Bill Donohue
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William Anthony Donohue (born July 18, 1947) is an American
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
layman who has been president of the Catholic League in the United States since 1993.


Life and career

Donohue was born in the borough of
Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. He began his teaching career in the 1970s working at St. Lucy's School in
Spanish Harlem East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem, or , is a neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City, north of the Upper East Side and bounded by 96th Street to the south, Fifth Avenue to the west, and the East and Harlem Rivers to the east ...
. In 1977, he took a teaching position at La Roche College in
McCandless, Pennsylvania McCandless is a Township (Pennsylvania), township with Home Rule Municipality (Pennsylvania), home rule status in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 29,709 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is a su ...
. In 1980, he received his doctorate in
sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...
from
New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
. Donohue is divorced and has two adult children from his marriage. His first book was ''The Politics of the American Civil Liberties Union''. He became associated with the conservative Heritage Foundation, where he is an adjunct scholar. While Donohue was in college in New York, Virgil C. Blum, a Jesuit at
Marquette University Marquette University () is a Private university, private Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It was established as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, by John Henni, the first Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Ar ...
in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...
, founded the Catholic League to counter
anti-Catholicism Anti-Catholicism is hostility towards Catholics and opposition to the Catholic Church, its clergy, and its adherents. Scholars have identified four categories of anti-Catholicism: constitutional-national, theological, popular and socio-cul ...
in
American culture The culture of the United States encompasses various social behaviors, institutions, and Social norm, norms, including forms of Languages of the United States, speech, American literature, literature, Music of the United States, music, Visual a ...
. Blum died in 1990; in 1993, Donohue became the organization's director. Donohue publishes ''The Catalyst'', the Catholic League's journal. He formerly served on the board of directors of the
National Association of Scholars The National Association of Scholars (NAS) is an American 501(c)(3) non-profit politically conservative education advocacy organization. It advocates against multiculturalism, diversity policies, and against courses focused on race and gender i ...
. He serves on the board of advisers of the
Washington Legal Foundation The Washington Legal Foundation (WLF) is a non-profit legal organization located at 2007-2009 Massachusetts Avenue NW, on Embassy Row in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1977, the Foundation's stated goal is "to defend and promote the principles of f ...
, the Howard Center for Family, Religion and Society, the Society of Catholic Social Scientists, Catholics United for the Faith, the Ave Maria Institute, the Christian Film and Television Commission and
Catholic War Veterans Catholic War Veterans (officially called the Catholic War Veterans of the United States of America) is a national service organization of baptized Catholics that have served or are currently serving in the United States Armed Forces. Founded in ...
. He received the 2005 St.
Thomas More Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, theologian, and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry VII ...
Award for Catholic Citizenship from Catholic Citizens of Illinois. In 2022, Donohue was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from Ave Maria School of Law. He also gave the commencement address to the graduating class.


Activism

Donohue campaigns against what he perceives as the discrimination and defamation of Catholics and Catholicism. In doing so he has targeted a diverse array of organizations and individuals in entertainment, politics, and the arts. His work has produced divergent assessments. ''Legatus Magazine'', the monthly publication of an organization for Catholic business executives, wrote: ''USA Today'' once characterized Donohue, reporting that, "Donohue serves as Santa to his membership of 350,000 and Scrooge to those who run afoul of him." In 2000, an editorial in ''
America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
'', a Jesuit magazine, noted Donohue's bi-partisanship and willingness to break ranks with Republicans who aligned with him on most issues: "once he was cheered by Catholic neo-conservatives for attacking the media, the entertainment industry and pro-choice groups, now he was excommunicated as a loose cannon because he was shooting at their allies. Mr. Donohue's refusal to be controlled by either party is one of his most attractive qualities." One critic described him as an "identity politics ambulance chaser" and another said he represented a "right-wing publicity mill". Others found that his defense of Catholicism sometimes crossed into attacks on other groups, and he has been accused of homophobia or even "anti-gay bullying" and antisemitism.


