Anti-Catholic Bigots Attack Leonard Leo

By Bill Donohue, Catholic League President 

Leonard Leo, co-chairman of the Federalist Society, and the man most responsible for shepherding through President Trump’s appointments to the federal bench, including three Supreme Court Justices, is being attacked by anti-Catholic bigots in his hometown in Maine, simply because left-wing extremists object to his work. 

The protesters, who are doxxing Leo by showing up at his house in Northeast Harbor, are not content to object to his jurisprudential philosophy. No, they are viciously attacking his Catholicism. 

On July 22, protesters carried signs denouncing his religion and pledging to run him out of town. Leo, who is a member of Opus Dei, a traditional Catholic organization in good standing in the Church, was condemned for his membership in the group.

Anti-Catholic banners read, “Rosaries Off Ovaries,” and a recently created website depicted him as a Ku Klux Klan member (the Klan was anti-Catholic, as well as anti-black and anti-Jewish). His Catholicism was also targeted on social media. He was called a rapist and accused of violating women’s uteruses.

This is what happens when civility breaks down and demagoguery triumphs. The population control crowd, beginning with Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger, has a long history of anti-Catholicism. Today’s iteration is even more virulent, and in some cases, such as with Antifa and Jane’s Revenge, anti-Catholic bigots turn violent, especially when the issue of abortion is prominent. 

What happened to Leo should be condemned by all men and women, independent of what side they choose on the subject of abortion. 

Anti-Catholic bigotry, and angry protests outside the home of a public person, have no legitimate place in public dialogue. But to those who can’t marshal a plausible defense of their abortion politics, resorting to bigotry comes naturally to them.