Anti-Catholic Mentality

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scapularkid8

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What was the social change or changes that caused so much anti-Catholicism to surface in the twentieth century? I hear accusations that the Church is responsible for everything from the World Wars to the Holocaust, but why weren’t the fingers pointed back then when all was happening? I know that the Church could never and would never be responsible for these atrocities, but when was this grand ignorance cast over modern society that permits most people to believe accusations such as these, which undoubtedly perpetuate them?🤷
 
scapularkid8 said:
What was the social change or changes that caused so much anti-Catholicism to surface in the twentieth century? I
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anti-Catholic feeling has been a part of the American political and cultural scene since even before independence. the rise of the KKK after WW1 was a big factor in revival of anti-Catholic, know-nothing, politics and fomenting bigotry.
 
I’m talking about the whole of America and Europe as Western Society (not so much in Central and South America, but it’s still present but more in the form of anti-clericalism). Sorry, I didn’t make that clear.

Does anyone know if there are any writings about this? Or at least the Churches role in the new millennium? John Paul The Great, the former Card. Ratzinger, or Card. Arinze must have something out there about this…
 
It has always been in the country’s culture, many of the founding fathers were anti-Catholic (with the exception of perhaps Ben Franklin) there was one Roman Catholic signer of the Declaration (Charles Carroll of Maryland) and most of the Congress didn’t like his religious views at all. I do remember reading about John Adams attending Mass when he was in Europe and saying maybe Catholics weren’t so bad after all.

It continued and escalated, esp. when the Irish Catholic immigrants came in the 1840’s, America was mostly Protestant so they created the Know-Nothing movement (which failed) and after WWI the KKK.

I never heard one word about anti-Catholicism in my history classes until college. (How shocking is that? I actually had a college history professor speak favorably of Catholics.)
 
scapularkid8 said:
I’m talking about the whole of America and Europe as Western Society (not so much in Central and South America, but it’s still present but more in the form of anti-clericalism). Sorry, I didn’t make that clear.

Does anyone know if there are any writings about this? Or at least the Churches role in the new millennium? John Paul The Great, the former Card. Ratzinger, or Card. Arinze must have something out there about this…
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Anti-clericalism and anti-Catholic feelings are certainly nothing remotely new - where do you think Luther’s Reformation came from?

Look back to Henry II of England’s murder of his own Archbishop of Canterbury, St Thomas Beckett, in Canterbury Cathedral itself, because the two had been disputing over the legal rights of the Church in England.

Look at the enthronement of a prostitute on the altar of Notre Dame as the ‘Goddess of Reason’ during the French Revolution, in mockery of Catholic belief, and the requirement that clerics swear an oath of loyalty to the Revolutionary Government, which most refused to do.

Or the Act of Settlement (1701) in Britain, which still makes it illegal for a Catholic to succeed to the British throne and also stipulates that any member of the Royal Family who marries a Catholic loses their place in the succession.

I don’t think it’s a uniquely 20th C phenomenon at all.
 
scapularkid8 said:
What was the social change or changes that caused so much anti-Catholicism to surface in the twentieth century? I hear accusations that the Church is responsible for everything from the World Wars to the Holocaust, but why weren’t the fingers pointed back then when all was happening? I know that the Church could never and would never be responsible for these atrocities, but when was this grand ignorance cast over modern society that permits most people to believe accusations such as these, which undoubtedly perpetuate them?🤷
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History books in school. I browsed through one (from saint louis university…a required text for their world history). Basically, anyone who didn’t know anything about history would come away from the book thinking that the popes were these fat men who wore gold, had prostitutes and only cared about killing people and politics.

They would also believe we killed a bunch of innocent people by calling them witches, saints are mentally ill, the church was started for monetary purposes (e.g. donations, indulgences) and that we are all bloodthirsty, intolerant and trying to take over.

I was flabbergasted at how completely fictional this “history” book got. It was bizarre.

No wonder I had a conversation w/ a coworker where she loves Muslism but thinks all Catholics should die. :rolleyes:
 
LilyM said:
I don’t think it’s a uniquely 20th C phenomenon at all.
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Great points that you bring up…I don’t know it just seems so less rational nowadays than it was “back then”. At least Luther was somewhat of an intellectual. Modern Anti-Catholicism seems so bitter and uninformed. There’s no basis for the zeal anti-Catholics put behind their arguments. They’re mostly composed of just anger and cynicism. I guess what I’m looking for is if there’s one point in time in the West where this began (the Renaissance?), or if it has just taken forms since the Church’s inception at Pentecost (…the stoning of Protomartyr Stephen the Deacon?🤷 👍 )
 
hasikelee said:
No wonder I had a conversation w/ a coworker where she loves Muslism but thinks all Catholics should die. :rolleyes:
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The astonishing and ironic thing about your statement is that most Muslims I know have no issues whatsoever with Catholicism or the Catholic Church (aside from the whole Mohammed as prophet thing 👍 )!!
 
scapularkid8 said:
The astonishing and ironic thing about your statement is that most Muslims I know have no issues whatsoever with Catholicism or the Catholic Church (aside from the whole Mohammed as prophet thing 👍 )!!
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I agree. Especially the Indian Muslisms, who appear to be almost attracted to Catholicism.
 
scapularkid8 said:
What was the social change or changes that caused so much anti-Catholicism to surface in the twentieth century? I hear accusations that the Church is responsible for everything from the World Wars to the Holocaust, but why weren’t the fingers pointed back then when all was happening? I know that the Church could never and would never be responsible for these atrocities, but when was this grand ignorance cast over modern society that permits most people to believe accusations such as these, which undoubtedly perpetuate them?🤷
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Xenophobia played a huge role, toward immigrants from Southern Europe, mostly.
 
hasikelee said:
I agree. Especially the Indian Muslisms, who appear to be almost attracted to Catholicism.
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Interesting to hear. I wonder if Catholicism is more prominent in India than we give it credit for…the only Indians I know are all Catholic, go figure.
 
anti-clericalism in European life and politics, and in countries that arose from their colonies, has roots in the so-called Enlightenment, freemasonry, and the various “liberation” movements and political revolutions in the mid to late 19th c. For a good solid history of western civilization that deals evenly with these issues you cannot do better than Warren Carroll’s books.
 
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