Free speech

In 2015,
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula ( or : Tanẓīm Qā‘idat al-Jihād fī Jazīrat al-‘Arab, . Organization of Jihad's Base in the Arabian Peninsula), or AQAP is a Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamic extremism, Islamist militant organization which s ...
took responsibility for a terror attack on ''Charlie Hebdo'' that killed 17 people and wounded 12 in Paris, including the editor of ''
Charlie Hebdo ''Charlie Hebdo'' (; ) is a French satirical weekly magazine, featuring cartoons, reports, polemics, and jokes. The publication has been described as anti-racist, sceptical, secular, libertarian, and within the tradition of left-wing radicalism ...
'', who had been on an Al-Qaeda hit list. Commenting on the attack, Donohue wrote an article titled "Muslims are right to be angry": In 2015, Donohue said on
Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...
, "Self censorship is the friend of freedom" and that free speech should not permit "obscene portrayal of religious figures".
Hugh Hewitt Hugh Hewitt (born February 22, 1956) is an American conservative political commentator, radio talk show host with the Salem Radio Network, attorney, academic, and author. He writes about law, society, politics, and media bias in the United States ...
, a conservative Catholic talk show host, called Donohue "an embarrassment" to Catholics for his statement, saying "You blamed the victim before their bodies were cold" and "You are standing over the bodies of twelve dead people, including two policemen, one yesterday and one today, who knows who else is going to get killed in France during the course of this thing, and you are saying they were justified because they were insulted". However, author Timothy J. Gordon observed that "Donohue came prepared to defend his statement in a logical and genteel (at least initially) manner" while Hewitt sounded "beleaguered and clearly intellectually overmatched." Gordon concludes that "one remains unconvinced that outfits like Hewitt or Fox News—throughout all their abuse of Donohue, as well as their full-hearted self-congratulations for their own stance, last week—will deal with Islam in any more subtle or sophisticated a way than Donohue." John Bacon noted in ''USA Today'' that Pope Francis made a related argument at the time. Bacon quoted the pope as saying, "It's normal, you cannot provoke. You cannot insult the faith of others. You cannot make fun of the faith of others. There is a limit. Every religion has its dignity." In this light, Donohue's comments are more in keeping with a traditional Catholic worldview.


The Pope

In 2015, in response to ''
Laudato si' ''Laudato si'' (''Praise Be to You'') is the second encyclical of Pope Francis, subtitled "on care for our common home". In it, the Pope criticizes consumerism and irresponsible economic development, laments environmental degradation and gl ...
'', Donohue described
Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...
as "the ultimate maverick" on '' The Alan Colmes Show'', saying "the left is going to like the fact that he has more of a socialist model in terms of his vision of the structure of the economy. He's anti-market in the encyclical." Donohue criticised ''The New York Times'' editorial board, saying they want "the pope to shove his teachings down" the throats of Republican legislators.


Marriage

Donohue believes marriage is "not about love" or "making people happy" but that one fundamental and inextricable purpose of marriage is to have a family.
Also o
Real Clear Politics
/ref> Donohue was making an historical observation. “Marriage has always been based, historically, on duty and on commitment.”


Sexual abuse by priests

In 2009, after the release of the official report of the Ryan Commission, whose findings included multiple instances of rape and persuasive evidence of endemic sexual, emotional, and physical abuse throughout the
Catholic School Catholic schools are Parochial school, parochial pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest parochial schools, religious, no ...
system in Ireland, Donohue publicly denied these
criminal charge A criminal charge is a formal accusation made by a governmental authority (usually a public prosecutor or the police) asserting that somebody has committed a crime. A charging document, which contains one or more criminal charges or counts, can t ...
s and characterized the media response to the Ryan Report as "hysterical". He argued that most offenses occurred before 1970 when "corporal punishment", as Donohue termed it, was not thought unacceptable, and referred to the victims as "miscreants". He noted the report's broad definitions of abuse, which included neglect and emotional abuse. Since the majority of priests are not rapists, he judged news headlines like Reuters' "Irish Priests Beat, Raped Children" were "wild and irresponsible", regardless of whether or not the headlines were true. He blamed the report and the journalists in turn. On March 30, 2010, Donohue appeared on CNN's ''
Larry King Live ''Larry King Live'' is an American television talk show broadcast by CNN from June 3, 1985 to December 16, 2010. Hosted by Larry King, it was the network's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly. Ma ...
'' on a panel discussing sexual abuse of children by priests. Donohue contended that the decades-old problem consisted mostly of offenses involving post-pubescent boys aged 12 or more, which offenses therefore, according to Donohue, should be considered the acts of homosexual priests, rather than the actions of pedophiles. Donohue also pointed to the independent John Jay Report, which stated that 81% of the victims were male and 78% were post pubescent. In August 2018, Donohue responded to a report by a
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
grand jury A grand jury is a jury empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a person to testify. A grand ju ...
that revealed rampant sexual abuse of children by some 300 priests by stating that the victims weren't raped because they were only groped, not penetrated. "There is no ongoing crisis," he tweeted. "In fact, there is no institution, private or public, that has less of a problem with the sexual abuse of minors today than the Catholic Church." Several individuals quickly condemned his statement; John Podhoretz, editor of '' Commentary'' magazine, said, "Bill Donohue's soul quickly leaked out of his body." Jim Lokay, an anchor for Fox affiliate WTTG-TV in
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, tweeted that the Catholic League's statement was "One of the most shameful, ignorant, tone-deaf, arrogant tweets I've ever seen." Donohue was so incensed by these attacks that he wrote a book arguing that by 2018, the Catholic Church had indeed posted the best record on handling cases of the sexual abuse of minors of any institution in the United States. He amassed over 800 footnotes in his book, ''The Truth about Clergy Sexual Abuse: Clarifying the Facts and the Causes'', to demonstrate the validity of his position.


