Catholic League president Bill Donohue is supporting the Archdiocese of New Orleans in its quest to receive federal assistance for Catholic schools devastated by Hurricane Katrina:
“Hurricane Katrina did not discriminate between public and private institutions, and neither should the Louisiana Recovery Authority in providing relief. Moreover, the Archdiocese of New Orleans has not discriminated against public school students displaced by the disaster — it has welcomed them in — and indeed it has even turned its all-boys and all-girls schools into coed institutions just to accommodate the overflow.
“It is particularly important for Democrats to step up to the plate. It is outrageous that the only reference to Hurricane Katrina and Catholic schools on the website of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) is a statement from 2005 deriding President Bush for advocating school vouchers to students impacted by the disaster. Is this what the DNC means by appealing to values voters?
“Now is the time for Democrats on the recovery panel to break with the precedent set by the DNC and push for a fair disbursement of monies, one that does not treat Catholic students as second-class citizens. That is why I am writing to every member of the Louisiana Recovery Authority today urging an equitable distribution of federal funds.”
(This update courtesy of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights.)
