Increase of anti-Catholic / anti Pope postings?

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gachristian

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Is it me or has there been an increase in anti-Catholic and anti Pope postings in other media. I recently caught a video a friend posted on FB that claimed the Pope said that Jesus failed at the cross. When I pointed out with the actual text of what he said, people argued that he shouldn’t have said it in that way. Then another video pops up about Constantine not really being converted and how everything in the Catholic Church points to pagan beliefs.

Am I just being over sensitive?:confused:
 
gachristian said:
Is it me or has there been an increase in anti-Catholic and anti Pope postings in other media. I recently caught a video a friend posted on FB that claimed the Pope said that Jesus failed at the cross. When I pointed out with the actual text of what he said, people argued that he shouldn’t have said it in that way. Then another video pops up about Constantine not really being converted and how everything in the Catholic Church points to pagan beliefs.

Am I just being over sensitive?:confused:
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Maybe you are, maybe you aren’t. There is a thin line between being aware and being over sensitive. I haven’t noticed, but if I had, I probably would not be surprised, overly concerned, or even outraged…after all those posting are not going to rattle my faith or change my mind.
 
I think the Pope being in the US is a lightning rod for the anti-Catholics. I have an anti-Catholic acquaintance who - after several years of silence - sent me an a-C forward with a personal note that because of what the Pope said about climate change, I should change churches.

I told her not to send me any more of that garbage - but I said it fairly politely. 😉
 
No, you are not being over sensitive. I don’t have a Facebook account but another forum I visit has been full of various posts which condemn the Pope or the Catholic Church. My favorite was one that concluded the Holy Father is the anti-Christ because he didn’t know the words to the Lord’s Prayer yesterday. The post included a video. I watched it. The Pope did indeed start the prayer and then seemed to not say all the words or at least say them confidently.

The Pope is not a native English speaker. From what I understand he does not speak English very well. He struggles with it. He is also an older man who has had a schedule that just a small portion of which would wear me, a much younger man, out. The conclusion people drew was ridiculous even if the Pope were a young native English speaker.

It helps to remind me how much some people really hate the Church. It helps to remind me how much that hatred is based on completely irrationality. A person can have reasoned objections to the Church. But so many have objections that are just plain stupid.
 
My silent response is, “Oh, that’s nice dear. Bless your heart.”

Human words will not convince them. The only thing left is prayer for them I guess.
 
I haven’t noticed a lot more anti-Catholic stuff. In fact, the pastor of my Lutheran church actually praised Pope Francis in his sermon this morning and said some very kind things about him.
 
Thorolfr said:
I haven’t noticed a lot more anti-Catholic stuff. In fact, the pastor of my Lutheran church actually praised Pope Francis in his sermon this morning and said some very kind things about him.
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Well of course - Lutherans are practically Catholic! 😃

The really die-hard anti-Catholics are usually - in my experience - nutters. :eek:
 
Another Lutheran’s perspective.

I also have not seen any on my Facebook newsfeed and if I did I would be the first to denounce it. I think the Pope’s visit is an opportunity to create a healthy dialogue about Christ and Christianity and I truly like what I see of Pope Francis. He’s kind and gentle and goes out of his way to emulate Christ - I especially enjoyed his wonderful exchange with the Cuban youth!
 
spedteacherita said:
Another Lutheran’s perspective.

I also have not seen any on my Facebook newsfeed and if I did I would be the first to denounce it. I think the Pope’s visit is an opportunity to create a healthy dialogue about Christ and Christianity and I truly like what I see of Pope Francis. He’s kind and gentle and goes out of his way to emulate Christ - I especially enjoyed his wonderful exchange with the Cuban youth!
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Well, I just debunked my first one using a link to Snopes.
 
Bonnie said:
The really die-hard anti-Catholics are usually - in my experience - nutters. :eek:
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Being raised Catholic and then being in Protestant churches for many, many years and then coming home, I would say that yes, there are die-hard anti-Catholics. Those who follow them usually will spout the same thing without understanding. Those are the ones whose posts I have found. I wouldn’t say they are nutters, just don’t know better.
 
Being a Catholic means being persecuted, even by other Catholics. The world hates the Truth. Always has, probably always will.

If you see a problem post on here, just report it.

PS—I’ll bet you haven’t found nearly as much criticism about Buddha or Mohammed…
 
gachristian said:
Is it me or has there been an increase in anti-Catholic and anti Pope postings in other media. I recently caught a video a friend posted on FB that claimed the Pope said that Jesus failed at the cross. When I pointed out with the actual text of what he said, people argued that he shouldn’t have said it in that way. Then another video pops up about Constantine not really being converted and how everything in the Catholic Church points to pagan beliefs.

