Why do Catholics Have a Persecution Complex?

[quasimodo]

I think some Catholics do take the complex a little too far. But having said that …

My own experience…

1. A baptist that I barely knew walked up to me and said, “I hear you belong to the world’s largest cult.”
2. A methodist sitting in my own living room boldly criticized the Church’s teaching on reception of the Eucharist. Very passive agressive as I could not respond at that point
3. A different methodist felt it necessary to rip into me because he knew some priest who drank beer … drinking is wrong for clergy don’t you know.
4. I have been told to my face that Catholics worship idols … again by a guest in my home (not a JW or Mormon).

… you get the picture

I sought none of these people out or started that aspect of the conversation - they just stepped right up and told me what they think.

It always amazes me that so many protestant people I meet have anti-catholic ideas - most harmless, some not so harmless. Where do they come from? I have never heard a single word spoken against a non-Catholic group in a homily at Mass and have occassionally heard positive things about them. Who is filling their heads with anti-Catholic stuff … when and why?

I teach RCIA. I am amused when someone in my class tells me about the things their “pastors” or friends or families or even co-workers tell them about Catholics to try to talk them out of swimming the Tiber. It happens every year!! Frequently, the class goes around the table sharing what has been said to them. When that happens, I know my work is half done.

One lady had her boss - a completely secularized Jew without a religious bone in his body - launch into her to talk her out of it when he found out she was exploring the Church.

Maybe that’s why you think you see a persecution complex - ya think?

But I agree, some take the complex too far. Me, I like it when these things happen. That is one of the ways I know I am in the right place and when they do it to the people in RCIA, my job is much easier.

 

[Carlus_Magnus]

I think some Catholics do take the complex a little too far. But having said that …

My own experience…

1. A baptist that I barely knew walked up to me and said, “I hear you belong to the world’s largest cult.”
2. A methodist sitting in my own living room boldly criticized the Church’s teaching on reception of the Eucharist. Very passive agressive as I could not respond at that point
3. A different methodist felt it necessary to rip into me because he knew some priest who drank beer … drinking is wrong for clergy don’t you know.
4. I have been told to my face that Catholics worship idols … again by a guest in my home (not a JW or Mormon).

… you get the picture

I sought none of these people out or started that aspect of the conversation - they just stepped right up and told me what they think.

It always amazes me that so many protestant people I meet have anti-catholic ideas - most harmless, some not so harmless. Where do they come from? I have never heard a single word spoken against a non-Catholic group in a homily at Mass and have occassionally heard positive things about them. Who is filling their heads with anti-Catholic stuff … when and why?

I teach RCIA. I am amused when someone in my class tells me about the things their “pastors” or friends or families or even co-workers tell them about Catholics to try to talk them out of swimming the Tiber. It happens every year!! Frequently, the class goes around the table sharing what has been said to them. When that happens, I know my work is half done.

One lady had her boss - a completely secularized Jew without a religious bone in his body - launch into her to talk her out of it when he found out she was exploring the Church.

Maybe that’s why you think you see a persecution complex - ya think?

But I agree, some take the complex too far. Me, I like it when these things happen. That is one of the ways I know I am in the right place and when they do it to the people in RCIA, my job is much easier.

Their pastors, and their education, and their own misconceptions of what they see, interpreted by their pastors.

I have been called many things myself, many of the same accusations.

 

[JoeyWarren]

Why do Catholics Have a Persecution Complex?

Well if we do have a complex, it is not without warrant.

google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22persecution+of+catholics%22&btnG=Search

Let’s say that the U.S. was hit with a doomsday EMP weapon. We lose all technology. We are basically thrown back 200 years.

Living here in the south, I would greatly fear the gun toting fundies. When food starts getting scarce, who would start killing who first?

It does not take a great mind to figure out the answer. History of the United States more than amply gives the answer.

There are a lot more Westboro types out there then you can imagine.

