Founded on April 27, 1973, The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights celebrates its 50th anniversary on Thursday, an organization transformed by the leadership of its outspoken lay president, William “Bill” Donohue, also a prolific author.

The organization describes itself as “Motivated by the letter and the spirit of the First Amendment, the Catholic League works to safeguard both the religious freedom rights and the free speech rights of Catholics whenever and wherever they are threatened.”

The group was founded by the late Virgil Blum, S.J., to counter anti-Catholic bias in government and media. Donohue became president in 1993, and has led the organization ever since.

Ahead of an anniversary celebration dinner on Thursday evening, where Cardinal Timothy Dolan is scheduled to speak, Donohue spoke with The Good Newsroom by telephone about the past and the future.

“The number one thing that I’m most proud of is the fact that I turned around an organization that was an organizational and financial mess and we are very financially sound today, We do not get a nickel from the government or the Catholic Church. We are one of the few grassroots organizations left in the United States,” Donohue said. “We are on a solid, strong foundation, and I guess that would be my foundation. We’re going to be around for some time. We are not spending every nickel either. We have made wise investments and the like.”

When asked for whom the Catholic League speaks today, Donohue responded, “We represent our members, we represent an awful lot of people who are dues paying members, but also tens of thousands more people who are on our email list.” He later added, “I think it’s fair to say we represent the average Catholic in the pew, not the average Catholic in America. The avg. Catholic in the pew is not in rebellion in the Catholic Church, they actually pay the bills.”

Looking towards the Catholic League’s next half-century, the 75-year-old Manhattan native said, “I would say the culture is up for grabs. People who represent traditional moral values say that our side is losing. Is it over? No. If that’s the case I would have quit. I see some very encouraging signs. There is no such thing as an iron law of history. Things can get better, and things can get worse. We need to have more Catholic leaders, including the clergy, who need to be more vocal. Sure, there was the scandal, but that was in the 60s or 70s or 80s. We need to be bolder, and we need to keep the voice of the Catholic Church,” he said.

“The future will be to fight to turn the culture around. Institutions that have been normally family-friendly have gone woke, Disney being one. What about the Fortune 500? What about the FBI? It’s not just about the Left in entertainment. We have to be more engaging in religious coalitions. I don’t think any of the religions have done a good job,” Donohue said.