
doctrines of the Catholic Faith."
Sincerely,
Joseph B. Craven, Jr.
Executive Secretary
NEWS ADVISORY
TUESDAY, MARCH 4, 2014
CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE, (617) 524-6309
CATHOLICACTIONLEAGUE@GMAIL.COM
VETERANS TELL DIFFERENT STORY MEDIA REPORTS SLANTED
South Boston Allied War Veterans Council
P.O. Box 350
South Boston, MA 02127
Sponsors of
The South Boston St. Patrick's Day / Evacuation Day Parade
PRESS RELEASE
March 3, 2014
At a recent meeting of The South Boston Allied War Veterans
Council, a motion was brought up about reconsidering an application
that had been previously rejected. This application was submitted by
LGBT Veterans of Equality (an affiliate of Mass Equality). The
reason for this rejection was a clear violation of our “No sexual
orientation” rule, and not that we ban Gay people as reported by the
press.
The application stated that 20 United States Veterans wished to
March with Mayor Walsh and other Politicians in this year's parade.
They also indicated that they were a Veterans Organization,helping Veterans
from Cradle to Grave. After some consideration,
the Council agreed that any Veteran should be allowed to march,
regardless of sexual orientation. Further, any organization which
helps our Veterans is welcome. This application was conditionally
approved as submitted with the understanding that these 20 Veterans
can march but no sexual orientation would be displayed, and the
group would comply with our standard Code of Conduct, followed by
all marching units in this parade.
To our surprise, the offer was rejected by Mass Equality's
representative Kara Coredini. Her rejection was based on the fact
that we would not allow LGBT Veterans to identify themselves as
openly Gay by means of signage and T Shirts identifying them as LGBT
Veteran. This clearly violates our code of conduct.
At a closed door City Hall meeting last night it was made clear
to us that the LGBT Veterans for Equality do not have 20 United
States Veterans who wish to march. Rather, they presented only one
supposed Veteran and a group of others carrying rainbow flags. When
asked about a Color Guard, their lone Veteran replied that he wasn't
sure he could supply any more Veterans willing to march.
The Council performs background checks on groups wishing to march
prior to their acceptance. We were unable to find any evidence of
LGBT Veterans for Equality that would confirm them as a recognized
Veterans Organization.
We appreciate the efforts the Mayor's office to try and mediate
this issue. However it is our intention to keep this an Irish
Celebration, dedicated to our Men and Women serving in our Armed
Forces. We will fight to keep our parade and its traditions.
Therefore, we, The Allied War Veterans of South Boston, felt we
were misled by LGBT Veterans for Equality. It is our belief that the
application submitted to us by LGBT Veterans for Equality was a ploy
by them to enter this parade under false pretenses and is hereby
denied.
It is our intention to keep this parade a family friendly event.
We will not allow any group to damage the Integrity of the historic
event or its reputation as a safe and fun filled day for all. We
strive to hold the largest and most entertaining St. Patrick's Day
Parade in the Country.
God Bless our Troops and God Bless this Country!
NEWS RELEASE
MARCH 3, 2014
CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE (617)
524-6309
Catholicactionleague@gmail.com
CATHOLIC ACTION LEAGUE APPLAUDS IMMACULATE HEART OF
MARY SCHOOL FOR REFUSING TO MARCH IN BOSTON'S ST. PATRICK'S DAY PARADE
The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts today commended the
administrators, teachers, and students of Immaculate Heart of Mary
School for withdrawing their band and float from Boston's Saint
Patrick's Day Parade after parade organizers invited the same sex
marriage advocacy group, MassEquality, to march. The school's float of
Saint Patrick blessing the children was, for many years, the iconic
symbol of the Boston parade.
The Catholic Action League called the school's decision to withdraw
"an act of courage, integrity, and fidelity to the moral teachings of
the Catholic religion."
Catholic Action League Executive Director C. J. Doyle stated: "At a
time when so many Catholics conform to the culture, it is profoundly
edifying to see the splendid example of Catholic witness offered by
Immaculate Heart of Mary School. The Catholic community ought to be
grateful that there is at least one Catholic institution left in
Massachusetts whose members have the faith, fortitude, and sovereignty
of mind to act unreservedly in defense of their Catholic principles.
Clearly, at Immaculate Heart of Mary School, they not only profess the
Catholic Faith, they live it."
"This valiant example of unflinching devotion to Catholic Faith and
morals deserves to be both emulated by other Catholic organizations and
affirmed by the leadership of the Archdiocese of Boston."
Immaculate Heart of Mary School, administered by the Slaves of the
Immaculate Heart of Mary, is located in Still River, in the Town of
Harvard, in the Diocese of Worcester.
NEWS RELEASE
March 1, 2014
CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE (617)
524-6309
Catholicactionleague@gmail.com
CATHOLIC ACTION LEAGUE CONDEMNS DECISION TO INVITE
MASSEQUALITY TO MARCH IN ST. PATRICK'S DAY PARADE
The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts today condemned the
decision of the South Boston Allied War Veterans Council---the sponsors
of Boston's Saint Patrick's Day Parade---to invite the state's largest
same sex marriage lobby, MassEquality, to march in the parade on March
16th.
Parade coordinator Tom Duross said "We'd be happy to have them here.
And we'd be proud to have them here....You're a great organization, you
do wonderful things for people, and therefore we'd be happy to have you
in our parade."
The Catholic Action League called the about face by the Council "a
cowardly abandonment of longstanding principles, a disgraceful surrender
to political pressure, and a callous betrayal of all those, living and
dead, who fought to defend their constitutional rights."
