Why is the Catholic Church hated so much?

[Sonny1954]

I don’t see nor experience blatant anti-Catholicism today like I did when I was a child, 50 years ago. I remember the virulent bigotry against JFK in 1960. When I was in primary school there was a big debate in my local town about whether or not we Catholic kids could ride the school busses. It was mostly whipped up by fundamentalist preachers. Much of this was put to rest during the “era of the two Johns”, but certainly not all.

But religious bigotry is far from dead. Observe the opinion polls in which people admit that they will not vote for Mitt Romney because of his religion, which I think is descpicable. In 1988, Mrs. Kitty Dukakis received a lot of hate mail because she was Jewish and had married a Christian. (She only talked about that after the election was over.)

People older the me (are there any? ) will remember when Catholics could not join certain social clubs and some insurance companies would not cover Catholics because we were “bad risks”, etc. I am grateful for the progress that has been made.

As an aside, there is not one single Protestant currently sitting on our Supreme Court. That is a first in our country.

 

[ANNE_2]

“There are not more than 100 people in the world who truly hate the Catholic Church, but there are millions who hate what they perceive to be the Catholic Church.
…As a matter of fact, if we Catholics believed all of the untruths and lies which were said against the Church, we probably would hate the Church a thousand times more than they do.” - Archbishop Sheen.

Let’s spread the truth of what the Church teaches and requires of each of us through reading and propogating the
“Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition”.

 

[ufamtobie]

Because it is the True Church, it is committed to Christ, it remains true for over 2000 years and counting.

The devil hates the Catholic Church, and if one hates the Catholic Church, then they find themselves in the same company with the evil one.

Ufam Tobie

 

[Tony888]

Thanks for sharing your experience Sonny,
The Kitty Dukakis story was new to me.
I heard they used to teach in bible school that if JFK won, the K of C were going to rise up and kill Protestants.
Man can bigotry get nasty

I don’t see nor experience blatant anti-Catholicism today like I did when I was a child, 50 years ago. I remember the virulent bigotry against JFK in 1960. When I was in primary school there was a big debate in my local town about whether or not we Catholic kids could ride the school busses. It was mostly whipped up by fundamentalist preachers. Much of this was put to rest during the “era of the two Johns”, but certainly not all.

But religious bigotry is far from dead. Observe the opinion polls in which people admit that they will not vote for Mitt Romney because of his religion, which I think is descpicable. In 1988, Mrs. Kitty Dukakis received a lot of hate mail because she was Jewish and had married a Christian. (She only talked about that after the election was over.)

People older the me (are there any? ) will remember when Catholics could not join certain social clubs and some insurance companies would not cover Catholics because we were “bad risks”, etc. I am grateful for the progress that has been made.

As an aside, there is not one single Protestant currently sitting on our Supreme Court. That is a first in our country.

 

[Chrystal]

Thanks for creating this thread, because I feel the same way. It really hurts my feelings when people look at me and think negatively of me for being a Catholic. Seriously, it really hurts my feelings.

I can’t stand it when people assume that I don’t read the Bible because I’m Catholic, when in fact, I DO read the Bible!! In fact, some people that I know who are non-denominational Christians who feel that way towards Catholics, they’ve never even read the Bible!!! On top of that, I’ve actually heard a few of them say that the Bible is too boring to read! I was so offended when I heard that. I can’t believe that people want to talk trash about Catholics, and yet they think it’s ok to say such things about the Bible, etc.

 

[Sonny1954]

I don’t think the Church itself is hated.The number of people who call themselves catholic is growing all the time.

There are men in the heirarchy who have been guilty of sins that have caused revulsion in many. Also, the Church’s active involvement in secular politics has brought it into the temporal world and it has become subject to the slings and arrows that await anyone who joins that fracas.

I agree with this statement. If the Institutional Church is going to hold itself as the ultimate in Godly living, as it does, then it had better LIVE that way. And if the Church wants to become the theological wing of one of the two political parties, as it seems to have done, then it is as fair game for criticism as labor unions or the National Assn. of Manufacturers. That was the Bishops’ choice. They can’t have it both ways.

 

[Marybeloved]

I agree with this statement. If the Institutional Church is going to hold itself as the ultimate in Godly living, as it does, then it had better LIVE that way. And if the Church wants to become the theological wing of one of the two political parties, as it seems to have done, then it is as fair game for criticism as labor unions or the National Assn. of Manufacturers. That was the Bishops’ choice. They can’t have it both ways.

How is the church the theological wing of a political party? The church’s social doctrine is as anti-republican as you can get! My friend, both the Church and the morality she preaches is older than American politics. This is even stranger if you consider that all the West had identical values in regard to the modern controversial issues, which match the Church’s constant teaching, until very recently.

