Catholics oppose 'bigot' on faith-based council

Harry knox

NEW YORK CITY – An effort among Catholics to remove a homosexual activist from President Obama's White House faith-based council is gaining support in Congress.

In a letter addressed to President Obama, Catholic League president Bill Donahue has called for the dismissal of Harry Knox from the White House advisory council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

"Harry Knox is a virulent anti-Catholic bigot and has made numerous vile and dishonest attacks against the church and the Holy Father," Donahue said in his letter to President Obama. "He has no business on any council having to do with faith or religion."

In a news conference today from the Capitol, House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, agreed.

"I consider Harry Knox's appointment to a faith-based White House program inappropriate given his anti-Catholic rhetoric, and I hope other members of Congress would agree," Boehner told reporters.

Boehner joins Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., the chairman of the House Republican Conference, in calling for Knox's removal.

In an exclusive interview with WorldNetDaily in his New York office, Donahue was equally emphatic.

"As a member of this council, Knox would work against the Catholic church's interest on all matters dealing with sexual conduct," Donahue told WND.

"I'm a little sick and tired of the double standard," he continued. "If somebody was anti-Semite or anti-Muslim they would not be given a position anywhere in the Obama administration, let alone be asked to serve on a faith-based group.

"Once we found out that this man had made a number of incredibly vitriolic comments about the pope as well as Catholic activists, we began to look into his record," Donahue said. "His record is very deep, not just one 'throw-away' statement, but a series of one comment after another.

"Why should Catholics have a lower standard in the Obama administration than ministers or rabbis or imams?" he asked. "Knox has an animus against the pope and against the Catholic church. It is unrelenting. He is given an opportunity to retract and he says 'No.' Case closed."

Knox, the director of the religion and faith program at the Human Rights Campaign, a homosexual activist group, has insisted on standing by a statement in which he said, "The pope's statement that condoms don't help control the spread of HIV, but rather condoms increase infections rates, is hurting people in the name of Jesus," according to a report published in Catholic OnLine.

On March 19, Knox told the Bay Area Reporter that the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic lay organization, is "a discredited army of oppression" that "followed discredited leaders," including Pope Benedict XVI, "a pope who literally today said condoms don't help in the control of AIDS."

Donahue stressed his objections stemmed directly from Knox's appointment to a White House religion-oriented initiative, not another government position, such as being appointed to serve on an environmental advisory committee.

He also noted that Tony Dungy, former NFL football coach of the Indianapolis Colts, reportedly declined to accept President Obama's appointment to the White House faith-based advisory council when objections were raised to Dungy's efforts in Indiana to support state legislation designed to ban same-sex marriage.

"When Tony Dungy is pressured to decline an invitation to serve on the same board – simply because he believes marriage should be between a man and a woman – then justice demands that Knox be removed," Donahue's letter to President Obama argued.

"I have said repeatedly that if you disagree with the Catholic church on public policy matters, have at it," Donahue told WND. "If you want to demonize the Catholic church, then you have stepped over the line."

"Moreover, Knox, who is not a Catholic, has a record of slamming the Catholic church on internal matters that are none of his business," Donahue said in a press release. "To wit: he blasted the decision of a priest not to give Holy Communion to a lesbian activist couple, and he accused the Catholic church of promoting 'mind control' and a 'dangerous' position for simply saying that candidates for the priesthood cannot support the 'gay culture.'"

The controversy involved a 2007 case in which a priest in Cheyenne, Wyo., refused communion to a lesbian activist couple, after arguing he was obeying the instruction of Bishop David Ricken, as reported by the Associated Press.

In a published statement on the Human Rights Campaign website, Knox said in reference to this case that, "In this holy Lenten season, it is immoral … to use the body and blood of Christ the reconciler as a weapon to silence free speech and demean the love of a committed, legally married community."

On April 6, when offered a chance to retract his statements, Knox told CNSNews.com that he "absolutely" stands behind his criticism of the pope.

"The pope needs to start telling the truth about condom use," Knox told CNSNews.com. “We are eager to help him do that. Until he is willing to do that and able, he's doing a great deal more harm than good – not just in Africa but around the world. It is endangering people's lives."

A WND message requesting a comment from Knox was not returned immediately.

Donahue yesterday participated in a teleconference with some 20 other Catholic leaders demanding Knox's dismissal.

"When questioned about Knox’s appointment, Democratic leaders like Nancy Pelosi and White House spokesman Robert Gibbs always claim ignorance of his anti-Catholic record," Donahue said in a statement posted on the Catholic League's website. "Thus, the reason for the teleconference."

The website of the Human Rights Campaign describes the group as "working for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equal rights."

WND previously reported that a senior Harvard research scientist confirmed that Pope Benedict XVI, who endured heavy criticism for declaration that condom distribution programs worsen the AIDS epidemic in Africa, actually is correct.

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