Catholic League's Bill Donohue Wants Apology From Gays After Being Assaulted by Lesbians
Catholic League President Bill Donohue said it is he who deserves an apology from the LGBT community following remarks by Pope Francis that called on Christians to apologize to gay people and others they have offended.
CNN's Chris Cuomo spoke with Donohue in an interview on Tuesday, where the latter was asked whether he feels like apologizing to the gay community.
"No," responded Donohue. "As a matter of fact, I want an apology from gays! I've been assaulted by gays. I've never assaulted a gay person in my entire life," he said, referring to an incident at a gay pride parade where he recalled being "assaulted by lesbians."
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The discussion centered on recent comments made by the pope which Donohue insisted have been widely misrepresented by major news outlets.
The Vatican leader told reporters on Sunday: "I think the Church not only must say it is sorry to the gay person it has offended, but also to the poor, to exploited women."
He added: "The Church must say it is sorry for not having behaved as it should many times, many times — when I say the 'Church,' I mean we Christians because the Church is holy; we are the sinners. We Christians must say we are sorry."
Donohue accused CNN and a number of other news outlets of distorting the story by suggesting that it is the Catholic Church that was called to apologize to gay people.
"The teachings of the Church are not the problem — the Church is 'holy' — it is the words and deeds of those Christians who have sinned that is the problem," the pontiff said in an online statement.
The Catholic League president argued that dishonest media headlines are looking to demand reforms to Catholic teachings even though Francis never spoke out against them.
"The pope drew a distinction between the institution of the Church and the individuals who comprise it. Ergo, no action is required," Donohue argued.
"In most cases, both the news headline and the text of the story got it wrong. In some cases, the story correctly offered the pope's clarification, but the headline was wrong. No matter, the public is being deceived and the truth is being distorted."
The Cuomo-Donohue interview touched on several topics, with Donohue being asked why he doesn't speak out against other sins, such as adultery, as loudly as he does against homosexuality, but he insisted that he does.
Donohue further clarified his stance: "Your status as a gay person is morally irrelevant. You are a child of God, and you have the same opportunity to go into Heaven as anyone else. Behavior is different. Straight people do all kinds of things sexually that the Church does not approve of."
