Why anti-Catholicism remains alive and well

Our Sunday Visitor ^ | July 27, 2003 | Russell Shaw

[NYer]

Among the many troubling offshoots of the clergy sex abuse scandal, the erosion of confidence in the leaders of the Church is easily one of the worst.

Tell a mixed audience of Catholics that not all bishops are responsible for the mess and that anti-Catholicism had something to do with the way the scandal was presented and perceived — you’re likely to get your head handed to you for your trouble.

But, as Philip Jenkins shows in his important book "The New Anti-Catholicism" (Oxford University Press, $27), these things happen to be facts. People who think the abuse scandal was exclusively about pedophile priests and cynical bishops trying to shield them from punishment need to hear what Jenkins says.

The book is about many things besides the scandal. Taken as a whole, it is a serious look at why anti-Catholicism is the "last acceptable prejudice" in the United States — why opinion leaders of every sort casually slam the Catholic Church when they wouldn’t dream of slamming any other church or institution.

Jenkins, a professor of history and religious studies at Pennsylvania State University, is no Catholic apologist. A former Catholic who parted ways with the Church years back, he is now an Episcopalian.

He also is a prolific author whose topics range from the explosive growth of Christianity in the Southern Hemisphere ("The Next Christendom," Oxford University Press, $28) to an examination of clergy sex abuse that debunks commonly held myths ("Pedophiles and Priests," Oxford University Press, $18).

HARD JABS FROM THE LEFT
Jenkins reports that, unlike the old-style, mainly Protestant anti-Catholicism it has largely but not entirely replaced, the "new" anti-Catholicism exists mainly on "the left/liberal side of the spectrum, especially among feminists and gay activists." These people oppose the Church on touchy issues where gender and politics intersect, like abortion and same-sex marriage.

The results of this clash are visible today everywhere from movies to art exhibitions in which Catholic themes are treated with contempt.

"For many people in the United States — particularly for opinion-makers in the mass media and in the academic world — Catholicism neither needs nor deserves the kind of protections that apply to other religious traditions," Jenkins concludes.

"In this assessment, the Church is a haven of reaction, especially on matters of gender and sexuality, and it deserves little sympathy when it is attacked because, frankly, it is so dependably on the wrong side."

Enter the scandal of sex abuse by priests.

No more than any other sane person does Jenkins doubt that some priests were guilty of horrible crimes and some bishops botched the handling of the problem in mind-boggling ways. These were the central causes of this historic disaster for the Church.

But there is more than that to the story.

Even though there was no solid basis in fact to support the view, around the mid-1980s, the media concluded that sex abuse was distinctively a problem of Catholic priests. This resulted in terrible distortions in coverage:

• The number of offenders often was grossly exaggerated. In reality, Jenkins suggests, probably no more than 2 percent to 3 percent of all priests were involved with minors.

• Abusive priests routinely were described as "pedophiles" — molesters of young children — even though a careful study of priests in the Chicago archdiocese found, for example, that just one out of more than 2,200 was a pedophile.

• Sex abuse by clergy of other denominations was treated as an isolated, individual phenomenon, but in the case of Catholic priests it was presented as a product of the doctrines and structures of the Church.

• Even though policies implemented by most bishops starting in 1993 meant that "most dioceses have in recent years done a respectable job" of handling the abuse problem, this progress was largely ignored.

"In modern American history, no mainstream denomination has ever been treated so consistently, so publicly, with such venom," Jenkins says.

Catholics joined in the Catholic-bashing. Jenkins mentions columnists Maureen Dowd and Anna Quindlen, psychotherapist Richard Sipe and writers Garry Wills, James Carroll and Eugene Kennedy. The list could be extended.

But can Catholics really be anti-Catholic? Conventional wisdom treats the very idea as absurd. If a Catholic — at any rate, a prominent Catholic on the left — criticizes the Church, he or she automatically gets respect from the media.

Jenkins thinks that’s a mistake. If somebody uses "harsh, sweeping, and vindictive" rhetoric to grind axes against the Church, that is anti-Catholic by definition, he holds.

RIGHT THINKING?
Manifesting the same blind spot about conservative Catholic opinion that secular writers commonly suffer from, Jenkins seems unaware that Catholic anti-Catholicism also exists on the Catholic right.

But it does. Catholics on both ends of the spectrum now join in decrying "the bishops," with no distinctions made.

It is as if African-Americans or Jews, buying into anti-black or anti-Semitic stereotypes, had turned on the authority structures of their own communities and were bent on destroying them.

Here, perhaps, is a disturbing symptom of collective Catholic self-hatred.

Bad as it was, the anti-Catholicism of the past came from outside the Church. And being under siege may even have strengthened the Catholic community in some ways.

Today, attacks from the outside are still taking place. But the Church also finds itself under attack from within. "We have met the enemy, and he is us," the cartoon character Pogo announced. Maybe so — but this new anti-Catholicism is no laughing matter.— Shaw (rshaw@osv.com) is Our Sunday Visitor’s Washington correspondent

. . . and it’s not going away soon
Is there a solution to anti-Catholicism in the United States? In "The New Anti-Catholicism," Philip Jenkins says the problem is so deeply rooted in American culture that it may be impossible to eradicate "in a decade or a lifetime."