Television and film

In 1995, Donohue, joined by evangelical leaders, called for a boycott of
Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
for distributing the British film ''
Priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...
'', which depicted one priest struggling with his homosexuality and another involved in an affair with a woman. Donohue said the film was "designed intentionally to insult the Catholic Church and Catholics nationwide". The boycott had no impact, but helped Disney recognize the market for entertainment with religious themes. For months in 1997 Donohue promoted a boycott of the advertisers of the television show '' Nothing Sacred'', the story of "a sexy Catholic priest, Father Ray, who sometimes doubts his faith". Cardinal
Roger Mahony Roger Michael Mahony (born February 27, 1936) is an American Catholic retired prelate who served as Archbishop of Los Angeles from 1985 to 2011. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Fresno from 1975 to 1980 and Bis ...
of Los Angeles and the ''
National Catholic Reporter The ''National Catholic Reporter'' (''NCR'') is a national newspaper in the United States that reports on issues related to the Catholic Church. Based in Kansas City, Missouri, ''NCR'' was founded by Robert Hoyt in 1964. Hoyt wanted to bring t ...
'' opposed Donohue's efforts. Some advertisers stopped placing ads with the show because of the controversy, but the show found replacements. One study of the show said that the television series ''
The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...
'' presented Catholicism with humor that had an "undeniably hostile, sometimes gratuitous edge to it" for years. Donohue objected to some dialogue in a November 1998 episode and other material in a January 1999 show that, in his view, made Catholicism the butt of a joke. In one case network executives substituted the name of a Protestant denomination for ''Catholic'' in later rebroadcasts. In 1999, before the release of Kevin Smith's film ''
Dogma Dogma, in its broadest sense, is any belief held definitively and without the possibility of reform. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Judaism, Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, or Islam ...
'', Donohue reported that he had read the script and found it objectionable. He said: "Quite naturally, the actors and film critics who like the movie are not disturbed by the anti-Catholicism that they themselves acknowledge, however unwittingly." After viewing the film in November, he wrote: Smith later said that the film proved less offensive than its critics had anticipated and that Donohue "actually invited me out to have a beer after making my life hell for six months". In December 2004, Donohue discussed
Mel Gibson Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson (born January 3, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Mel Gibson, multiple accolades, he is known for directing historical films as well for his act ...
's movie ''
The Passion of the Christ ''The Passion of the Christ'' is a 2004 American epic biblical drama film co-produced and directed by Mel Gibson from a screenplay he wrote with Benedict Fitzgerald. It stars Jim Caviezel as Jesus of Nazareth, Maia Morgenstern as the Bl ...
''. During a discussion of the film on the television show '' Scarborough Country'', Donohue said: When Rabbi Shmuley Boteach responded calling Donohue's statement "
anti-Semitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
garbage", and saying: "I have got to tell you that Bill Donohue ... ought to be ashamed of himself, the way he’s spoken about secular Jews hating Christians. That is a bunch of crap, OK?”, Donohue said: In November 2005, he criticized an episode of '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' for promoting "a pro-abortion rights agenda by portraying those who are opposed to abortion as religious nuts not to be taken seriously". In the spring of 2006, after
Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...
refused to allow its animated television series ''
South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boysStan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand the ...
'' to show an image of
Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...
, Donohue said the show's creators
Trey Parker Randolph Severn "Trey" Parker III (born October 19, 1969) is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, director, and musician. He is best known for co-creating ''South Park'' (1997) and '' The Book of Mormon'' (2011) with his creative part ...
and
Matt Stone Matthew Richard Stone (born May 26, 1971) is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, and musician. He is best known for co-creating ''South Park'' (since 1997) and ''The Book of Mormon (musical), The Book of Mormon'' (2011) with his cre ...
, whom he had frequently criticized, should have protested that censorship by resigning, but instead "Like little whores, they'll sit there and grab the bucks. They'll sit there and they'll whine and they'll take their shot at Jesus. That's their stock in trade." The next season, ''South Park'' parodied Donohue in the episode " Fantastic Easter Special". The episode depicts Donohue as a power-hungry Catholic official who usurps the Pope and sentences Jesus to death as a heretic; he is eventually killed by Jesus. Donohue took the episode in good humor, displaying a still from it in his office depicting him wearing the pope's miter. Describing the episode's plot to ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', he said "...they have me overthrow the pope because the pope is a wimp, and then I take over the church and give it some guts. ...But in the end, Jesus kills me." Donohue, along with a number of other religious leaders, criticized the children's fantasy epic '' The Golden Compass''. Donohue said that the trilogy of books on which the screenplay was based, ''
His Dark Materials ''His Dark Materials'' is a trilogy of fantasy novels by Philip Pullman consisting of '' Northern Lights'' (1995; published as ''The Golden Compass'' in North America), '' The Subtle Knife'' (1997), and '' The Amber Spyglass'' (2000). It follo ...
'', "denigrate Christianity, thrash the Catholic Church and sell the virtues of atheism". Though the film eliminated what he found offensive, he deemed it a "stealth campaign" to sell the books to readers unaware of their content. The impact of the resulting
controversy Controversy (, ) is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view. The word was coined from the Latin '' controversia'', as a composite of ''controversus'' – "turned in an op ...
on the film's commercial performance was uncertain.


