Bill Donohue "Tempted" By Thought Of New Inquisition [VIDEO]

Posted by Bruce Wilson at 10:35 AM on May 20, 2007.

"the idea of bringing it [The Spanish Inquisition] back is awfully tempting" - William Donohue, in an April 22, 2005 Catholic League press release.

It's hard to escape the impression that Catholic League head William Donohue lacked an awareness that Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, John Cleese, et. al did parodies, not documentaries, and so learned about the Spanish Inquisition from Monty Python skits.

In a recent Catholic League press release, Donohue downplayed the atrocities of the Spanish Inquisition and has even said in the past that it mightn't be a bad thing to bring the institution back.

Donohue seems to think the Inquisition was a "pillows and comfy chairs" operation rather than a business that was known, at its most prosaic, to burn people alive or, waxing creative, to use fire to scare rodents into gnawing through the torsos, hearts, lungs, and entrails of victims and out the other side: not to mention "The Pear", The "Judas Chair", or the "Iron Maiden". The Catholic Church itself has apologized for the horrible affair the Inquisition truly was... but not "Wild Bill" Donohue.

Frank Cocozzelli, for Talk To Action, busts Donohue for both downplaying the Inquisition, via dubious revisionist history, and shines a light on apparent abuses, on the part of both Donohue's Catholic League and the Opus Dei related Fidelis, of their federal nonprofit tax status as they mount apparently coordinated public attacks, with partisan political overtones, on political candidates. ( see extended story )

As Cocozzelli observes:

what else could be expected from someone who is on the record as saying that bringing back the Inquisition "...is awfully tempting."

Pushing the Boundaries of the Not-For-Profit Rules?

But if Donohue sees himself in the tradition of the Inquisitions, perhaps being a bumbling Television critic may actually be the least of Donohue's problems.

Earlier this year I illustrated how the Catholic League, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, tax-exempt organization, may have coordinated a two-pronged "Catholic" attack on the Edwards campaign with Fidelis, an entity which describes itself as having filed for a 501(c)(4) status  The same piece also detailed the links both groups have to ultra-conservative GOP Presidential candidate and U.S. Senator Sam Brownback. At the time I observed:

If Donohue and his Catholic Right friends keep attacking Edwards instead of quickly accepting his apology--as they did with then-candidate George W. Bush in 2000, then that suggests political motive. If Donohue and friends never or even mildly attack GOP Presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani for his pro-choice, pro-gay rights positions, then that too suggests political motive. And if both Catholic League and Fidelis both to appear to levy coordinated attacks upon Giuliani if he is in a tight primary race with U.S. Senator Sam Brownback, then that should pretty much seal the deal.

Well, such coordinated attacks upon candidate Giuliani may have now come to pass.

When Giuliani stated that he had donated to Planned Parenthood, Donohoue pounced with a May 9, 2007 Catholic League press release, demanding to see the checks "...he's written to support Crisis Pregnancy Centers," adding that if he could if he could not, "...that would make him a fraud."

As if taking their cue, the next day Fidelis, which unlike the Catholic League as a 501(c)(4) would be allowed to engage in political advocacy joined the fray. Its president, Joseph Cella, in a style of self-importance that Bill Donohue would be proud of, expounded, "This is the third position Rudy Giuliani has had on abortion in two weeks, and his credibility with faithful Catholics and other pro-life voters is beginning to evaporate." In fact the release was entitled, "Giuliani: A John Kerry Catholic on Abortion"

Perhaps believing that one should strike while the iron is hot, on May 11, 2007 the Catholic League then issued a second press release thundering, "Giuliani Clarifies Nothing." Donohue pronounced: "It is up to Republicans to decide whether Giuliani is the best candidate. But Catholics of both parties, as well as Independents, have a right to know-in great detail-how a Catholic candidate will decide on a matter the Catholic Church regards as 'intrinsically evil.'"

Tagged as: inquisition, catholic, donohue

Bruce Wilson writes for Talk To Action, a blog specializing in faith and politics.