By John-Henry Westen

NEW YORK, September 16, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A new book on the shelves called “Being Catholic Now” has sparked the ire of some Catholics. Catholic League President Bill Donohue lambasted the book in an interview with LifeSiteNews.com today, noting that the offering compiled by Kerry Kennedy is filled with contributions from anti-Catholics, wayward Catholics and only a few authentic Catholics.

“The Kerry Kennedy book is rather amazing,” Donohue told LifeSiteNews.com. “It’s called ‘Being Catholic Now,’ yet many people in the book reject the Church’s teaching on almost everything. Some of them are outright haters of the Catholic Church, and they admit that. Many of them have fallen away, and they admit that. So you have to wonder about the title.”

Contributions from anti-Catholics Bill Maher and James Carroll are in the book, alongside dissidents such as Nancy Pelosi, Susan Sarandon and Sister Joan Chittister. However, there are also chapters by retired Washington Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, Catholic philanthropist Tom Monaghan and author and columnist Peggy Noonan.

One of the chapters sure to catch attention, however, is by famed Hollywood actor Dan Akroyd. “The Dan Akroyd contribution is rather amazing,” said Donohue. “Like most Americans I always thought fondly of him, particularly with his great movie, ‘The Blues Brothers’, with Belushi. Then you read about this man – he says he doesn’t need to have Catholicism to be ethical and on top of that he says there’s no such thing as sexual morality, even to the point of saying that a man having sex with a dog or a cat would be perfectly fine by him provided that the cat or dog could be sentient and could make a decision.”

In his own words, Akroyd says, “I’d embrace gay and lesbian priests, because I don’t believe homosexuality is immoral.” Akroyd continues, “I draw the line at bestiality because it’s unfair to the dog or the cat. If the dog or the cat had consciousness, then that’d be OK with me. Sexuality has nothing to do with morality.”

Donohue concluded, “If I were a pet owner and was going away for the weekend the last thing I’d do with Fido is drop him off at Dan Akroyd’s house.”