Now Catholics Don't Want ESB Lit Up For Mother Teresa

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A few months ago the Catholic League got angry at the Empire State Building planners for not agreeing to light up blue and white to honor Mother Teresa's 100th birthday. City Councilman Peter Vallone proposed a bill to force the building to light up, Brooklyn Borough Hall and the Intrepid both agreed to light, and Christine Quinn called ESB owner Anthony Malkin a hypocrite. But now, some Catholics are saying Mother Teresa wouldn't want her birthday in lights anyway.

Groups including Catholics for Choice and the National Coalition of American Nuns sent Malkin a letter calling out Catholic League president Bill Donohue for creating a "controversy out of nothing." They write, "Mother Teresa rarely celebrated her birthday herself, and would, we are sure, be appalled to hear that this anniversary of her birth had been used to create such a storm...We urge you to stand firm and withstand whatever vitriol that comes your way from the Catholic League."

However, Donohue says that because they don't want the late nun's birthday celebrated by the lighting of a privately-owned building (and possibly because they don't pay many dues), they are not true Catholics. He told the Wall Street Journal, "They hate me, and, quite frankly, I don't give a s---. They're angry that we have muscle, and they have none...This is an issue which began with Mother Teresa—it now transcends her. What's at stake is this: We have a committed billionaire, secular humanist, Anthony Malkin, who has decided to, in effect, stick his middle finger into the face of Roman Catholics in the United States." Mother Teresa's birthday is this Thursday, and according to the ESB lighting schedule, the building will be the all white "ESB lighting."

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By Jaya Saxena in News on August 23, 2010 11:25 AM

Comments [rss]

John L

As a Catholic, I think the world would be a better place if they put more effort into following the teachings and charitable work of Mother Theresa than fighting for a symbolic lighting, that in essence means nothing.

Mordicai

No Ground Zero Nun Light Up Celebration Thingie!

bleeckerite

Reap what you sow. If you didn't go menstrual over the ESB you wouldn't have had this "media frenzy"; which in reality is not a big deal.

Mr Mel

" (and possibly because they don't pay many dues)?

Jaya, explain that line please.

Jaya Saxena

From the Wall Street Journal:

"In an interview, Mr. Donohue lashed out at his critics, charging that they are not true Catholics. If you put all the dues-paying members of these 'very, very fringe' groups into one spot, he said, they'd 'fit into a phone booth.'"

Mr Mel

I know what you meant, however you didn't write it very well.

FelixtheCat & Christine Quinn'

yeah, Dononhue, because it is about money not faith. No wonder you are such pals with my slush fund Queen Quinn

youngpro

he doesn't mean 'dues' as in money. He meant 'watered down' Catholics who claim to be strong but only go to mass once or twice a year. Paying dues as in attend mass regularly, confession, communion, etc.

TimSPC

. They're angry that we have muscle, and they have none.

All the muscle in the world ain't gonna light that building for that dead lady's birthday.

Sketto

Boy, that Bill Donohue sure makes me miss being Catholic. Perpetually angry, insulting, vindictive, and petty - he is the perfect front man for an organization totally out of touch with its own professed values.