War on Christmas

Donohue has regularly campaigned against the secularization of Christmas, which he describes as "the diluting and dumbing down of the cultural and religious significance of Christmas." An
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
story once explained: "As it is for millions of people, Christmas is Bill Donohue's busy season. While others spend time wrapping and shopping, Donohue stays busy sniping." He described the challenge: "It's political correctness run amok. Every day I'm putting out a statement about the latest absurdity. ...This time of year, you can just bank on it." In December 2005, he criticized Christmas cards sent by
U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
for using the term "holiday season" and not mentioning "Christmas". He said: "This clearly demonstrates that the Bush administration has suffered a loss of will and that they have capitulated to the worst elements in our culture." In 2010, after an atheists organization used a billboard at the entrance to the
Lincoln Tunnel The Lincoln Tunnel is an approximately tunnel under the Hudson River, connecting Weehawken, New Jersey, to the west with Midtown Manhattan in New York City to the east. It carries New Jersey Route 495 on the New Jersey side and the unsigned N ...
to display the message "You KNOW it's a myth!" across the scene of the magi traveling to the manger at Bethlehem, the Catholic League responded with a billboard of its own. Donohue said "We can't enjoy the Christmas season without someone trying to dumb it down or neuter it" and added: "Talk about a myth. They believe in nothing. They stand for nothing. They think we came from nothing. They're the ones who really are living in some other hollow world." In 2013, he announced plans for a billboard reading "Send Modern-Day Scrooges a Message: Celebrate the Prince of Peace". As "a tongue-in-cheek statement against political correctness", he proposed a list of "Office Party Rules to Ignore" that included eliminating dress rules so women could display cleavage and scheduling the affair for a Friday to encourage alcohol consumption. It concluded: "We happen to be Irish Catholics, a lot of us here, we're going to play to the stereotype."


Homosexuality

Donohue has been a consistent critic of
same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...
. In 2010,
Frank Rich Frank Hart Rich Jr. (born June 2, 1949) is an American essayist and liberal op-ed columnist, who held various positions within ''The New York Times'' from 1980 to 2011. He has also produced television series and documentaries for HBO. Rich is ...
said that when Donohue extended his criticism of an art exhibit from one work he considered anti-religious and complained that it included "pornographic images of gay men", he "was just using his 'religious' objections as a perfunctory cover for the homophobia actually driving his complaint".


