Catholics never speak well of one another

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NoelFitz

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I have seen a number of posts complaining about the current state of the US, considering it hostile to Catholics and secular. With respect and charity I disagree, America has never been so welcoming and supportive of Catholicism as it is now, and Catholics should acknowledge this and be mutually supportive.

In 1776 only about 1% of American was Catholic and now over 25% is. Throughout its history anti-Catholicism was prevalent. When I was in school, I learned that a Catholic would never be elected to high office, and an example was Al Smith who was defeated by the KKK and general anti-Catholic prejudice.

Now the story is different in both major parties, where 22 US Senators are Catholic and 141 members of the House of Representatives. In the Supreme Court nine members are Catholic. Nancy Pelosi and Kevin McCarthy are prominent Catholics. Very many VP candidates were Catholic, and both VP candidates in 2012 were Catholic, Paul Ryan and Joe Biden, and more recently there were again two Catholic VP candidates, Joe Biden and Mike Pence, who was raised Catholic.

The US Catholics at present remind me of Dr Samuel Johnson’s view of the Irish ‘the Irish are a fair people; – they never speak well of one another’ This seems to resemble the US Catholics’ view of Catholic politicians.

I would hope that Catholics support each other, especially Catholic politicians, remembering none of us is sinless. We should support our own, and hang together, rather than hang separately, in the household of the faith.
 
“Never” is quite the accusation!

Those who wish to stir discontent and ire are simply not the people in general, Catholics in particular, that I choose for fellowship or discourse.
 
Catholics who believe in and follow Church teachings on difficult topics like abortion or SSM get a ton of crap.
 
@NoelFitz

I’m sorry, but I really don’t understand what your post has to do with your title?

Also, I think your post fails to address a number of points.

America is still NOT supportive of ORTHODOX Catholicism. American is only supportive cultural Catholicism & “cafeteria Catholicism”
  • Legal abortion is loved or accepted by a large % of Americans
  • Birth Control is loved by a vast population of Americans
  • A large % of Americans think the Church is against women & too “patriarchal”
  • A large % of Americans look down on Catholic Schools treating their teachers as Church ministers and firing teachers who don’t support the Catholic faith
  • A large % of Americans prefer Catholic schools & colleges that do NOT place the faith as their number 1 priority
  • A % of Americans want to force Catholic Hospitals to offer procedures that the Church teaches are immoral
  • A % of Americans want to force Catholic employers (like Little Sisters of the Poor & EWTN) to pay for birth control, etc
  • some local govts don’t want to allow Catholic adoption agencies to follow Catholic teaching
  • etc.
I could go on and on.
 
I generally agree with you that Catholics had it worse in the olden days especially pre-JFK. My mother told me a lot of stories about anti-Catholic discrimination in USA when she was growing up. My paternal grandfather was so anti-Catholic he joined the Klan in order to oppose them.

Many if not most of the US people on here are too young to remember that and do not have a good sense of history/ did not learn it from their forebears.

However, “Catholic politicians” are something else again. The vast majority of “Catholic politicians” nowadays support abortion and are often not very Catholic, or Christian, in their behavior. When the “Catholic politicians” in the public eye are Biden, Pelosi, Kaine etc I’m not going to endorse them just because they’re nominally Catholic. They’re giving a terrible impression of the faith, and it would be dishonest to pretend otherwise.
 
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NoelFitz said:
This seems to resemble the US Catholics’ view of Catholic politicians.
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When many of those “Catholic” politicians support and encourage unlimited abortion, support same sex marriage, gender fluidity, breakdown of the family, and are against the freedom of religion it’s extremely difficult to really call them real Catholics, in fact it’s hard to call them Christian at all.
NoelFitz said:
In the Supreme Court nine members are Catholic
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I don’t think all nine Supreme Court Justices are Catholic.
NoelFitz said:
I would hope that Catholics support each other, especially Catholic politicians, remembering none of us is sinless. We should support our own, and hang together, rather than hang separately, in the household of the faith
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I would gladly support a Catholic politician who upheld true Catholic values and morals. One who believed in the sanctity of life, the sacrament of marriage, God given gender, and really support moral and ethical behavior. Politicians who actions were clearly based on the word of almighty God rather than almighty god of power or money.

So far I haven’t seen one. I’m not saying one doesn’t or can’t exist but it’s unlikely one would have much ability to do anything.

I can’t you called Nancy Pelosi a prominent Catholic.
 
Horton said:
I don’t think all nine Supreme Court Justices are Catholic.
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They aren’t. The very Jewish Justice Ginsburg would probably laugh at being thought Catholic.
Justices Breyer and Kagan are also Jewish.
Justice Gorsuch was raised Catholic, but switched to Episcopalian.