Am I just being over sensitive?:confused:
Click to expand...
Aside from the postings from louder-than-they-should-be Fundamentalist Evangelicals (which will always happen because they feel it is their divine duty to convince Catholics that we are wrong about everything), you have to remember that there are other things at work with Pope Francis.
  1. He is a Jesuit. There are priests in Catholic parishes who have a dim view of Jesuits, but they can’t actually say anything. Multiply it by 100 when it’s coming from someone who isn’t a parish priest and therefore isn’t obligated to full loyalty to the Pope under the pain of being defrocked.
  2. He is from a Communist nation. Communists were the bad guys during the upbringing of the baby boomer generation. Half of Americans think Obama is a Communist, and call him that as an insult; can these people possibly admire Pope Francis?
  3. Throughout the history of Catholicism, the Pope has been seen as the supreme authority on faith and morals. Doing an encyclical on climate change has zero to do with faith, and it’s a stretch to say it deals with morality. So, to many, the Pope is seemingly overstepping his bounds on that matter.
  4. There are some Catholics who believe (since a Pope is supposed to serve until death) that Benedict is really the true Pope and Francis is some kind of faux Pope.
He is not in an enviable position.
 
JWH123 said:
Aside from the postings from louder-than-they-should-be Fundamentalist Evangelicals (which will always happen because they feel it is their divine duty to convince Catholics that we are wrong about everything), you have to remember that there are other things at work with Pope Francis.
  1. He is a Jesuit. There are priests in Catholic parishes who have a dim view of Jesuits, but they can’t actually say anything. Multiply it by 100 when it’s coming from someone who isn’t a parish priest and therefore isn’t obligated to full loyalty to the Pope under the pain of being defrocked.
  2. He is from a Communist nation. Communists were the bad guys during the upbringing of the baby boomer generation. Half of Americans think Obama is a Communist, and call him that as an insult; can these people possibly admire Pope Francis?
  3. Throughout the history of Catholicism, the Pope has been seen as the supreme authority on faith and morals. Doing an encyclical on climate change has zero to do with faith, and it’s a stretch to say it deals with morality. So, to many, the Pope is seemingly overstepping his bounds on that matter.
  4. There are some Catholics who believe (since a Pope is supposed to serve until death) that Benedict is really the true Pope and Francis is some kind of faux Pope.
He is not in an enviable position.
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  1. Interesting
  2. It’s a stretch to say Obama is a communist. Not even the Cubans, Chinese or Soviets were fully communist. It goes against natural law and human incentive so much.
Now, those who say the Pope is communist haven’t read and understood the catechism. The Church specifically calls out communism and has a dim view on central planning in general.
  1. Well, the Pope is getting bad advice on the matter. It isn’t his job to know the ins and outs of climate change, but I wish the Catholic leadership would be more cautious. It’s been suggested by some of my colleagues that these radicals make mainstream climate activists shiver and that they are using the Pope’s status to further their private agenda on abortion and population control.
  2. Then we’ve got issues, my friend.
 
Bonnie said:
I think the Pope being in the US is a lightning rod for the anti-Catholics. I have an anti-Catholic acquaintance who - after several years of silence - sent me an a-C forward with a personal note that because of what the Pope said about climate change, I should change churches.

I told her not to send me any more of that garbage - but I said it fairly politely. 😉
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I don’t agree with the Pope on this. In fact, I think it will be proven that man’s effect on the climate was negligible.

But one does NOT leave the One, True Church over that. It isn’t even a doctrinal issue.
 
SuperLuigi said:
  1. Interesting
  2. It’s a stretch to say Obama is a communist. Not even the Cubans, Chinese or Soviets were fully communist. It goes against natural law and human incentive so much.
Now, those who say the Pope is communist haven’t read and understood the catechism. The Church specifically calls out communism and has a dim view on central planning in general.
  1. Well, the Pope is getting bad advice on the matter. It isn’t his job to know the ins and outs of climate change, but I wish the Catholic leadership would be more cautious. It’s been suggested by some of my colleagues that these radicals make mainstream climate activists shiver and that they are using the Pope’s status to further their private agenda on abortion and population control.
  2. Then we’ve got issues, my friend.
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Regarding #2, I don’t think many people think the Pope is flat out Communist. But there is no question that he was born and raised in a Communist nation, Argentina. (Not like Poland, which was Communist because the Russians ruled them, but a country which was Communist by its own “choice.”) To some people, Francis being from Argentina is no different than if he were born and raised in downtown Moscow; they will view him with suspicion, since he would have been brought up with a particular view of the world that Americans and other free-worlders cannot fully understand, because we haven’t been brought up in it.
 
gachristian said:
Is it me or has there been an increase in anti-Catholic and anti Pope postings in other media. I recently caught a video a friend posted on FB that claimed the Pope said that Jesus failed at the cross. When I pointed out with the actual text of what he said, people argued that he shouldn’t have said it in that way. Then another video pops up about Constantine not really being converted and how everything in the Catholic Church points to pagan beliefs.

Am I just being over sensitive?:confused:
Click to expand...
I have seen other posts claiming this so your probably not wrong. There was a strong anti Catholic sentiment in our government and by the usual protestant suspects even before the Holy Father visited. Now just add on the liberal ‘catholics’ who are disappointed to find that the Pope is indeed Catholic and in a strong voice upheld the teachings of Jesus. So yes there will probably be an increase in anti Catholic rhetoric.
 
JWH123 said:
Regarding #2, I don’t think many people think the Pope is flat out Communist. But there is no question that he was born and raised in a Communist nation, Argentina.
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Argentina was not a “Community nation.” Peron didn’t come to power in Argentina until 1946 when Pope Francis was about 10 and he was not a Communist.
 
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