You’re saying that the church by preaching it’s 2,000 year message on morality has become a theological wing of an American party that is 2/3 centuries old just because this party’s stances on Abortion and life happen to be closer (not identical!) to church teaching than its rivals’ are? In your opinion, how exactly would the church exonerate herself from being this “theological wing” you accuse her of being? Shutting up about her own doctrine or better still, changing it to suit the prevailing culture?

Peace!

 

[GaryTaylor]

We don’t have a left and right anymore, we now have a wrong and right.

 

[meedo]

I have come across this general sentiment of hostility from a variety of people- I’m sure that every Catholic must have. Now I know that there are as many reasons and angles to this as there are groups of people out there.

Please share charitably. Why?

I don’t hate Catholic, nor the church. Just another religious institution to me. Just like Islamic and Jewish councils , it is a Christian council.

 

[Izdaari]

I don’t hate Catholic, nor the church. Just another religious institution to me. Just like Islamic and Jewish councils , it is a Christian council.

Just so. The CC is just another Christian council to me. I agree with some 90-95% of the Catholic Catechism… but the remaining 5-10% is what keeps me from being Catholic. That’s not enough for me to dislike Catholics; I’m used to partially disagreeing with most of my Christian brothers and sisters, and several of my favorite Christian writers are Catholic

But Catholics do sometimes come off as insular, smug and self-righteous. They’re not alone in that. I know Christians from other traditions who seem that way too. But it doesn’t help.

 

[ChrisRedfield47]

People hate the Catholic Church for the same reason people hated Christ. And, the Catholic Church is the Mystical Body of Christ. Christ and His Church are inseparably one. Hate the Church, you hate Christ.

People hate Christ because, among other things, He is the Truth, and they are not living within the truth. They can either change and start living the truth (hard!). Or fight against the Truth. They choose the seemingly easier path, of fighting against the Truth.

I agree. The answer to this Topic is the answer as to why people hated Christ.

 

[KathleenGee]

If anything, people say the Church has so much power and wealth…

The power is not from them. The ‘wealth’ are expressions of the response we have when we encounter Christ, Truth and Beauty. The ’ wealth’ are expressions of praise and glory for Christ given us through His church.

The power people experience are rather, the power and presence of Christ Himself.

I just finished CatholicOnline.com, that has a memorial to those Christians who died in Iraq a year ago around this time, the priests offering themselves instead of the parishioners. They were immediately killed as one held up the Gospel…then the parishioners were slaughtered, beginning with the young men. There was a three year old boy following the Al Qaeda type terrorists who kept telling them to stop, and he finally was shot. Pretty graphic…but the image of the Crucified Lord staked to the top of a dead tree says it all. It made me weep.

Yes, the people in the Church are not perfect, and we have had some bad ones who brought much scandal.

Yet Christ’s power of forgiveness is greater than all the sins of humanity combined. Jesus forgives those who have brought scandal, those who have killed in the name of God, whatever their beliefs.

It is the evil one, the Devil who is the source of such hatred because he hates Christ. He cannot harm Christ, but he harms in through the Lord’s people.

 

[wisdomseeker]

I have come across this general sentiment of hostility from a variety of people- I’m sure that every Catholic must have. Now I know that there are as many reasons and angles to this as there are groups of people out there.

Please share charitably. Why?

Remember what Jesus said. They will hate us because they hated Him first. But I think people now and days are not satisfied by the answers Jesus gave at His time. They will go on and on with silly arguments back and forth trying to show their smarts. Jesus Words is all that I need. Nothing more nothing less.

 

[Pfaffenhoffen]

Hey, friend, could you please explain that sentence?

In Muslim’s world viewpoint, there is only one species: the Muslims. The others are infidels and should be killed.

Catholics dont go that far. But Catholics defend that the True Church is in the RCC.

I said similar. Somewhat similar, I would correct.

Another species similar were the Communists: it was either them or the abyss.

 

[Nicea325]

In Muslim’s world viewpoint, there is only one species: the Muslims. The others are infidels and should be killed.

Catholics dont go that far. But Catholics defend that the True Church is in the RCC.

I said similar. Somewhat similar, I would correct.

Another species similar were the Communists: it was either them or the abyss.

So in other words, strong convictions? Or am I wrong?

 

[CopticChristian]

I have come across this general sentiment of hostility from a variety of people- I’m sure that every Catholic must have. Now I know that there are as many reasons and angles to this as there are groups of people out there.

Please share charitably. Why?

It is like this. There is no one reason because no one knows the mind of the many. What we do know is that information is taken in and filtered by deletion, distortion and generalization.

Everyone has a map of the world in their head that differs from everyone elses map. The Catholic Church is the Catholic Church. Whatever map the person has of the Church in their head is the perception of what they believe the Church to be and if it conflicts with their own maps then there is either reconcilling maps, rejecting the map and even hating the map because there is conflict.