Still, it doesn’t follow that nothing can be done.

"The greatest single achievement might be to acknowledge its existence and to treat it as a form of prejudice quite as pernicious as any other," Jenkins says.

In the news media especially, he adds, "it would be wonderful if writers dealing with Catholic themes would examine their work just long enough to see if they were recycling ancient stereotypes, in much the same way they should if writing about Jews, blacks, or other once-despised groups."

Good idea. But how to turn that from pious hope into concrete reality is not so clear. » R.S.

[NYer]

But can Catholics really be anti-Catholic?

You betcha ....!!!

[Onelifetogive]

Why anti-Catholicism remains alive and well

Catholics!

[el_chupacabra]

Interesting article!

As a white, married, heterosexual, conservative, pro-life, Roman Catholic, father and attorney -- I may be the most hated man in America.

[NYer]

As a white, married, heterosexual, conservative, pro-life, Roman Catholic, father and attorney -- I may be the most hated man in America.

Close ... but you will need to add one more credential to your illustrious list in order to qualify for that - politician. That should entitle you to be hung in effigy.

[Polycarp]

You are piece of evidence number one supporting the central thesis of this article.

And, I'm sorry to inform you, you definitely are NOT Catholic.

So the source of anti-Catholicism is not Catholics.

Thanks for playing, but...

That's right Al--you lost! And let me tell what you didn't win: a twenty-volume set of the Encyclopedia International, a case of Turtle Wax, and a year's supply of Rice-a-Roni, the San Francisco treat. But that's not all! You also made yourself look like a jerk in front of millions of people! And you brought shame and disgrace on your family name for generations to come! You don't get to come back tomorrow! You don't even get a lousy copy of our home game! You're a complete loser!!

[Polycarp]

a white, married, heterosexual, conservative, pro-life, Roman Catholic, father and attorney

You were doing OK by me till you got to that final label ;-)

[Onelifetogive]

So the source of anti-Catholicism is not Catholics.

I did not claim that the source of anti-Catholicism was Catholics...I claimed that the reason for anti-Catholicism was Catholics...

[Titanites]

A primary reason why anti-Catholicism remains alive and well is because of ignorance of Catholic doctrine and beliefs, even among Catholics. Take a look at those on FR who are the loudest anti-Catholics. Most are "former Catholics" who don't understand even the basics of Catholicism.

[Titanites]

It's probably worth adding that some of these "former Catholics" still make false claims about Catholic belief even after having the specific doctrine explained to them numerous times here on FR. I'm not sure of the reason for this. It's apparent that it isn't due to ingnorance. Maybe it's because the Church disciplines were too difficult for them to live by so they will do whatever it takes to discredit the Church.

[Polycarp]

Thanks for your thoughts.

[Onelifetogive]

It's not over yet...but it is collapsing under it's own weight...

[Onelifetogive]

It's probably worth adding that some of these "former Catholics" still make false claims about Catholic belief even after having the specific doctrine explained to them numerous times here on FR. I'm not sure of the reason for this.

Might I suggest a possible explanation for discussion...

Having something explained numerous times on FR as "Catholic belief" must be weighed against seeing things as they are actually taught by Catholics, priests, bishops, the vatican staff and even the pope.

The impression left by Catholic Freepers is that the pope is only wrong when he disagrees with Catholic FReepers.

[Titanites]

"Having something explained numerous times on FR as "Catholic belief" must be weighed against seeing things as they are actually taught..."

I'm talking about belief as taught according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

[Ippolita]

LOL!

I remember one Christmas Eve in Manhattan, with the usual cosmopolitan setting, and I don't eat the meat dishes, so the lady next to me says: "Are you a vegeterian?" and I say "No I'm Roman Catholic ...", a wave of silence discends, everyone looks at me as if I gone mad, and then my host kindly explains to his flabbergasted guests "She's Italian ..."

Which I'm not, I just live here and originaly my family was from here, but it was his way of negotiating the problem!

[Ippolita]

LOL!

I remember one Christmas Eve in Manhattan, with the usual cosmopolitan setting, and I don't eat the meat dishes, so the lady next to me says: "Are you a vegeterian?" and I say "No I'm Roman Catholic ...", a wave of silence discends, everyone looks at me as if I gone mad, and then my host kindly explains to his flabbergasted guests "She's Italian ..."

Which I'm not, I just live here and originaly my family was from here, but it was his way of negotiating the problem!

[LiteKeeper]

read later

[Onelifetogive]

I'm talking about belief as taught according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Can you tell me from the catechism what is required to gain salvation?

[Polycarp]

...still make false claims about Catholic belief even after having the specific doctrine explained to them numerous times here on FR. I'm not sure of the reason for this. It's apparent that it isn't due to ingnorance.

Some folks are just malicious, others plain evil. See post 13.

[Titanites]

Can you tell me from the catechism what is required to gain salvation?

Yes. Those who die in God's grace and friendship are assured of their eternal salvation.