More on Virginia's Apology

THE WASHINGTON POST, May 2—When did the state of Virginia stop forcibly sterilizing people in the name of eugenics? Was it 1929? 1939? Try 1979, reported the Washington daily.

Virginia Governor Mark Warner issued a formal apology May 1 for the state's abusive policy, which began in 1927 and affected at least 8,000 people. The apology came on the 75th anniversary of a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that upheld the state's 1924 eugenics law.

A few key facts that don't appear in the Post: At the time, the Catholic Church was one of the few opponents of such eugenics legislation, which was heavily promoted by Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger, and eagerly emulated in Nazi Germany, in the name of science and progress.

Involuntary sterilization was aimed, according to model legislation proposed in 1914 by a eugenics group, at “the feebleminded, insane, criminalistic, epileptic, inebriate, diseased, blind, deaf, deformed and dependent,” as well as “orphans, ne'er-do-wells, tramps, the homeless and paupers,” the Post reported. It was practiced by 30 states, and victimized some 65,000 Americans, before being largely discredited after the Second World War.

Sly Stallone Keeps the Faith

ASSOCIATED PRESS, May 7—Sylvester Stallone told the news service that his projected fall television series, Father Lefty, about a street-smart Catholic priest, will not be derailed by the scandals in the Church. In fact, he thinks that America's Catholics have had quite enough negative publicity, and are “looking to exhale.”

Stallone said of the abuser priests, “We know the police are on it, the public is aware of it and they are all being rooted out.”

Stallone created and produced the show, which will star Danny Nucci as an offbeat Miami padre who takes on crime in his gang-infested parish. It's based on the adventures of an actual priest, Father Robert Lefrack, whom Stallone described as “Bruce Springsteen with a collar.”

CBS has not yet scheduled the program, and some have drawn the conclusion that recent scandals doomed it. “People have come up to me and given me their condolences,” Stallone admitted. “They said, ‘Boy, talk about timing. Who wants to see a story about a good priest?’” To which Stallone, creator of Rocky, responds, “Well, who wants to see a story about a punch-drunk boxer?”

Stallone told Associated Press that he is a practicing Catholic, who trusts his local parish priest.

Cardinal Law's Unexpected Defenders

THE BOSTON HERALD, May 8—The Boston Herald has been tracking the coverage of child-abuse cases, and found that embattled Cardinal Bernard Law has unsuspected supporters in Boston's African-American community.

The Herald reported on a meeting of the Boston Baptist Social Union, where Cardinal Law was defended by Black Muslim and Protestant leaders.

“Somebody wants that Church toppled,” warned Don Muhammad, local head of the Nation of Islam. “It has become too powerful in the eyes of some people and they absolutely want to see it toppled. … Do not lose sight of the fact the Catholic Church has done a whole lot of good, and we're about to lose that in this community unless more of us stand up and say what we know is right.”

Gordon Abbott, the Social Union's longtime treasurer, also defended the Church. “I think of the commercial that says, ‘We measure our success one investor at a time,’” Abbott said. “I feel that's the way the rest of us should judge the Catholic clergy—one priest at a time; I think we'd find most of them are pretty good guys.”