It is conflict within the mind as it pertains to the persons perception of the world where the perception of the Church conflicts and causes disharmony to the point of hatred.

 

[Little_Mary]

If anything, people say the Church has so much power and wealth…

The power is not from them. The ‘wealth’ are expressions of the response we have when we encounter Christ, Truth and Beauty. The ’ wealth’ are expressions of praise and glory for Christ given us through His church.

The power people experience are rather, the power and presence of Christ Himself.

I just finished CatholicOnline.com, that has a memorial to those Christians who died in Iraq a year ago around this time, the priests offering themselves instead of the parishioners. They were immediately killed as one held up the Gospel…then the parishioners were slaughtered, beginning with the young men. There was a three year old boy following the Al Qaeda type terrorists who kept telling them to stop, and he finally was shot. Pretty graphic…but the image of the Crucified Lord staked to the top of a dead tree says it all. It made me weep.

Yes, the people in the Church are not perfect, and we have had some bad ones who brought much scandal.

Yet Christ’s power of forgiveness is greater than all the sins of humanity combined. Jesus forgives those who have brought scandal, those who have killed in the name of God, whatever their beliefs.

It is the evil one, the Devil who is the source of such hatred because he hates Christ. He cannot harm Christ, but he harms in through the Lord’s people.

Ah, yes, power and wealth. Tsk. Tsk.

It is amazing to me how some people who have lwealth are referred to as being “blessed”, yet, these same people look at the Catholic Church and call it evil.

:hypno:

 

[StarSapphire]

In the UK it’s just kinda cultural. I mean I don’t really mind atheists, they seem bitter about anybody who try to assert anything, even psychologists, and that’s just low. But generally speaking it’s cultural in the UK to just despise papists, as we’re affectionately known. Generally we’re all viewed as preaching inquisitioners with red hot pokers who eat babies. I even had a woman say ‘You’re a Catholic? Oh well, never mind, we forgive you’.

Which is a bit rich coming from a religion that was founded by the misogynistic serial killer Henry Tudor - in fact I would be fascinated to know if, under EU legislation, what would happen if the Vatican tried to claim back the lands and resources stolen from it during the reformation. They burn the pope in effigy on the south coast at a merrymaking event once a year, and Guy Fawkes is always fun, that naughty Catholic terrorist who tried to blow up the houses of Parliament. We were only allowed to vote from 1830 onward, stand for parliament and go to university.Duke of Wellington pushed the Catholic Emancipation bill through Parliament. Always liked him, I’m a bit of a geeky fan of his

Actually, in all honesty, it sounds worse than it is. In fact it’s all very good natured and I have nothing against them partying on the south coast and I love the 5th of November as much as the next person… It’s just People generally fear anything God-ish, because it’s complex and unknown and gets their guilt complex going. Everyone has a guilt complex, but for some reason agnostics have more than most. They instantly think you’re going to judge them, I love it, I narrow my eyes suspiciously and ask “Why’s that then? What sort of things have you done?” and they go all pink and hide under the table.

And the Catholic Church never helps itself. Recent scandals could have been accompanied by slicker handling. It actually wasn’t so bad here in the UK as the British attitude is that if you suspect a priest of molesting a child you report it to the police first, not the bishop, which is VERY sound advice. In fact I do not understand why, in other countries, the police are not the first port of call! It seems astounding. For the church, though God’s chosen home on earth, is still an institution, and all political institutions have problems. And because the church is so old, and has been around for such a long time, it just has more than most.

 

[krahnicles]

I have come across this general sentiment of hostility from a variety of people- I’m sure that every Catholic must have. Now I know that there are as many reasons and angles to this as there are groups of people out there.

Please share charitably. Why?

There’s probably a very different set of reasons for non-Catholic Christians and other people, like non-religious people or folks from other religions (who shouldn’t be lumped into insular groups, either). For non-Catholic Christians, though, I would mostly look at triumphalism. That would be my guess.

 

[Rence]

I have come across this general sentiment of hostility from a variety of people- I’m sure that every Catholic must have. Now I know that there are as many reasons and angles to this as there are groups of people out there.

Please share charitably. Why?

A big part of the reason is that, just like Catholics, people of other religions do not like to hear that they are wrong and the other person is right, and they don’t like to be told that they have to conform to another person’s religion.

If you take the time to read through various threads on any religious forum, not just this one, you’ll see that many of those belonging to the dominant religion of the forum (in the case of this forum, Catholicism) are quick to say that they are right, they are the only ones going to heaven, all civil laws should be based on their religious laws, etc. So I don’t know about you, but for me, it’s not too hard to understand why some people are hostile towards Catholics (or any religion).

The best way to combat hostility towards Catholicms is to be a living example of Catholicism, and show them that Catholicism calls to them, but does not stifle them or threaten them.