Is It Good to Hate the Catholic Church?

The Biblical Origin of Catholi-phobia.

Before I begin: I am not writing this page to condemn Protestants; I know that most of them love Jesus.

Nevertheless, I have to write this in order to denounce the slanders and the methods that certain fanatics disguised as “Christians” use in their books.

The worst part is that these lies have already been accepted by almost all Protestant communities.

Most non-Catholic Christians think the Catholic Church is a cult or something of the sort. But that does not make them wicked. The people I will be speaking of are those who condemn the Catholic Church “because the Bible says so,” yet ignore all the good she possesses… most probably because of their resentment against the Church. I am writing this page so that you may recognize which Protestant apologists are anti-Catholic, and thus analyze them more critically.

In fact, it grieves me deeply to have to write this page. It is just that I am fed up with people being driven out of the Catholic Church and filled with Catholi-phobia and misunderstandings… there are so many beautiful things here… and of course, Jesus is here too. Far more present than in other forms of Christianity. So, what is the problem?

I believe the problem is Catholics in name only. You will ask: why does the Catholic Church, which claims to be the original church, have so much lukewarmness within her?

Well, curiously enough, it is the very thing certain Protestant churches say about other Protestant churches. They call them “lukewarm” because they are not concerned with making converts or upholding sound morals. So the problem is not exclusive to us. But let me tell you: the Catholic Church is experiencing a renewal, one that is growing very quickly. It is called the Charismatic Renewal. Twenty years ago there were fewer than 100. Now the movement has reached hundreds of thousands. And what are these people like? They speak of the love of Jesus, they pray constantly… curiously, Marian and Eucharistic devotions are more solid among charismatics than among average Catholics.

But my point here is to explain a phenomenon that is very common among Protestants: Catholi-phobia.

A true Christian is supposed to speak about Jesus, about how his life of prayer makes him happier than non-Christians (among whom some include Catholics).

And what about the ex-Catholics who evangelize only Catholics? Let me explain with an example taken from cults such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

One member makes more members, who in turn make more members, who in turn make many more members, so that they may make more and more and more members. Now — if membership in this new “church” means having a healthy spiritual life, a personal relationship with Jesus — constant prayer… GOOD prayer, asking God for the repentance of the nations… for wars and human-rights abuses to cease — well then, wonderful indeed!

But what happens when a member of this church cares only about making more members (without knowing whether they are ready to endure so much pressure, scolding, and so on, or whether it might have been better for them to wait before converting), and they ask God only to bring in more members (without asking Him to help the members be happy), fast only so that God will give them more members, publish material only to make more members…

What kind of religious life is that?

Now let us switch sides. Suppose an ex-Catholic prays only to make more ex-Catholics… works only to “evangelize” Catholics (even though they already love Jesus), fasts only to “help” Catholics, preaches only about Catholicism… what do we become? A cult of ex-Catholics!

Ex-Catholics

The Catholic bishop Fulton Sheen said that very few people hate the Catholic Church for what she really is. All the rest hate their own distorted image of the Catholic Church.

I will set down here the average anti-Catholic testimony (a testimony that is made up — I add a few lies about the Catholic Church and exaggerate some misunderstandings of Catholic doctrines), so that we can see what really happened to the ex-Catholic:

