Catholic League Attempts To Clarify Pope's Call For Apology To Gays And Lesbians
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Bill Donohue, the President of the Catholic League, addressed a statement from Pope Francis during an interview with Dom Giordano on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT about the need of the Catholic Church to apologize to gays and lesbians.
Donohue attempted to clarify what he thinks the Pope really meant, which is different from the narrative portrayed by many media outlets.
"He did say, initially, that, yes, the Church needs to apologize to gays and then he caught himself and said, wait a minute, when I mean the Chuch, I mean Christians. He said the Church is holy. We are sinners. So, he made the distinction between the institution of the Church and it's teachings and Catholics and sinners, which, obviously, they are. Now, of course, the media ran with that...They kept saying the Church says that we need to apologize."
He said he, as a Catholic, is not apologizing to gays and lesbians, despite being pressed to do so during another media appearance.
"Why would I apologize to an entire demographic group? What did I do?"
Donohue also recounted a physical encounter he had with a group of lesbian protesters, and questioned why they never apologized to him.
"I was kicked in the shins by these lesbians while taking a picture of them. I didn't report it to the cops. I'm not a wimp. But, of course, that doesn't mean anything to these people. If I had kicked a lesbian, Donohue engages in violence against gays, that's what the headline would read. But because I was kicked, it was a number of years ago, what do I care, I just wanted to flip the tables here. If you're talking about apologies, maybe the people who assaulted me would apologize before we have this conversation any further."