Christianity: Details about 'Anti Catholic'
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Anti-Catholicism is opposition to the Roman Catholic Church or to Catholics, often employing mischaracterizations, stereotypes and negative prejudices. Its motivations are sometimes religious or political opposition. Occasionally it is little more than rank bigotry.
Religious anti-CatholicismOn the Internet anti-Catholic sites are reportedly rampant. A check on the words "Catholicism is evil" yields some examples. The Southern Poverty Law Center specifically cites groups like the New Black Panthers, as an anti-Catholic group with an Internet presence. Other groups deemed to be Anti-Catholic who have an online presence include "Reaching Catholics for Christ", "Good News For Catholics", and Chick Publications. Further, when a Christian humor site called "Ship of Fools" recently asked for offensive religious jokes as a rebuke of proposed religious anti-defamation laws, the jokes they received and deemed to be "too far" generally concerned Catholicism or Catholic priests. By "too far" what was normally meant is that the jokes were essentially about expressing hatred rather than attempting any kind of humor. Traditional anti-Catholic works include Charles Chiniquy's 50 Years In The Church of Rome and The Priest, the Woman and the Confessional in which he accuses Catholicism of being pagan. Such sentiments are common among some Protestant fundamentalists Christians, specifically those that deny the Catholic Church's standing as a Christian church. Proponents often cite Scripture, such as the Book of Revelation, chapters 17 and 18, which they claim depict the Pope as the Antichrist or the False Prophet and the Catholic Church as being the "Whore of Babylon". Proponents of anti-Catholicism also claim that the Mass is an abomination in the eyes of Jesus Christ. Many anti-Catholics also claim that Catholics worship the Blessed Virgin Mary. Curiously in recent times this idea of Marian Goddess worship has arisen in some Neo-Pagan or New Age circles who view it more as a positive or ambiguous trait. One high-profile example of anti-Catholicism is the series of tracts produced by noted anti-Catholic and comic book evangelist Jack Chick, in particular his Alberto series. These tracts accuse the papacy of using the Jesuits to incite revolutions all over the world, and claim that the papacy was the driving force behind Muhammad and helped both Communism and National Socialism come to power. Chick's works also claim that "Catholic Germany" was responsible for the Holocaust. One of the most famous tracts is titled Are Roman Catholics Christians?, in which the reader is told that the Catholic Church's doctrines are against God and inspired by Satan. While these views are not widely held, several Roman Catholic organizations continue to battle anti-Catholic sentiment fed by, or explicitly formed by, such materials. Jack Chick's chief source of Anti-Catholicism is Alberto Rivera who claims that he was a Jesuit and that he infiltrated many Protestant churches. Neither Jack Chick nor Alberto Rivera have substantiated his claims. Christianity Today published a repudiation of all claims that Alberto was a true story, and proved that Rivera was never a Jesuit, never graduated High School, never graduated any Seminary or received Holy orders. Evidence provided by Chick failed to give any date where Holy Orders was given, and consisted of secondary documents stating Rivera was claiming to be a Priest. Other Anti-Catholic works in the religious domain include John Foxe's Book of Martyrs in which he chronicles the Church persecution of Protestants. During the 19th century, Rebecca Reed's Six Months in a Convent sold 200,000 copies in a month within publication in 1835. Reed was a nun who alleged she had been held captive in an Ursuline convent near Boston. Though the Mother Superior of that convent denied Reed had been a nun, an angry mob burned the convent. Reed's story led to other anti-Catholics publishing tales. One was told by a Canadian girl named Maria Monk and became an even larger best-seller called Awful Disclosures of the Hotel-Dieu Nunnery. In the book it was claimed that nuns served as a harem for Catholic priests, and any children born to such unions were murdered after baptism. Alexander Hislop's The Two Babylons claims that the Catholic Church originated from a Babylonian mystery religion and that its practices are pagan. Outside of Protestantism, Russian Orthodoxy has expressed anti-Catholicism at times. This was strongly influenced by their rivalry of, and then rule, of Poland. In many cases their Anti-Polonism and Anti-Catholicism went hand in hand. Some objected on theological grounds and felt special antipathy to the "Uniates." Those who spoke Russian and belonged to a "Uniate" church were often encouraged (or pressured) to "return to the fold." The most noteworthy Russian writer to have religious antipathy to Catholicism is Fyodor Dostoevsky. In the chapter of The Brothers Karamazov called The Grand Inquisitor, the Catholic Church is alleged to have become a servant of