"Anti-Catholic" Sculpture Subject of New Lawsuit

As was reported here a couple of months ago, at Washburn University in Kansas a statue that looks like a bishop, but is also subtlety shaped like a penis, has created quite a lot of controversy. Now, the Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, has filed the civil rights lawsuit alleging that "the university's display conveys the impermissible message of hostility toward Catholics and the Catholic religion."

U.S. Newswire reports:

National Catholic leaders including William Donohue, the president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, have objected to the sculpture for the last several months. On Oct. 3, 2003, Catholic Archbishop James Keleher of the Archdioceses of Kansas City in Kansas wrote an open letter to Washburn University President Dr. Jerry Farley, expressing his disappointment and strongly urging the university to remove this symbol of anti-Catholicism. In his letter, the Archbishop wrote, "I am surprised and dismayed that the university would allow such a piece which many recognize as not only insensitive and insulting but even obscene to be part of an even temporary beautification." He stated further, "I am extremely disappointed at this present situation that is an affront to me, to many Catholics and to others who value decency and respect. I am particularly concerned for your many Catholic students who see their faith ridiculed and they themselves embarrassed."

Is it "Catholic bashing" to create such a statue? Of course not - nothing is said about Catholics. If anything is said, it is about the Catholic hierarchy and Catholic institutions. Is there any reason why people cannot be critical of them, even if that criticism offends some Catholics? No.

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