NEW YORK, N.Y. (Catholic League) - Pastor John Hagee has amended his news release from yesterday. He now has a new paragraph, part of which reads as follows:

“I’ve learned that some have accused me of referring to the Catholic Church as the ‘great whore,’ of Revelations. This is a serious misinterpretation of my words. When I refer to the ‘great whore,’ I am referring to the apostate church, namely those Christians who embrace the false cult system of Jew-hatred and anti-Semitism.” He says this would include some Protestants as well as Catholics.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue wasn’t buying it:

“Anti-Catholic Protestants have long labeled the Catholic Church ‘The Great Whore,’ and no amount of spin can change that reality. No one who knows anything about the term would suggest otherwise.

Indeed, the Catholic League has a whole library of anti-Catholic books wherein such demonizing language is used. Moreover, just go to Yahoo and type in ‘The Great Whore’ and here is what you get.

“The first site, thegreatwhore.com, not only identifies the Catholic Church with ‘The Great Whore,’ it has pictures of Pope Benedict XVI and Pope John Paul II as presiding over the City of Rome wherein ‘The Great Whore’ lives.

Site number two is wikipedia, and it correctly says that ‘Most Reformation writers and all Reformers themselves, from Martin Luther…John Calvin, and John Knox…identify the Roman Catholic Church with the Whore of Babylon.’

The third site is jesus-is-savior.com, and it has a picture of Our Blessed Mother, with the inscription, ‘Mary (the mother of Jesus) is not the great whore; Catholicism’s Mother Mary (the Catholic religion) is the Great Whore!’ [My italics.]

John McCain is not an anti-Catholic, but he has shown horrendous judgment in buddying up to this bigot and spin doctor. Maybe he didn’t know this side of Hagee before, but he sure knows it now. Time for the ‘Straight Talk Express’ to leave the station before Hagee goes off the rails again.”