NOTE: This is a made-up testimony. I put into it some lies, misrepresentations of Catholic beliefs, a bit of subjectivism, along with condemnations and insults. What do we get? A “very good evangelization”! Note: We should not condemn the “evangelizations aimed at Catholics” — I believe that many of them… a GREAT MANY of them are simply ignorant of Catholicism. But we should be on our guard (as I have already experienced) against anti-Catholic ex-Catholics… and above all… pray for them. They need it badly: if they are bitter, resentful, and hate the Catholic Church, then they lack the love of God :(. I was born into a Catholic family. We used to go to Mass, but it was very boring — I never understood why we had to worship Mary when we could pray directly to God — but I believed I was a good person — I prayed the Our Father, the Hail Mary, and the Glory Be every day… I gave alms, I went to weekly catechism. Well, I have to thank God that I skipped a few classes — just imagine — they would have asked me to worship even more saints! In any case, I never knew Christ. I was still telling lies to my parents about my grades — I had even asked God to help me lie… can you believe it? I did not know why I had to confess my sins to another man — what if he told someone else? Anyway, I always had the same sins — I lied 5 times, I did this 3 times, etc. I never really felt the power of God during confession. Obviously it did not come from God. Then one day these friends came to my house asking me some questions about the Bible — I let them in; I had nothing to do. I think God arranged it, because I had many commitments that day, and suddenly I was free of them all. So they asked me questions… many questions. The first one — why did we worship Mary? I did not know what to answer… one of them told me that if I could find the worship of Mary in the Bible, he would give me 1,000 pesos. Of course I tried… the following week I admitted it: I had failed. And then he quoted the Bible, and I realized I was not following the Bible. We were not supposed to kneel before any image, nor call any priest ‘father’ (much less a piece of bread!). I really did not know that little wafer was supposed to be Jesus. How ridiculous! God, if only I had read my Bible! But my mom never told us to do so. Someone told me that for Catholics the Bible was forbidden. I can’t believe it! It was the word of God and I was not reading it! Now I understand many things… I discovered that the Catholic Church was not what it was supposed to be… I learned about the crusades and the wicked inquisition. I also learned that the first Christians mingled with Roman paganism, and thus the Catholic Church was born. I learned all this because some very friendly Christians decided to preach the word. Then they told me about Jesus — Jesus was God and had died for me! Why had no one told me? I cannot believe that the Catholic Church never spoke about Jesus. Thank goodness I got out of there. The worst part was the priest who said Mass for us. His sermon was so boring that we would fall asleep… I am sure that if the Catholic Church had come from God, I would have heard a very good preacher. Later I found out that the local priest had abused a child… I discovered that my whole parish was hypocritical! The guys there were hypocrites, and the people who taught catechism were hypocrites too. I did not bother to look into all the other groups, since these were the ‘best’ ones… Worst of all — when I asked another priest about my friend’s visit and the Bible, he just condemned them and told me I had to be careful. He told me they were deceived, but that they were sincere and practiced what they preached. He was insulting my friends! Then I decided to say a prayer: I accepted Jesus as my Lord and savior, and by faith I am sure I will never go to hell, because I trust in Jesus. And I thank Him that I found a good biblical church. Now I never stop preaching to other Catholics so that they may free themselves from the whore of Babylon. Open your eyes! The Catholic Church does not come from God! Sincerely, Johnny X, (the name has been changed to protect the innocent) If you are a Catholic: this was done in Christian love! We want the best for you, because we want you to follow only the Word of God. Jesus did not write the catechism. We will pray for you and offer you support if you wish to look into it further. Sincerely, Pastor XX, YZ Fundamental Church. Address: ————–

Well, what do you think?

OK, first let us analyze the behavior of this supposed ex-Catholic:

– He was an unrepentant sinner.
– He had lied to his parents about his grades — lying was wrong and he knew it, but he was very afraid…

– He was USING God for his own ends… when he should have said: “THY will be done.” He knew the Our Father and did not understand it — it turns out he prayed only to please “God” or his parents…

– He was never interested in learning about the Catholic faith, or any other: he was so lazy (and sloth is a sin) that he skipped catechism classes… if he had gone to them all, he would have heard the testimony of the young man who left drugs and pornography behind through the power of the risen Christ…

Johnny would also have learned that the Catholic Church does NOT forbid reading Bibles… nor do we worship Mary (who is the Catholic who knows more? The one who, after studying, decides to stay, or the one who leaves out of ignorance?). We Catholics do NOT worship Mary or statues, because we do not believe they are God. Any Catholic who knows his faith knows that Mary prays for us. If this is not your view, then you were told lies: you were given a mistaken representation of Catholic beliefs, which, precisely because it is mistaken, OF COURSE contradicts the Bible. You were not taught the TRUE beliefs of the Catholic Church.

– He did not care to know the creed or the Mass: the Catholic creed says that Jesus is God and died for us. But he never understood it until the evangelical ministers came to his house.