Satan some time in the eighth century. This date is not arbitrary, as it coincides with the last Ecumenical Council recognized by both faiths. Curiously the book is said to be well-liked by Pope Benedict XVI, perhaps because he sees it only as a criticism of the Inquisition. However, such an interpretation is flawed as it ignores the consistent anti-Catholicism in his writing and thought. In Notes from Underground the main character fantasizes about making the world a better place by eliminating or overthrowing the Pope, even his characters who defend Catholics believed in Jesuit conspiracies. In more modern times the Center for Religious Freedom states that Russia currently restricts the travel of Catholic priests and other former Soviet states restrict Catholic seminaries as threats to Russian Orthodoxy. Sedevacantists, such as the Palmarian Church, condemn the succession of Roman Popes as illegitimate and Antipopes, pleading for other Popes. Former Catholics like Sinead O'Connor have also been known for anti-Catholic spectacles. Historical anti-CatholicismMany countries have had a long history of conflict between Catholics and Protestants, or less commonly, Catholics and Orthodox Christians. Political anti-Catholicism has existed in various Protestant countries, and in particular the English speaking countries. Protestantism was firmly established in England with the accession of Queen Elizabeth I. In 1570, Pope Pius V sought to depose her with the Regnans in Excelsis ("Ruling on high"), which purported to declare Elizabeth deposed and to acquit her Catholic subjects of further allegiance to her. This added a political dimension to what was a purely religious conflict, and rendered Elizabeth's subjects who persisted in allegiance to the Catholic Church politically suspect. The failed invasion of England by the Spanish Armada has been cited as an attempt by Philip II of Spain to put into effect the Pope's decree, and to enforce a claim to the throne of England he held as a result of being the widower of Mary I of England. Later episodes that deepened anti-Catholicism in England include the Gunpowder Plot, in which Guy Fawkes and other Catholic conspirators attempted to blow up the English Parliament while it was in session. Later, the "Popish Plot" involving Titus Oates was used by anti-Catholics to make Catholicism seem a renewed political menace by means of a fictitious assassination scheme. In the context of long-standing attitudes among many British people to Catholicism, the beliefs that underlie this sort of anti-Catholicism were summarized by William Blackstone in his Commentaries on the Laws of England:
The gravamen of this charge, then, is that Catholics constitute an imperium in imperio, a sort of a fifth column of persons who owe a greater allegiance to the Pope than they do to the civil government, a charge very similar to that repeatedly leveled at Jews. Accordingly, a large body of British laws, collectively known as the penal laws, imposed various civil disabilities and legal penalties on recusant Catholics. These laws were gradually repealed over the course of the nineteenth century with laws such as the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829; however, the law of succession to the British throne continues to bar Catholics, and anyone married to a "papist", from the line of succession. Although on that it should be noted that British royalty are still considered to have a religious role as the head of the Church of England. These accusations had to some extent been exported to the United States. John Jay in 1788 promoted the New York legislature to require officeholders to renounce foreign authorities "in all matters ecclesiastical as well as civil.". More significant anti-Catholicism has historically been conspicuous among the beliefs of various nativist organisations from the Know-Nothing Party to the Ku Klux Klan. The case of the murder of Father James Coyle had more to do with racial issues, but is a prime example of anti-Catholic violence in the US. In more recent years, suspicion of the political aims and agenda of the Catholic Church have been revived several times. In 1949, Paul Blanshard's book American Freedom and Catholic Power portrayed the Catholic Church as an anti-democratic force hostile to freedom of speech and religion, eager to impose itself on the United States by boycott and subterfuge. These accusations continue to have supporters because of the Catholic hierarchy's alliance with the right to life groups and threats to withhold Eucharist from Catholics who vote in favor of actions deemed opposed to Church teaching, such as abortion, assisted suicide or same-sex marriage. It should be mentioned though that this is not precisely excommunication. Few excommunications of political figures have occurred in modern times. The confirmed cases of excommunicated Catholic politicians were primarily Communists or military dictators. Added to that according to Catholic teaching those in a state of mortal sin should not receive the Eucharist, which Catholicism considers a biblical rule that is not specific to any