''Walt's Disenchanted Kingdom''

In January 2023, the Catholic League released ''Walt's Disenchanted Kingdom''. This documentary recounts the cultural shift at Disney. The film was written and directed by Jason Killian Meath. Bill Donohue served as the executive producer. It is hosted by Mercedes Schlapp and features interviews with Donohue, Tony Perkins,
Ben Carson Ben Solomon Carson Sr. (born September 18, 1951) is an American retired neurosurgery, neurosurgeon, academic, author, and government official who served as the 17th United States secretary of housing and urban development from 2017 to 2021. A pio ...
,
Vivek Ramaswamy Vivek Ganapathy Ramaswamy (born August 9, 1985) is an American entrepreneur and politician. He founded Roivant Sciences, a Biotechnology, biotech Pharmaceutical industry, pharmaceutical company in 2014 and was its Chief executive officer, CEO ...
, Miranda Devine, Brent Bozell, David Horowitz, and Christian Toto. The film was initially released to SalemNow,
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
, Rumble, and
Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...
. ''Walt's Disenchanted Kingdom'' has been aired at several film festivals, including the Indie Short Fest where it won technical awards for "best editing" and "best sound editing" along with an Outstanding Achievement Award.


Los Angeles Dodgers

When the
Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...
planned their annual Pride Night in 2023, they invited the
Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence (SPI), also called Order of Perpetual Indulgence (OPI), is a charitable, protest, and street performance movement that uses drag and religious imagery to satirize issues of sex, gender, and morality (particular ...
, a charity group of gay men who dress up as nuns to bring attention to sexual intolerance and gender. The team received backlash from the Catholic League, Sen.
Marco Rubio Marco Antonio Rubio (; born May 28, 1971) is an American politician, lawyer, and diplomat serving since 2025 as the 72nd United States Secretary of State, United States secretary of state. A member of the Republican Party (United States) , Rep ...
, and Catholic Vote. Catholic League president Bill Donohue sent a letter to commissioner Rob Manfred comparing the group's performances to
blackface Blackface is the practice of performers using burned cork, shoe polish, or theatrical makeup to portray a caricature of black people on stage or in entertainment. Scholarship on the origins or definition of blackface vary with some taking a glo ...
. The Dodgers subsequently disinvited the group, likely owing to the large Catholic population of the city. KNBC reported that "the Dodgers pulled the Sisters from their Pride Night the day after Bill Donohue, president and CEO of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, had emailed Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred to urge the team to yank the group." In response, the
Los Angeles LGBT Center The Los Angeles LGBT Center (previously known as the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center) is a provider of programs and services for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. The organization's work spans four categories, including health, so ...
, the
ACLU The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1920. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The budget of the ACLU in 2024 was $383 million. ...
, County Supervisor
Lindsey Horvath Lindsey Patrice Horvath (born June 30, 1982) is an American politician, advertising executive, and activist. She is currently serving as a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for the 3rd District, which covers the San Fernando Va ...
, City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, State Senator Scott Wiener, and the Sisters called for the group to be reinvited, and the LGBT Center and LA Pride backed out of Pride Night. The nearby
Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, ...
even promised to invite the group to their Pride Night instead. However, the Dodgers reversed their decision on May 22, 2023 and announced the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence were once again welcome at the event. The group accepted the team's apology.


2016 Anthony Weiner sexting scandal

Bill Donohue has stated he played a critical role in triggering the FBI's investigation of
Anthony Weiner Anthony David Weiner ( born September 4, 1964) is an American politician who served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for from 1999 until his resignation in 2011. A member of the Democratic Party (United States) ...
's laptop resulting in the discovery of thousands of Hillary Clinton's emails. After seeing lewd photos of Weiner with his toddler son sleeping next to him in the ''New York Post'', Donohue filed a complaint with the New York City branch of the New York State Office of Children and Family Services (ACS) asking for an investigation of Weiner for exploiting his young child. On September 26, Donohue says he was informed by ACS that his complaint had been accepted and that Weiner would be investigated. A week after Donohue's complaint had been accepted, the FBI seized Weiner's electronic devices and found thousands of Hillary Clinton's emails, prompting FBI director James Comey to reopen that investigation late into the 2016 US presidential election. Hillary Clinton has cited Comey's decision as one reason why she lost the election to Trump.


Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home

In 2014, in the face of a public pressure campaign calling for the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes and certain related matters in Ireland, Bill Donohue began his own campaign to challenge the prevailing narrative, going so far as to author a special report on the subject. Donohue largely dismissed the critics as being motivated by politics or liking "to bash the Church."  Donohue took exception with the findings presented by Catherine Corless, who he described as "an amateur historian." Donohue and Corless debated on Irish radio, and he wrote extensively challenging her work and her credentials. Additionally, Donohue found flaws with how the media portrayed the mass graves found at the Mother and Baby Home, claiming that "the statement issued by the Mother and Baby Commission was disturbing, but it never mentioned anything about a mass grave."  From 2014 to 2017, Donohue issued two special reports and numerous pieces exploring why he believed this story was evidence of anti-Catholicism.


Politics

Early in the 2000 presidential campaign, Donohue criticized President
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
for appearing at
Bob Jones University Bob Jones University (BJU) is a private university in Greenville, South Carolina, United States. It is known for its Conservatism in the United States, conservative and Evangelicalism in the United States, evangelical cultural and religious posit ...
, whose head once called Catholicism "the religion of the
Antichrist In Christian eschatology, Antichrist (or in broader eschatology, Anti-Messiah) refers to a kind of entity prophesied by the Bible to oppose Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ and falsely substitute themselves as a savior in Christ's place before ...
and a
satan Satan, also known as the Devil, is a devilish entity in Abrahamic religions who seduces humans into sin (or falsehood). In Judaism, Satan is seen as an agent subservient to God, typically regarded as a metaphor for the '' yetzer hara'', or ' ...
ic system." He welcomed Bush's letter of apology for failing to make his opposition to the school's anti-Catholicism clear, saying: "One of the great touchstones of Catholicism is forgiveness for the wrongdoer who admits that he or she is wrong, and there's nothing to be gained by beating this dead horse." He also criticized some of his co-religionists: "There are some Catholics who are so desperate to get a Republican back in the White House, they're willing to overlook anything. Our feeling is, let the pus come to the surface." He raised a similar issue a few weeks later when the Republican leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives appointed a Protestant chaplain rather than the Catholic priest who received the greatest support from the bipartisan committee charged with the selection. Donohue ignored suggestions that he was not helping calm the situation by protesting. He said: "There is a segment of the evangelical Protestant community that is anti-Catholic. It has been there for a long, long time. Everyone is saying, 'Let's not talk about it.' I don't want a strain between Catholics and Protestants, but I'm not going to paper this over." Within a few weeks, the Protestant chaplain withdrew and Hastert appointed the House's first Catholic chaplain, though not the original candidate. Later in 2000, he condemned Patrick Buchanan for launching his presidential campaign at Bob Jones: "Buchanan is not alone among Catholics who have no problem recognizing anti-Catholicism when it stems from the academy or Hollywood, but are utterly unable to do so when it comes from their 'friends.' The Catholic League does not suffer from this disability and that is why we will continue to denounce anti-Catholic bigotry independent of its origins." By contrast, he excused
John Ashcroft John David Ashcroft (born May 9, 1942) is an American lawyer, Lobbying, lobbyist, and former politician who served as the 79th United States attorney general under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005. A Republican Party (United States), R ...
for accepting an honorary degree before Bob Jones' views became widely known. In December 2007, he objected to a television commercial that former Arkansas governor
Mike Huckabee Michael Dale Huckabee (, born August 24, 1955) is an American diplomat, political commentator, Baptist minister, and politician serving as the 29th United States Ambassador to Israel, United States ambassador to Israel since 2025. A member of ...
was using in his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. The ad showed the candidate seated in front of a stained glass window that displayed, in Donohue's view, an image of the cross while Huckabee described the importance of Christmas and family. Donohue said: "This is just injecting religion into politics even too far for guys like me." He believed Huckabee was identifying his religion to attack
Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and retired politician. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Utah from 2019 to 2025 and as the 70th governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 ...
's Mormon faith. During the 2008 presidential race, Donohue called for Obama to disband his campaign's Catholic National Advisory Council, which he said represented only "dissident Catholics," most with perfect ratings from the National Abortion Rights Action League. In March 2009, he criticized President Obama's selection of Kansas Governor
Kathleen Sebelius Kathleen Sebelius (; née Gilligan, born May 15, 1948) is an American politician who served as the 21st United States secretary of health and human services from 2009 until 2014. As Secretary of Health and Human Services, Sebelius was instrumenta ...
to head the
Department of Health and Human Services The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the US federal government created to protect the health of the US people and providing essential human services. Its motto is ...
calling her "one of the most extreme pro-abortion zealots in the nation". In June 2016, following the close of the New York State legislature without action on legislation designed to help survivors of childhood sexual abuse, Donohue wrote: "The bill was sold as justice for the victims of sexual abuse, when, in fact, it was a sham: the proposed legislation that failed to make it to the floor of the New York State legislature in the wee hours of Saturday ... was a vindictive bill pushed by lawyers and activists out to rape the Catholic Church."


