May 13, 2008 / 16:17 pm
An apologetic letter sent by the Texas pastor Rev. John Hagee to the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights has put an end to the controversy surrounding his alleged anti-Catholic views, the Catholic League said on Tuesday.
Hagee had been criticized for reportedly calling the Catholic Church “The Great Whore,” an “apostate church,” the “anti-Christ,” and a “false cult system.” He had also accused the Catholic Church of nurturing anti-Semitism. Hagee repeated allegations of Pope Pius XII’s indifference to Nazism and linked Adolf Hitler’s anti-Semitism to his Catholic education.
Hagee’s views became a national issue after he endorsed Arizona Senator John McCain’s bid to become the Republican presidential nominee.
In a May 12 letter to the Catholic League and its president Bill Donohue, Rev. Hagee said he was writing to “clarify my views” and “advance greater unity between Catholics and Evangelicals.”