 

[cheddarsox]

In relation to another thread “Why do people hate us (Catholics) so much?” I would like to ask why Catholics seem to have a bit of a persecution complex. What negative experiences have people actually had? Some Baptist wrote an anti-Catholic website. So???

When I asked a priest what Catholics thought of other denominations attacking Catholicism, his response was, “Well we are so big, that we just tend not to worry what these other smaller churches think of us. We view them with kindness as brothers, but we certainaly don’t feel threatened in any way.” I have always kept that in mind.

Maybe it would encourage my Catholic brothers and sisters to keep in mind the size of our Church, and that there is no real threat to Her. We can just sit back and relax from a position of strength.

It’s not just Catholics. It’s “in” to be the victim. I have been active in other denominations that play this card too…not all, but some others are “into” being persecuted

I am part of the pagan community there, and it is rife in many pagan circles to go on about how persecuted “we” are. Truly, in my entire life, I can’t say I’ve ever been truly persecuted for my faith, not as a Catholic, a Protestant or a pantheist. Sure, people often argue with me, or even insult me, but that is not persecution, that’s just normal everyday life.

This discussion came up lately in a Presbyterian church I attend, whether or not any of us had been persecuted, and the general consesus was no. It may not always be comfy and people might not always cheer when we practice our faith, but neither do most of us fear for our lives, or even our jobs over it.

of course,this all depend on your definition of persecution.

cheddar

 

[cheddarsox]

“for you will be persecuted in my name…”

Says it all right there.
I don’t take the hatred, lies, and bile thrown at the the CC as victimization… I take it as validation, and I rejoice that I know where Christ’s Church is…

In Christ

so what is proved when people of other faiths are persecuted for their beleifs?

 

[Sarabande]

I don’t think it’s a complex, per say. Actually, I grew up in a very Catholic area. Mostly everyone I knew was Catholic and most of the non-Catholics I knew were fairly open and accepting with the exception of some family members. It wasn’t until I got into college within the same diocese that I realized there were still people out there who don’t like Catholicism. Having trained as a journalist as well as a musician (I was going to write my own reviews. Ha! Ha! Just kidding), I saw how easy the media took advantage of beating up on Catholicism, especially during the priest sex abuse scandal. I’m not saying the priests who really were guilty and the people who covered it up did not deserve that, but the media seemed to make all of Catholicism look like we were a sinful and disgusting religion. They didn’t focus on the many, many priests and laity who were also enraged and deeply saddened by the whole issue.

Anyway, other things that may have caused some sort of “complex”. I’m sure if it happened to me, there are probably other Catholics who have had similar experiences.

1. I started meeting people from different parts of the country, who’d say things like, “Well, I’m a Christian and you’re a Catholic.”
2. My uncle and aunt, who became born-again Christians, used to tell us that we weren’t Christians and weren’t saved, that we were going to hell.
3. Our Newman Center would have Interfaith Dialogues between the Jewish Student Community and sometimes the Muslim Student Community. The Evangelical student community used to be invited, but they were constantly telling all of us that we were all going to hell.
4. I met a Baptist gentleman that I would ride the train with once in a while from college. He found out I was Catholic and when I corrected him that I was also a Christian, he kept disagreeing and then brought a booklet from his church called “Trail of Blood” showing that the Baptists, who came from the Anabaptists, were people who broke away from the line of Peter after Christ’s crucifixtion, so they were in no way related to the Catholic Church. Yes, hogwash, but this is what they are teaching. I actually kept the book out of shear amazement and to remind myself that this is what some religions are teaching their people.
5. During my father’s time as a child in the same diocese, the “publics” wouldn’t play with the “papists”. They were “damn papists”.
6. My former boss, a priest, had related to me a story in which his family had moved to the outskirts of our diocese. They were the only Catholics in town and he remembers as a child having crosses burning outside of their home because they were Catholic. This wasn’t in the south, but in the NorthEast. He’s around the same age as my father.
7. In our same diocese, Catholic churches a couple centuries ago were not allowed to have entrances onto main streets. Their entrances had to be in a side street or alleyway. Many of the entrances were rebuilt once the law was lifted. At the time during the 1800s, churches were being vandalized by anti-Catholics. Our Cathedral was built with no side windows for fear of destruction. The only windows, originally, were the clerestory windows high up near the ceiling of the Cathedral. When they expanded the sanctuary and added the Baptistry, they were able to place side windwos there.