Catholic higher education

Donohue called the decision of the
University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...
to award an honorary degree to President Obama in 2009 "a slap in the face to the bishops" of the U.S. "given what the bishops have clearly asked of Catholic institutions".


Anti-Catholicism

He protested against what he considers
employment discrimination Employment discrimination is a form of illegal discrimination in the workplace based on legally protected characteristics. In the U.S., federal anti-discrimination law prohibits discrimination by employers against employees based on age, race, ...
against Catholics, in the case of a woman required by her supervisor to remove the
Ash Wednesday Ash Wednesday is a holy day of prayer and fasting in many Western Christian denominations. It is preceded by Shrove Tuesday and marks the first day of Lent: the seven weeks of Christian prayer, prayer, Religious fasting#Christianity, fasting and ...
ashes from her forehead in 2005. In 2007, when a substitute high school teacher in Georgia wiped the ashes from a student's forehead and berated her, Donohue called for the teacher to be disciplined. When school officials reported that the teacher had been "counseled and cautioned", Donohue called the teacher's behavior "morally reprehensible" and asked state education officials to investigate the incident. He faulted the owners of the
Empire State Building The Empire State Building is a 102-story, Art Deco-style supertall skyscraper in the Midtown South neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, United States. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its n ...
for failing to honor
Mother Teresa Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu (born Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, ; 26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997), better known as Mother Teresa or Saint Mother Teresa, was an Albanian-Indian Catholic Church, Roman Catholic nun, founder of the Missionaries of ...
in 2010 and Cardinal Timothy Dolan in 2012. He said: "There's no question that they're much more at home honoring mass murderers there at the Empire State Building and I'm not being facetious. They honored Mao Zedong and others for the 60th anniversary of the Communist Revolution here a few years ago, who took with him 77 million innocent Chinese men, women, and children".


Public art

In 1999, Donohue called for people to picket the
Brooklyn Museum of Art The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 500,000 objects. Located near the Prospect Heig ...
to protest its display of a painting by Chris Ofili titled ''
The Holy Virgin Mary ''The Holy Virgin Mary'' is a mixed media painting created by Chris Ofili in 1996 that utilizes elephant dung and pornographic images. It was one of the works included in the '' Sensation'' exhibition in London, Berlin and New York in 1997– ...
'' that, according to ''The New York Times'', depicted "a black Madonna with a clump of elephant dung on one breast and cutouts of genitalia from pornographic magazines in the background". On November 30, 2010, Donohue denounced a piece of
video art Video art is an art form which relies on using video technology as a visual and audio medium. Video art emerged during the late 1960s as new consumer video technology such as video tape recorders became available outside corporate broadcasting. V ...
, '' A Fire in My Belly'' by
David Wojnarowicz David Michael Wojnarowicz ( ; September 14, 1954 – July 22, 1992) was an American painter, photographer, writer, filmmaker, performance artist, songwriter/recording artist, and HIV/AIDS activism, AIDS activist prominent in the East Village, Ma ...
, that was included in an exhibition of gay and lesbian portraiture at the
Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...
's
National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: * National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra * National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London ...
. The piece included a scene with ants crawling on a
crucifix A crucifix (from the Latin meaning '(one) fixed to a cross') is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the (Latin for 'body'). The cru ...
. Donohue called the video "anti-Christian hate speech" and called for its removal, which the Smithsonian did. Frank Rich described the work as consistent with the use of religious imagery in the Western tradition: "A crucifix is besieged by ants that evoke frantic souls scurrying in panic as a seemingly impassive God looked on." During an interview with
National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...
about the incident, Donohue questioned the Smithsonian's status as a tax-supported institution: The Association of Art Museum Directors called the Smithsonian's decision "extremely regrettable", and Olga Viso, director of the
Walker Art Center The Walker Art Center is a multidisciplinary contemporary art center in the Lowry Hill, Minneapolis, Lowry Hill neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is one of the most-visited modern and contemporary art museums in ...
and formerly of the Smithsonian, said her former employer had "perhaps lost touch with some of the core principles and spirit of its establishment". One of the exhibit's curators said that Donohue represented an anti-Semitic hate group that viewed gays and lesbians as "raw meat" in the culture wars. In 2012, a Manhattan art gallery displayed " Immersion (Piss Christ)", a photograph by Andres Serrano that depicts a small plastic crucifix submerged in the artist's urine. Donohue protested at a news conference outside the gallery and was then denied admission. He pointed out that the Obama administration had recently criticized a film critical of Islam, '' Innocence of Muslims'', but said nothing about Serrano's work. He made his own video of an Obama bobblehead doll with a brown substance, actually "brown Play-Doh", he said, to demonstrate "that the cultural and political elite are basically secularist; they don't believe in God." Pointing to the jar in the video he said: "This is their god."