– He never made a sincere confession. I have seen testimonies of Catholics who have truly repented of their sins (even weeping over them), and who, after confession, feel the peace of Jesus when the priest gives them absolution (See John 20:23)

– He never looked into third-party sources — he sought out only ONE, just ONE priest… in other words, he found it more of a bother to study Catholic sources (going to Catholic evangelization centers, Catholic bookstores, national libraries holding Christian documents from the first centuries — what a chore!) than Protestant sources — they CAME to his house (how easy…)

– He believed only ONE point of view: that of his Protestant friends. He did not care to ask his catechism friends… or the other groups. Can this be called consistent and thorough research? (Read 1 Thessalonians 5:21)

– The guy could have reported the corrupt priest of his church to his superior (the bishop) — but he did not. And much of the corruption in Catholic settings (though I have NEVER heard of a parish being completely depraved) exists because the victims are afraid to speak out and press charges (and in fact it happens more in Protestant environments). If it is a case of child abuse, it is understandable — the child is afraid — but a WITNESS? Hm…

– It was also the fault of our “witness’s” mother, who never encouraged him to read the Bible. Now, what would happen if, after reading the Bible, people STAYED in the Catholic Church? Then the Catholic Church would improve, as she is doing now, with television programming like EWTN, or with the Charismatic Renewal. But with the anti-Catholics, what happens? GOOD! You are a Christian now, so get out of there. The “good” Catholics automatically abandon the Church to her fate. They always leave us with the worst (the unconverted).

Well — now let us move on from judging the guy who gave us his testimony, to judging the ethics of the YZ Fundamental Church:

– They did not care to examine whether the things he spoke of were consistent with Catholic teaching. They did not care if he lied; they did not care if he bore false witness… as long as it served to get someone out of the “whore of Babylon,” no problem! (I wonder what Jesus would say about such attitudes?)

– They were very quick to say, “I will give you $1,000 if this is in the Bible.” Would they do that with a Catholic priest? Why do they ask priests about other things, such as eternal security, the Church Fathers, etc., instead of these very “easy” questions? The YZ Fundamental Church took advantage of the believer’s ignorance.

– There is no biblical proof that the Catholic Church is the “whore of Babylon.” These are mere Protestant speculations. That cardinals dress in red (??), that Rome sits on 7 hills, blah blah blah. After all, the phrase “catholic church” is not in the Bible! If Protestants were fair, they would look for proof in the writings of the first disciples (such as Polycarp or Ignatius of Antioch, exemplary disciples of the apostle Saint John) that the Catholic Church was the great Babylon. Or who knows — it might turn out that they say the Catholic Church is the true church!

And I can turn the question back on our Protestant friends — are the words “denominational,” “Bible only,” “fundamental,” “one-on-one discipleship,” present in the Bible? The point here is that the anti-Catholic reads whatever he wants to read in the Bible. It does not matter that Jesus says “this IS my body”; they read it as though it said “this is NOT my body,” even though Jesus gives a whole discourse in John 6 about how we must eat His flesh. They do not care, simply because their superiors or their pastors say so. They are always right.

– The YZ fundamental church gave no access to the person’s mail — they did not even say whether he could be contacted indirectly, or, at the very least, whether his permission could be asked. How can I help him truly understand the Catholic Church? What is more, they changed his name! Where is Christian courage, the joy of being “persecuted” for the truth? In my opinion they look more like the apostles who were afraid of the Jews when Jesus was killed than like the apostles who preached in the public squares.

– The people of the YZ church did not want to arrange a meeting with the priest so that they could, for example, hold a proper debate. They simply presented their point of view, and voilà.

– Imagine changing words like “born again” to “free,” and “YZ Fundamental Church” to “Watchtower Society” (removing the part about Jesus being God). What would you think? Would this not look like the testimony of some Jehovah’s Witness? It can be adapted to any group whatsoever, because almost all Protestant churches are against the Catholic Church.

OK, in conclusion:

Is this testimony supposed to have been written by the Holy Spirit? Prudence, patience, good manners, etc.? It looks rather as though it had been written by the devil in person — lies, half-truths, pressure, threats, etc.

Of course, if they were ignorant of Catholicism… if their sources were apparently biased. But since they think WE are the biased ones, then they are doing whatever it takes because they are following their conscience (which is good).

So we should not judge them, because it was not their fault.

Let me explain myself better:

The Catholic-hater writes a book packed with lies…

which a more decent anti-Catholic finds, and he writes another book…

which many Protestant researchers find, and they write several books about it…

which a VERY good researcher finds, and he writes a very good book on that subject…

which your pastor finds and puts on his shelves.

And so the good researcher is using biased sources.

I showed the first edition of this article to a Protestant friend. He told me:

I suppose I would suggest that they investigate the Catholic Church and reject it for the proper reasons.