The other five happen to be Catholic. At least three of them are well known to be practicing Catholics. Not sure about the other two.
 
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NoelFitz said:
In the Supreme Court nine members are Catholic.
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I intended to write ‘six members are Catholic’. I am sorry for this error.
I am grateful for all the replies so far and will reply later. Disagreements are shown, as expected, but all the replies are courteous. Thanks.
 
NoelFitz said:
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NoelFitz:
In the Supreme Court nine members are Catholic
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I don’t think all nine Supreme Court Justices are Catholic.
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Not yet. Give it time. We can always hope.

😆 😆 😆

Just tossing this out there, I have mused before that Catholics and Jews are better at making objective decisions — the kind of decisions that judges have to make — because their religion is more oriented towards this kind of thinking. Again, just tossing it out there.
 
NoelFitz said:
Now the story is different in both major parties, where 22 US Senators are Catholic and 141 members of the House of Representatives. In the Supreme Court nine members are Catholic. Nancy Pelosi and Kevin McCarthy are prominent Catholics. Very many VP candidates were Catholic, and both VP candidates in 2012 were Catholic, Paul Ryan and Joe Biden, and more recently there were again two Catholic VP candidates, Joe Biden and Mike Pence, who was raised Catholic.
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I wouldn’t walk across the street to vote for a pro-choice Catholic candidate for any office. Sadly, Catholic Democratic politicians have almost all gone to rot. There are exceptions. John Bel Edwards is great. I try to think that Joe Manchin is doing the best he can, given his circumstances.

I recall reading, not too long ago, that Mike Pence still thinks of himself as a Catholic. Obviously he doesn’t believe he has to receive the sacraments or embrace all of the Church’s teachings, but he doesn’t perceive himself as having “left the Church”. He seems to have done the same thing as, for instance, a Presbyterian does when they start attending, let’s say, a Lutheran church. I have seen a lot of drift between the various mainline Protestant denominations, it’s a very casual thing. My mother tells me that the nominally Methodist church her family attended in their rural mountain village served as a kind of “union church” which people attended regardless of their own denomination, as it was the only church in the immediate area. (There were no Catholics there.)
 
Tis_Bearself said:
My paternal grandfather was so anti-Catholic he joined the Klan in order to oppose them.
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😁 My maternal great-grandfather was somewhat complicit in the dynamiting of a small Klan rally when the Klan had been causing problems over the construction of a new Catholic church. Sometime around 1920. They didn’t rally after that. 😁
 
When one claims that America has heavy Catholic influence, citing Pelosi and Biden as shining examples of Catholic politicians, I can’t help but be reminded of how sorry of a state American Catholics are in. The majority of the “25%” you cite are fallen away Catholics who have nothing but disdain for organized religion, especially the Catholic Church.

In regards to the Klan, I’d rather face threats and possible martyrdom from thugs in white robes than have my values subverted by the U.S. government (e.g. being forced to pay federal and state taxes towards infanticide).
 
The Klan is not the force to be reckoned with that it was in the 1920s when it was a massive organization across much of the USA (not just the South but all over) with 4 million members. I don’t think we have to worry about that now to be honest.
 
The cafeteria Catholics will eventually fade out.

The Catholics that follow the teachings are faithful and typically have large families, this is the future of the Church.
 
Catholic_Guy1 said:
The cafeteria Catholics will eventually fade out.

The Catholics that follow the teachings are faithful and typically have large families, this is the future of the Church.
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It will be a great day when “cafeteria Catholics” are no longer reflective of Catholic thought in this country. We faithful, orthodox Catholics need to stick to our principles and never give up.
HomeschoolDad said:
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HomeschoolDad:
I recall reading, not too long ago, that Mike Pence still thinks of himself as a Catholic.
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He’s certainly more Catholic in his policies and behaviour than many politicians who claim that they are Catholic.
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I agree, and it’s a sad commentary on mainstream Catholic faith and practice.
 
Don’t worry- I don’t speak well of non-Catholic politicians who support anti-Catholic, anti-life legislation, either.
 
I agree with you. We all need to support one another regardless of religion/race/gender.

If we see someone new in Church (once it is back in physical session), it is imperative to give a friendly sign of peace or smile. Whether they show up in jeans/t-shirt or the finest of linens, at least they are making an effort to be present.

Good post/topic, sir. Coronavirus/World Issues aside and included, we are all in this together.

Have a great day. Take care.

-Tom
 
“One should pull the splinter out of their own eye before trying to remove the spec of sawdust from someone else’s.”

I wish you a blessed day, health, wealth, and happiness.

-Tom
 
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