That leads to the interesting question of “Just what is anti-Catholicism?” In my opinion, it goes beyond simple disagreements that are discussed rationally and charitable discourse that is carried on in a spirit of good will without name-calling and assigning motives. Beyond that, I’ve adapted this list I found elsewhere:
Anti-Catholic themes may be loosely categorized as follows:
!. Attacking Catholicism as being un-Christian or a cult (in the pejorative and not the sociological sense);
- Ridiculing, distorting, mischaracterizing or obstinately misinterpreting Catholic doctrine or practice;
- Ascribing to the Catholic Church a sinister role in an anti-Christian or anti-American conspiracy;
- Distorting or taking out of context illegal or scandalous behavior (especially sexual misconduct) by Catholic clergy or laity.
Often you hear the hollow claim, “Oh I love Catholics, I just don’t think the Catholic Church is Christian.” Or “I think that Catholics can be Christians, but if they are, they won’t hold any distinctive Catholic beliefs.”
This is a little more subtle, but still anti-Catholic.
Anti-Catholicism can also come in the form of “When did you stop beating your wife” type questions – where the person is pretending to ask a sincere question, while that question is loaded with anti-Catholic innuendo. Examples we see in these forums are “Why does the Catholic Church add traditions of men to the Bible?”, “Why do Catholics worship Mary (or the Pope)?”, or “Why do Catholics think they can work their way to heaven?”
