Marjorie Taylor Greene, the controversial Republican U.S. Representative from Georgia, said in an announcement released on April 27 that she believes Catholic bishops are “satanic” and accused them of “destroying our nation” through their support of migrants.
The greater than 700-word statement takes aim at Catholic bishops and Bill Donohue, the pinnacle of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights. Mr. Donohue took issue with an April 25 interview Ms. Greene gave to Church Militant, a fringe media organization that has been instructed by its local bishop not to make use of “Catholic” in its name and incessantly attacks Pope Francis, supports right-wing political causes and traffics in misinformation. In that interview, Ms. Greene said that Devil was “controlling” the Catholic Church in america.
In response, Mr. Donohue released an announcement on April 27 demanding an apology on behalf of Catholics and calling Ms. Greene “a loose cannon.”
Marjorie Taylor Greene said in an announcement that she believes Catholic bishops are “satanic” and accused them of “destroying our nation” through their support of migrants.
Later that day, Ms. Greene released her own statement, doubling down on her Devil comments, attacking Mr. Donohue and stating that she left the Catholic Church due to the clergy sexual abuse scandal.
“I ended attending Catholic Mass after I became a mother, because I noticed that I couldn’t trust the Church leadership to guard my children from pedophiles, and that they harbored monsters even in their very own ranks,” Ms. Greene said.
“Just so we’re clear, bishops, after I said ‘controlled by Devil,’ I wasn’t talking concerning the Catholic Church,” she continued. “I used to be talking about you.”
No less than one lawmaker has called out Ms. Greene for her comments. Rep. Ted Lieu, a Democrat from California, said in a speech on the House floor Thursday that the comments were “bigoted” and called on Republican leaders to sentence them. Olivia Troye, a former national security advisor to former Vice President Mike Pence, called Ms. Greene’s comments “repulsive” in a tweet, saying they may “result in threats” against Catholics.
“Just so we’re clear, bishops, after I said ‘controlled by Devil,’ I wasn’t talking concerning the Catholic Church,” Ms. Greene. “I used to be talking about you.”
The controversy involves three individuals—Ms. Greene, Mr. Donohue and the pinnacle of Church Militant, Michael Voris—who each have a history of creating over-the-top comments about current events and culture war issues as a method to call attention to their causes.
“This isn’t about Catholicism. It’s not about Christianity. It’s nearly each of those players attempting to generate more income and more attention,” David Gibson, head of the Center on Religion and Culture at Fordham University, told America. “The Catholic League, Church Militant and Marjorie Taylor Greene, they’re all on the precise, but they each have their very own agendas, they each have their very own platforms and profiles they need to boost. They need money. That is all about promotion greater than it’s about any real substance or grievance.”
Last yr, Ms. Greene’s colleagues voted to remove her from congressional committees, citing her belief that some school shootings were hoaxes and that the Sept. 11 attacks were staged and her sharing of videos with anti-Semitic content. She also supports the falsehood that former President Trump won the 2020 election.
“This isn’t about Catholicism. It’s not about Christianity. It’s nearly each of those players attempting to generate more income and more attention, David Gibson told America.
In her April 27 statement, Ms. Greene accused bishops of attempting to destroy america through their support of more generous immigration policies. Like other conservatives who’ve made similar accusations, Ms. Greene suggested that Catholic organizations take advantage of government contracts to supply take care of migrants.
“The bishops are also busy destroying our nation using taxpayer money to advocate for the illegal invasion across our borders. They dare to decorate up Democrat vandalism and lawlessness as one way or the other ‘religious,’ which perhaps explains their distaste for me,” she said. “What more can we expect from criminals and abusers living unaccountable lives of luxury funded by the remaining of us, draped in effective linens while choirboys are raped.”
The Catholic League was founded in 1973, and Mr. Donohue has headed the organization since 1993. Just a number of years into his leadership, some church observers noted that Mr. Donohue had transformed the organization into a politically conservative group willing to have interaction within the culture wars and even tackle other Catholics. Mr. Gibson said that the Catholic League’s actual influence among the many U.S. hierarchy is unclear. Using “Catholic” in its name causes confusion, he added.
In her April 27 statement, Ms. Greene accused bishops of attempting to destroy america through their support of more generous immigration policies.
“Marjorie Taylor Greene’s role within the Republican Party is akin to Bill Donohue’s role within the Catholic Church,” he said. “They’re each outliers in a single sense, but they’re each closely identified with their respective organizations. And that is an issue.”
In some areas, Church Militant and the Catholic League appear to share common views. Each groups, for instance, have blamed homosexuality within the priesthood for the abuse crisis, despite studies and expert opinions which have discounted that theory. But in the case of their thoughts on the U.S. hierarchy, they diverge sharply. While the Catholic League is independent of the institutional church, Mr. Donohue recurrently issues press releases defending church leaders against perceived slights within the media and has been repeatedly interviewed by Recent York’s Cardinal Timothy Dolan.
The pinnacle of Church Militant, Mr. Voris, takes a more dim view of Catholic bishops and Pope Francis.
In a video segment concerning the clash posted on Church Militant’s website on April 27, he described bishops as “perverts in miters” and said the U.S. hierarchy is an “international gay crime syndicate.” (Mr. Voris said in 2016 he previously had sexual relationships with other men.)
In a video segment concerning the clash posted on Church Militant’s website, he described bishops as “perverts in miters” and said the U.S. hierarchy is an “international gay crime syndicate.”
The language in Ms. Greene’s statement is comparable to that incessantly utilized by Church Militant. Within the video, Mr. Voris and 4 other Church Militant commentators praised the statement and skim through parts they found especially compelling. Mr. Voris gave a nod to Ms. Greene’s assessment of U.S. Catholicism.
“She seems to have her finger on the heart beat of the conditions of the church without delay,” he said.
(An inquiry to Ms. Greene’s office asking if Church Militant helped craft her statement was not immediately answered. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops also didn’t reply to a request for comment.)
Ms. Greene and Mr. Voris each accused Mr. Donohue of being a “lap dog” for U.S. bishops and questioned his $900,000 salary.
“I personally, baptized and married within the Catholic Church, left because I might not submit the spiritual and physical livelihood of my children to those monsters,” Ms. Greene said. “Bill Donohue, in contrast, makes one million dollars a yr, partly from sending out emails to defend corrupt bishops. He has done nothing in his long profession to reform the appalling state of the clergy.”
On Thursday, Mr. Donohue responded, posting on his website a letter he sent to congressional leaders asking them to censure Ms. Greene.
“The time has come for her to be either reprimanded or censured. Her irresponsible behavior has already caused her to be faraway from committee assignments. Accordingly, her burst of anti-Catholicism now demands stronger sanctions against her,” he wrote.
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