Catholic Action League Executive Director C. J. Doyle stated: "We
will, perhaps, never know what means Mayor Walsh used to bribe, bully or
cajole the veterans into reversing their position, but he certainly
delivered for the powerful and affluent special interest which did so
much to promote and finance his mayoral campaign."
"The so-called restrictions which supposedly forbid mention of sexual
orientation are entirely fraudulent, a sham and a fig leaf. As Duross
himself has said: 'Everybody knows who MassEquality is.' "
With this decision to dishonor Saint Patrick, the veterans council
should have the minimal decency to change the name of the parade, as it
no longer has any meaningful connection to the Catholic saint who
brought the Faith to Ireland. Catholic organizations should refuse to
participate in a parade that hosts a group which demonizes Catholic
moral teachings as bigotry, hatred and prejudice."
"No one should forget the origin of this controversy. In 1992, a
group of aggressive sociopaths tried to force their way into somebody
else's parade despite the fact that their message and values were
radically at variance with those of the parade organizers. Now, 22 years
later, with the help of Boston's bought and paid for political class,
they have finally succeeded."
"This episode should remind us of the thuggish, totalitarian
character of the homosexual movement, which has no regard for the
rights, beliefs, and sensibilities of others, and which thinks that all
of those who resist its demands must be pressured and coerced into
submission, as the veterans were evidently pressured and coerced into
submission yesterday."
"This decision is a milestone defeat for religious freedom, moral
sanity, and what very little remains of Boston's once Catholic identity.
As for the Archdiocese of Boston, its silence was as shameful as it was
predictable."
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
FEBRUARY 28, 2014 -
Published March 9, 2014
The Boston Globe Magazine
Comments
PO Box 55819
Boston, MA 02205-5819
To the Editor:
The premise of Neil Swidey's article---that a culturally more
accommodating church will bring disaffected Catholics back to the
pews---is, by no means, assuredly accurate ("The Promise Of Francis,"
2/23/2014).
The experience of mainline Protestant churches which conformed to the
culture was disastrous. There are now more Muslims in America than
Episcopalians.
Progressive Catholics are often imprecise about, exactly, what kind
of church they want. One might reasonably conclude, however, about what
kind of church they do not want.
They do not want a church which teaches faith and morals with clarity
and authority. And they do not want a church which hinders or
embarrasses them in secular society by raising troublesome issues about
the sanctity of human life or the impermissibility of contraception.
Sincerely,
C. J. Doyle, Executive Director
Catholic Action League of Massachusetts
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
FEBRUARY 27,
2014 - Published March
3, 2014
Letters
Boston Herald
P.O. Box 55843
Boston, MA 02205-5843
To the Editor:
When Peter Gelzinis says the Saint Patrick's Day parade should enter
the 21st century, what he actually means is that it should abandon any
association with the Catholic Faith which Saint Patrick brought to
Ireland ("Walsh wants inclusion...," 2/27/2014).
A so-called "inclusive" parade would exclude the religious heritage
which we are supposed to celebrate on the feast day of Ireland's, and
Boston's, patron saint. All the cheap shots fired by Gelzinis at the
Veterans Council can't conceal the fundamental absurdity of his
position---which is that Saint Patrick's Day should be disconnected from
the religion and morality of Saint Patrick.
Sincerely,
C. J. Doyle, Executive Director
Catholic Action League of Massachusetts
NEWS RELEASE
February 27, 2014
CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE (617)
524-6309
Catholicactionleague@gmail.com
CATHOLIC ACTION LEAGUE COMMENDS SOUTH BOSTON
VETERANS FOR RESISTING PRESSURE FROM MAYOR
The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts today commended the South
Boston Allied War Veterans Council---the sponsors of Boston's Saint
Patrick's Day Parade---for resisting pressure from Boston Mayor Martin
J. Walsh to include a homosexual group affiliated with MassEquality in
this year's parade.
A previous attempt by a Massachusetts Superior Court Judge to force
the inclusion of a homosexual organization resulted in a 9 to 0 U. S.
Supreme Court decision in 1995 affirming the right of the veterans to
control the content of their own parade.
The Catholic Action League called Mayor Walsh's intervention "an
attempt to impose a radically discordant message, entirely inappropriate
to the celebration of Boston's principal patron saint."
Catholic Action League Executive Director C. J. Doyle commented:
"Saint Patrick was a Catholic archbishop and is a Catholic saint. How do
you honor a Catholic saint by providing a platform to those who express
pride in rejecting Catholic morality? And who castigate that morality as
bigotry, hatred and homophobia?"
"The feast of Saint Patrick commemorates the bishop and confessor
through whom an entire people, in one lifetime, were converted from
paganism to the Catholic and Apostolic Faith. Mayor Walsh's efforts, if
successful, would destroy the traditional character of the parade, empty
it of its original meaning, and reduce it to a secular community
festival, devoid of any religious significance."
"Catholics should be able to celebrate in peace the feast day of
their patron saint without the unwarranted intrusion of an alien, and
implicitly anti-Catholic, propaganda exercise, by a sexual advocacy
group seeking to exploit the event for their own ideological purposes.
Mayor Walsh's advice ought to be rejected."
The predecessor organization of the Catholic Action League provided
legal support to the South Boston Allied War Veterans Council in
Hurley v. Irish American GLIB Association.
_________
Senator Dorcena Forry wants to uphold Saint Patrick's Day tradition
(Boston Globe, 2/28/2014)
MEDIA UPDATE