Virginia’s Catholic bishops are calling on Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam to rescind his appointment of an activist with a history of anti-Catholic tweets.
Earlier this month, Northam appointed Gail Gordon Donegan to serve on the Virginia Council on Women, a state body focused on women’s issues. Donegan’s Twitter feed is littered with vulgar anti-Catholic tweets.
Bishops Michael Burbidge, of the Arlington Diocese, and Barry Knestout, of the Richmond Diocese, jointly called on Northam to rescind the appointment in a letter sent to the state’s Catholics on Tuesday.
“We expect anyone appointed to a council, board or commission for the Commonwealth to be respectful of all faith groups and civil in his or her public comments,” said Burbridge. “Her statements are offensive to Catholics and our faith.”
Donegan’s anti-Catholic tweets often mocked the church sex abuse crisis.
“Abortion is morally indefensible to Catholic priests bcuz it results in fewer children to rape,” she tweeted in 2010.
“Dr, lawyer & priest on Titantic [sic]. Doc: save the children! lawyer: f— the children! Priest: Is there time?” she wrote a few years later.
Donegan defended her tweets, saying “people who swear make better friends” and noting, “I will say for the record that my father was severely beaten in Catholic foster homes and I am an atheist. My father was orphaned at age 4, sent to live in Catholic foster homes and severely beaten until he ran away at age 14.”
After the tweets were publicized, Northam’s spokeswoman said, “The governor certainly does not condone this language,” but did not comment on whether Donegan’s appointment would be rescinded.