 

[Ani_Ibi]

cheddarsox:

This discussion came up lately in a Presbyterian church I attend, whether or not any of us had been persecuted, and the general consesus was no.

But the thread is about whether or not Catholics are persecuted.

cheddarsox:

It may not always be comfy and people might not always cheer when we practice our faith, but neither do most of us fear for our lives, or even our jobs over it.

Oh please, speak for yourself. I have lost jobs over my affiliation with the Catholic Church. I also grew up in neighbourhoods where Catholics were regularly made victims of gang attacks.

 

[Jerry-Jet]

Anyone who follows Jesus will be persecuted because Jesus is The Truth, The Way, and The Life!

The fullness of truth about Jesus resides in the teachings of the Catholic Church because Jesus and the Holy Spirit led the apostles into all truth.

Any Catholic who is truely following the teachings of the Catholic Church and trying to be like Jesus will be persecuted most of all because Satan hates that person the most.

Not only that but Jesus said anyone who followed him would be persecuted but to “count it all joy for great would your reward be in Heaven”.

That isn’t a complex–that is fact!

 

[theAuthor]

I was the OP.

I would have to say that it is clear that anti-Catholic sentiment seems to be worse in the US from what I am reading. I would like to say a few things though, in reply to some posts:

1. When we told people we were becoming Catholic, it was Catholics who asked us, “Why do you want to change religion?” We particularly dislike being called converts, because we were already Christians.
2. Have I ever spoken to a Protestant? Um, yep. Lots. Used to be one, although I don’t like being called that either, because I never had a thing a against the RCC. In my prescence I defend Catholics against anti-Catholic slander and visa versa.
3. To the teacher whose class was broken into: ever thought it may have just been teenagers? Not feeling guilty abnout WWII are you? I mean, those people were probably not educated enough to understand politics surrounding WWII, just rebelling.
4. Would Karl Keating agree? I don’t care (shock horror ). I worship neither Karl Keating, nor Scott Hahn. I’m a bigger fan of Fulton Sheen and St.Augustine.
5. Who cares about Westborough? Look up Madeleine O’Hare. She only got famous because she was contrary. She was just looking for a cause to get attention. Atheism just happened to get enough people riled up enough to excite her. They thrive on attention, that’s why they do it.
6. As for what happened hundreds of years ago, let it go people. Less than 150 years ago you had slaves in the US, remember? Slaves!
7. Even I, as a Catholic have to wonder how people can truly have had faith in Jesus 300 years ago, attending Mass in latin (which hardly any lay-people understood), without any real focus on Scripture.
8. Much of what I have read here is Christian persecution (Cath and Prot alike), not Catholic persecution.
9. Not discounting the personal experiences of the people who have shared here, I know people who have never been persecuted for their faith but still have a mentality that Catholics are hard done by, and that is what I am driving at. It seems to be part of Catholic psyche whether real (as in the posters here), or imagined.

 

[theAuthor]

“Now that I’m getting a PhD I might be able to handle the Catholic theology classes you take” “Are you going to go touch little boys?” “Why would you ever take theology from there (referring to the Jesuit school I attend)” “Why would you go to college there?” “Look 90% of you (Catholics) are going to hell anyway” “I didn’t know that they knew anything about a relationship with Christ.” “I just don’t want to talk about it, how you people worship Mary”

Dear Mahoney,

I understand your predicament here, and have gotten similar comments while working in a Catholic Hospital! As for paedophilia, I’d ask people if they know the rate of reported cases of it amongst preists compared to other professions (apparently it is lower).

