Bill Donohue and Alec Baldwin Libel Priest Abuse Victims

By David Fortwengler
Anti-Catholic League
July 2, 2012

http://anticatholicleague.typepad.com/anticatholic_league/

In his neverending quest to manufacture controversy where none exists, Bill Donohue of the Catholic League commented today on an incident that was reported over the weekend.

Actor Alec Baldwin felt he was being harassed by a photographer outside his New York City apartment. In his classic offensive style Baldwin blurted out, “I know you got raped by a priest or something.”

In Bill Donohue’s warped paranoid mind he concluded that hurtful statement shows “we are dealing with a man whose animus against Catholicism is so deep that virtually anything can set him off.” Any time the words priest and rape appear in the same sentence Donohue is hell-bent on identifying the reason as animus, bias, prejudice or anti-Catholicism.

Donohue’s willfull blindness doesn’t allow him to see the obvious, Baldwin libeled priest abuse victims, not the Catholic Church!

The lifelong effects of being a victim of childhood sexual abuse are numerous and complex, but for Baldwin to insinuate it turns someone into a stalking paparazzi is offensive and wrong. He owes an apology.

Baldwin’s statement also does a disservice to the tens of thousands of priest abuse victims who every day, despite their childhood trauma, try to live happy and productive lives.

One vivid example of a victims character was revealed just two weeks ago. A civil case against priest Michael Harris and the Diocese of Orange in California was settled on the eve of trial for two million dollars. The plaintiff, who chose to remain anonymous, is a decorated pilot in the Air Force. He is a lieutenant colonel who has flown combat missions over Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan and other parts of the Middle East. He is a war hero, not a paparazzi stalker.

Obviously this is not the first time Donohue and Baldwin have gone off the rails. Their resumes just get sicker and sicker.