Of course, we must be cautious in claiming persecution. No one here is being arrested, tortured and executed for their faith - as is happening in other countries. And perhaps more to the point, you and I (unlike Jesus) are not innocent - nor can we claim a level of integrity equal to Paul.
At the same time, it is hard to ignore that the media have a bias against Catholicism and that their repeated insinuations do have an impact on our young people. Some young Catholics wonder whether they want to belong to an organization portrayed as anti-woman, anti-gay, anti-choice, anti-democratic, anti-science, even anti-Semitic.
We need people who can respond to the more egregious charges such as that, in the face of the Holocaust, the pope remained silent or even collaborated with Hitler. Besides the accusation that Pius XII was Hitler's Pope the media make frequent references to other “black legends”: Crusades, Inquisition, Burning Times, Galileo. We can perform a real service by studying these issues and helping people get beyond what “everyone knows” to a more nuanced understanding.
Celebrating the Fourth of July, as Catholics we desire to take our place alongside other citizens. We do not seek to dominate or impose. As Pope John Paul stated, “The Church proposes. She imposes nothing.” Rather, in light of the Gospel and in light of our two thousand year tradition, we join fellow citizens in asking: What does freedom means? Where does it come from? And what we will we do with such a gift?
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*Jenkins mentions a Seattle art gallery which featured a blasphemous depiction of Christ crucified. “Below the cross, two nuns lie on their backs with the end of a coat hanger between their legs.” Other paintings had crude representations of priests. He notes that our society would not tolerate similar stereotyping of Jewish rabbis, black ministers, native Americans, etc. For sure Catholic priests and nuns provide rich ground for parody, going back to Chaucer and continuing into productions like Late Night Catechism. But if you imagine that the more vicious variety is an isolated phenomenon, I encourage you to read The New Anti-Catholicism.
**We cannot dodge these questions by saying they are private concerns of specific groups. As Mother Teresa observed, "If abortion isn't wrong, then nothing is wrong." If a society accepts the killing of unborn children, on what moral basis can we hold that any other act is unacceptable? The only thing which will matter is who is the strongest, that is who controls the means of communication and is most clever at manipulating people's emotions. Regarding homosexuality, our desire to accept and support those who struggle with same sex attractions does not require that we redefine marriage.
From Archives (Homilies for 14th Sunday, Year B):
Anti-Catholic Stereotyping (Seattle P-I Article)
Other Homilies
Seapadre Homilies: Cycle A, Cycle B, Cycle C
No Respect: Anti-Catholicism in the U.S. (Scholarly Book Looks at New Cracks in Old Fault Lines)
Persecution of Christians: A Tally for 2002
Are We All Bigots Now? (by Deal Hudson, Crisis Magazine)
Recommended Summer Reading: The Ring of the Dark Elves (a novel by Victoria Randall)
I might want the choice whether or not to buckle my seatbelt, but I keep seeing those click it or ticket signs. They don't take away my freedom to choose in any absolute sense, but warn me if I exercise it I may wind up $86 poorer. However one might feel about seat belt laws, would we gain anything by by framing this - or any legal issue - in terms of pro-choice and anti-choice?*
*A more apt comparison is whether female circumcision should be legal. A family in the Seattle area desired the procedure for their adolescent daughter, who herself was in favor of it. A local physician was willing to perform the surgery in order that it not be carried out in dangerous, unsanitary conditions. Like almost everyone else, I thought the whole thing sounded ghastly, but I could not help notice that there was no talk about pro-choice.