I also think these questions are a great opportunity to share the truth about what Catholics believe. Just put in a little nugget, then let it go. Don’t try and get someone to become Marian in one conversation, just chink the armour: “So, how do you think Jesus feels about his Mother? What do you think of the woman with 12 stars above her head in Revelations?”

Incidently, I would say there is a wrong time to apologise. Don’t try and apologise for bad Popes, etc. Just admit it happened (we all know it did) and make the point to not throw out the baby with the bathwater. Maybe use it as an opportunity to explain the extreme limitation of what “infallibility” actually means. Dsipel the myth that it means the Pope is perfect (which is what it sounds like to non-Catholics).

 

[JoeyWarren]

Yes David, there is a lot more anti-catholicism here in the states. It is so bad, that it may Austraila does not have any anti-catholics by comparison.

Some states are worse than others. Most of it is not up front and in your face, but it takes it subtleness and slyness from the Dark Lord. Our two parishes have been vandalized repeatedly. We just combined parishes and built a new church halfway between. The vandalism has gotten worse since we have vacated the premises. Our “For Sale” signs keep getting run over. One of the Protestant churches does not want our church and grounds sold.

At least once a year, we find Jack Chick tracts on our windshields when we come out from Mass.

I don’t fear the Protestants now, but if were plunged back into Dark Ages as a result of some Country Wide Castrophe, whether it is natural or man-made, I and others will be fearful.

The most dangerous mind is the ignorant redneck mind that believes Catholics are pagans.

Australia is pretty much liberal. The United States is at the other end of the spectrum by comparison.

David, just look at all the anti-catholic websites and blogs out there. Most are seething with hatred.

If I could get a good paying computer programming job outside the U.S. I would be gone from here in a New York second.

 

[Fidelis]

As the old quip goes: “I wouldn’t be paranoid if everyone wasn’t out to get me!”

My co-worker, a Baptist lady from Texas,
lived in Guatemala City for 35 years. When I first met her,
I asked her if the Catholic Church was still the largest church in Guatemala.

She replied, “Yes, but the CHRISTIAN Church is doing well there too.” I was stunned by that.

Several other times, she mentioned changes in the Catholic church, but that “it still didn’t become CHRISTIAN.”

I finally told her flatly, “N___, the Catholic Church IS Christian !!”

I would be interested in hearing what her response was to this.

 

[theAuthor]

I thought it went “You may be paranoid, but that doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you!”

Yes I agree it sounds scary. As for the tracts on the windscreen, yeah I’d be a bit angry about that- not scared. It does sound a lot worse than I have heard before. Are you sure Churches being vandalised isn’t just vandalism though? You know, kids?

What do you think of us being told that we were “converting” when we joined the RCC? When we told people we were becoming Catholic they asked us “Why do you want to change religions?” Works both ways. Sometimes I enjoy it, but sometimes I want to slap EWTN.

 

[Sixtus]

Why do Catholics Have a Persecution Complex?

Because they have 2000-years of persecution behind them

 

[Contarini]

Anti-Catholicism is pretty bad in England too. I lived there for most of my life and I was well aware of what was said about Catholics and our family have had Chick tracts forwarded to us aswell. On a sidenote I have a Myspace profile and I added a friend of a friend who’s Baptist. I updated my profile and added my religion and lo and behold the guy disappeared. It’s almost comical.

My wife and I went to Scotland for our honeymoon. We visited Shetland (where my dad’s family comes from) and made it all the way up to the northern tip of the northernmost island, where we found a Methodist church–the northernmost church in Britain. And there, at the top of the world so to speak, we found a collection of anti-Catholic tracts (from Northern Ireland, of course). My (Methodist) wife was very disgusted. . . .