occupation. Anti-Catholicism in modern timesThe submission to the Pope has led to several governments to try to separate local Catholics from their Church. Thus, the juror priests of the First French Republic and the Catholic Patriotic Association in Communist China. Avro Manhattan's books, The Vatican's Holocaust, The Vatican Billions and Vatican, Washington, Moscow Alliance advanced the view that the Church engineers wars and tries to rule the world; and Dan Brown's best-selling The Da Vinci Code, though a novel, depicts the Catholic Church as an organization determined to hide the truth about Jesus Christ. An article in the National Catholic Register (April 2004) maintains that the "The Da Vinci Code claims that Catholicism is a big, bloody, woman-hating lie created out of pagan cloth by the manipulative Emperor of Rome".The Duvalier dynasty of Haitian dictators wanted to weaken or control the Catholic Church by bringing Voudoun "openly into the political process", according to Michel S. LaGuerre in Voodoo and Politics in Haiti, and nominating the bishops. In the USSR, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church was persecuted just for its religious role in the community, but at other times the Russian Orthodox Church was manipulated to combat Catholics on the grounds that this was a more "Russian" body. Finally, in Mexico, Plutarco Elías Calles caused priests to lose basic rights and the people's religious practices were curtailed. Although to an extent he had been able to do this because of the Mexican Constitution. His enforcement of anti-Catholics aspects of that led to the Cristero War of 1926-1929. That war caused numerous priests to be killed and deemed Saints of the Cristero War. Events relating to all this were famously portrayed in the novel The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene. Contemporary anti-CatholicismHarvard professor Arthur Schlesinger, Sr. once observed that prejudice against the Catholic Church was "the deepest bias in the history of the American people." Yale professor Peter Viereck commented that "Catholic baiting is the anti-Semitism of the liberals." ReligiousAnti-Catholicism is a term applied by some Catholics to those they believe to be prejudiced towards or unfairly critical of the Church or its actions, leadership, or beliefs. It differs from religious discrimination or religious persecution where individuals are treated negatively because of their Catholic beliefs. Many Christian Fundamentalists have frequently been labeled as anti-Catholic because of their statements against the Catholic Church. Bob Jones, Sr. held that a biblically informed understanding of the Roman Catholic Church leads one to the conclusion that it is an anti-Christian cult and the Pope is the Antichrist or False Prophet. Fred Phelps equates Catholic priests to pederasty and sodomy in often graphic ways. In Latin America there has also been mutual tensions between Pentecostals and Catholics. A case of this in Brazil was the "Kicking of the Saint" incident. SecularCatholics who conform to the principles of their religion can also face secular hostility from those who find Catholic doctrine unacceptable. Philip Jenkins, an Episcopalian historian, in The New Anti-Catholicism: The Last Acceptable Prejudice (Oxford University Press 2005 ISBN 0195154800) maintains that many people today take pains to avoid any offence to members of religious, racial, ethnic or gender groups, but typically take no such care and indeed act with impunity to offend, slur and smear Catholics. For example, in appartently mainstream articles on Anti-Judaism one would not find discussions of real or perceived abuses done in the name of Judaism. In specific secular advocacy groups like American Atheists and the Council for Secular Humanism sometimes encourage hostile attitudes to Catholics or Catholicism. For example many to most Catholics would find the American Atheist article offensive or insulting. Secular Humanism's articles like might also be offensive to many Catholics. Added to this LGBT rights activists have had a stormy relationship to the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church deems homosexual acts as sins so in response some, but by no means all or the majority, of such groups have at times disrupted Catholic churches. This was the case in 1989 with AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power. Robert Hilfrety's related video on this was called . Abuse of the termThere are those who argue the term has been abused or exaggerated at times. Richard Jensen, University of Illinois at Chicago, speaks of the "Myth of Victimization" concerning Irish Catholics. Statements like that of Norberto Cardinal Rivera Carrera, who compared "media persecution" concerning the sex abuse scandal to "attacks under Adolf Hitler", also have been considered by some as an abuse of the term. This is similar to how other terms can be overused insults, such as the use of the epithet fascist. Actions frequently labeled anti-Catholic
See also
Additional reading
Catholic responses
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