Individuals

Donohue has had a long-running dispute with political and social commentator
Bill Maher William MaherStated on ''Finding Your Roots'', January 12, 2016, PBS; on a series that lists "Jr." and "Sr." distinctions, Bill Maher's birth name was listed simply as William Maher, while his father was William Aloysius Maher Jr., and his pa ...
. Comedian Kathy Griffin in her 2007 Primetime Emmy acceptance speech, mocked award recipients who thanked God when accepting awards by saying "So all I can say is suck it, Jesus, this award is my god now!" Donohue called her language "obscene and blasphemous" and said: "It is a sure bet that if Griffin had said, 'Suck it, Muhammad,' there would have been a very different reaction". In 2010, after the openly gay pop star
Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...
described Jesus as a "compassionate, super-intelligent gay man who understood human problems", Donohue objected: Discussing
Christopher Hitchens Christopher Eric Hitchens (13 April 1949 – 15 December 2011) was a British and American author and journalist. He was the author of Christopher Hitchens bibliography, 18 books on faith, religion, culture, politics, and literature. He was born ...
's study of
Mother Teresa Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu (born Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, ; 26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997), better known as Mother Teresa or Saint Mother Teresa, was an Albanian-Indian Catholic Church, Roman Catholic nun, founder of the Missionaries of ...
, he termed the author "totally overrated as a scholar ... sloppy in his research", but nevertheless found much to admire, saying: " many respects he was a brilliant guy, he was quick, he was a provocateur, and that's the part of Christopher Hitchens that I loved. But when it came to the facts it didn't seem to matter to him." Donohue said he and Hitchens agreed on abortion, though Hitchens' views on abortion were not exactly those of Donohue. In 1993, Hitchens characterized his thinking as "I have my doubts about abortion. I find I'm very squeamish on the subject". On December 6, 2013, Jon David Couzens filed a defamation lawsuit against Donohue. Couzens, represented by Rebecca Randles, claimed he had sustained injuries following several statements put out by Donohue. In October 2015, a federal district court dismissed charges of defamation, invasion of privacy, and intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress against Donohue. In April 2015, the 8th Circuit of Appeals upheld this ruling.


Writings

* ''The Politics of the American Civil Liberties Union'' (Transaction Publishers, 1985), * ''The New Freedom: Individualism and Collectivism in the Social Lives of Americans'' (Transaction Publishers, 1991) * ''Twilight of Liberty: The Legacy of the ACLU'', (1994) * ''Secular Sabotage: How Liberals Are Destroying Religion and Culture in America'' (NY: FaithWords, 2009), * ''Why Catholicism Matters: How Catholic Virtues Can Reshape Society in the Twenty-First Century'' (2012) * ''The Catholic Advantage: Why Health, Happiness, and Heaven Await the Faithful'' (2015) * ''Unmasking Mother Teresa's Critics (2016)'' * ''Common Sense Catholicism: How to Resolve Our Cultural Crisis'' (2019) * ''The Truth About Clergy Sexual Abuse: Clarifying the Facts and Causes'' (2021) * ''War on Virtue: How the Ruling Class Is Killing the American Dream (2023)''


Notes


References


External links


Catholic League For Religious and Civil Rights
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Donohue, Bill 1947 births Living people Activists from New York (state) American people of Irish descent Critics of Freemasonry Catholics from New York (state) National Association of Scholars People from Manhattan Roman Catholic activists The Heritage Foundation people