Edwin

 

[cpayne]

I work in academia. Ninety percent or so of my fellow highly educated faculty members (1) despise fundamentalists or Pentecostals; (2) patronize mainstream Protestants (“Well, Christianity might be good for you if it helps you handle your problems”); and (3) despise Catholics. I agree that I am not in danger for my life, or even for my position. However, persecution comes in different forms. For example, no faculty member is worried about any form of reprisal for any type of bigoted, anti-Christian or anti-Catholic remark made in any context in any social situation or classroom. In fact, not only are they not worried about it, I do not think the possibility of offense even enters their minds. After all, all “right-thinking” people are anti-Catholic, in their worldview, and regularly sneer at Catholicism whenever the topic comes up. It’s just common practice.

My students who are Christians, on the other hand, do not despise Catholics. They just tend to think of Catholics as evangelization opportunities for the REAL Christians.

But I love them all. This is my mission field, for now.

 

[Semper_Fi_1]

My wife and I went to Scotland for our honeymoon. We visited Shetland (where my dad’s family comes from) and made it all the way up to the northern tip of the northernmost island, where we found a Methodist church–the northernmost church in Britain. And there, at the top of the world so to speak, we found a collection of anti-Catholic tracts (from Northern Ireland, of course). My (Methodist) wife was very disgusted. . . .

Edwin

Edwin, what was the name of the Church?

 

[Carlus_Magnus]

When we told people we were becoming Catholic, it was Catholics who asked us, “Why do you want to change religion?” We particularly dislike being called converts, because we were already Christians.

I don’t mind being called a convert, because most “cradle Catholics” don’t know the value of what they have while converts know how hard earned it is.

. Have I ever spoken to a Protestant? Um, yep. Lots. Used to be one, although I don’t like being called that either, because I never had a thing a against the RCC. In my prescence I defend Catholics against anti-Catholic slander and visa versa.

Well your experiences differ from mine, I did have such a “thing” against it.

To the teacher whose class was broken into: ever thought it may have just been teenagers? Not feeling guilty abnout WWII are you? I mean, those people were probably not educated enough to understand politics surrounding WWII, just rebelling.

Nowadays they rebel against any authority that tells them they can’t do what they want, and the CC is such.

Would Karl Keating agree? I don’t care (shock horror ). I worship neither Karl Keating, nor Scott Hahn.

I am not a fan of them either, I refer to much older sources.

Even I, as a Catholic have to wonder how people can truly have had faith in Jesus 300 years ago, attending Mass in latin (which hardly any lay-people understood), without any real focus on Scripture.

Not quite, have you ever been to a Latin Mass?

Much of what I have read here is Christian persecution (Cath and Prot alike), not Catholic persecution.

You really need to see other places on the net, which is ardently antiCatholic with extreme prejudice and will treat you like you are a criminal if they think you are Catholic.

Not discounting the personal experiences of the people who have shared here, I know people who have never been persecuted for their faith but still have a mentality that Catholics are hard done by, and that is what I am driving at. It seems to be part of Catholic psyche whether real (as in the posters here), or imagined.

Come to the South my friend, these Protestants down here are as friendly as a pack of wolves to anything that even looks Catholic.

 

[Semper_Fi_1]

At my parish in my hometown, the Klan during this century in (COLORADO!!!) would break into the church and wipe everything out. They smashed the altar, tore down the crucifixes, stole the relics, smashed the stain glass and burned crosses in the front lawn. They also threw urine on the Eucharist and beat the priest nearly lifeless. They also tore the statues of the Saints out of the front yard of the church and desecrated the Catholic cemetary.

The Klan is gone now, but the effects of their almost constant rampages are still visible at my parish and because of this our parishoners will never forget this recent past.

No one would dare do this today because the sherriff happens to attend as an EMCH.

 

[ElizabethPH]

The minute non-catholic acquaintances find out I’m Catholic the jibes about Mary, saints, justification etc etc start. No amount of apologetics usually works they still go away with little or no respect for Catholics or the Church. Our Mary statue was desecrated at our church and various other vandalism throughout the years. I see the prejudice plenty, and we do have a right and an obligation to defend our faith.