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      WASHINGTON, DC (CWNews.com) - President Bill Clinton, taking advantage of a constitutional loophole, made a rare "recess appointment" to name a prominent homosexual as ambassador to mainly Catholic Luxembourg, avoiding a Senate vote.

      James C. Hormel, heir to the vast Hormel Foods fortune, has been a frequent contributor to radical homosexual causes, including the anti-Catholic gay group, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, causing many Catholics to oppose his nomination. "It's not the man's sexual orientation, but his record of anti-Catholic bigotry," said William Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights.

      A provision of the Constitution allows the president to temporarily fill certain positions that would normally require a Senate vote when the Congress is in recess. The Congress is on Memorial Day recess until later in the month. The appointment would normally have to be confirmed within 24 months, but all ambassadorships come up for grabs at the end of the Clinton's term in 2001.

      "I think that by forcing Americans to be represented by a radical homosexual activist like Hormel, Clinton is showing his contempt for traditional morality, marriage, sexual fidelity and any concept of honor," said Robert Knight of the Family Research Council, a pro-family group. "Who's he going to appoint next? Larry Flynt as ambassador to the Vatican?"

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