So the question I ask you is this:

Are you ignorant of Catholicism?

Are you sure that your pastor — ignorantly — read a book with bad sources, and learned everything he knows about the Catholic Church from THIS BOOK?

If you think Catholic books try to defend their “unbiblical” positions … you are completely mistaken: most Catholic books explain what the Catholic Church REALLY believes! The unbiblical parts are misunderstandings of the TRUE Catholic beliefs. This is why you should read these books — skip whatever apologetic sections you wish, but please read the parts that explain what we really believe.

Returning to anti-Catholic prejudices and websites:

One day, I went to an anti-Catholic site and questioned someone’s testimony (a real testimony). I told them that whoever wrote it was deeply confused, and I demanded an opportunity to reply (if someone had said that Jesus married Mary Magdalene, what would you do?). So they answered me with this argument: “The testimonies are there. It is up to you to believe them or not.” Well… if everything comes down to a subjective experience, I understand; but when they start telling lies and do not correct them, then something smells rotten.

I am not questioning the sincerity of the individual. I am questioning his reasoning. He joined the YZ fundamental church for bad reasons! (fear? Threats of damnation?) Errors, misunderstandings — but never mind if they are the worst of lies, so long as it serves to get someone out of the “terrible great Babylon.”

My — what a fine concern for the truth!

Worse still — some anti-Catholic groups sink into sensationalism:

Look, look! A Catholic worshiping the sun!
Look, look! A priest who raped a child!
Look, look! The pope said that only Catholics would be saved!
Look, look! A female pope — and pregnant!
Look, look! 3 popes at the same time!

Of course, there are also the testimonies of people who paid large sums of money to professional liars — like the promiscuous young woman named Maria Monk, who saw “horrors” in a convent (she supposedly saw that the nuns got pregnant and killed the children after baptizing them, burying them beneath the convent). It turns out she was NEVER in any convent… she was not even a Catholic! She was expelled from an asylum because she became pregnant… and she was finally jailed as a pickpocket. Many people still believe her story.

But what do people say about her? “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Perhaps it was fictitious, but I believe there was something real to it.” Then they find another book that speaks of the same thing, and they say: “Look! Look! I was right — they were murderous nuns!” But they fail to notice that the book was based on the very same story of Maria Monk. They are not 2 sources, but two books from the same source.

Another fine lie is that of Alberto Rivera. He claims to have been a Jesuit who discovered “many things in the Vatican,” and he was never even a priest. How is it possible that a liar like him became so popular?

So it is their word against ours: whom would you believe? The poor Christians who barely escaped the clutches of Satan, or the terrible whore of Babylon? People, frightened, get carried away by the scandals. That is how they are deceived.

But…

What does the Bible say about this? Exaggerations, false sources, testimonies invented to discredit the Church, misrepresentations?

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.(Exodus 20:16)

It is so hard for anyone to grasp this… that sincere people read sources full of lies and end up telling lies themselves; sincere though they may be, they help the devil sow weeds without knowing it. In short, this is the history of Protestantism. Members of churches founded by heretics — but what counts as a heretic nowadays? Nothing. Everything is biblical! 🙁

Another site gave erroneous criteria to make people believe that the Catholic Church brainwashed her followers, but it never said how she did it. They do not even explain WHAT brainwashing IS. Nor do they mention that the famous writer Robert J. Lifton explained the process in detail in his book on Communist China… and that anyone can see from a mile away that those criteria do not match the Catholic Church in absolutely anything. No — instead of that, they said that any church that did not follow certain criteria or doctrines was a cult. I asked the editor about it, and I did not receive a sincere answer.

Although many people leave the Church for groups like Dianetics, the Mormons, or the Jehovah’s Witnesses, this is understandable: these groups give the follower too much information in far too little time… and they never give them time to reflect.

But what about the fundamentalist churches that do not care whom they quote, so long as it helps them win a member (and a tithe)? I mean, these are the churches that are supposed to be Christian. Where is Christian ethics? We ought to know that mockery is NOT Christian.

The Anti-Catholics and the Bible

Now — let us read a few biblical passages — from a Catholic point of view, and let us see what you think of this.

And this is what drove people away from the Catholic Church: their sins. One example: Henry VIII left the Catholic Church because the Pope would not grant him a divorce! Many people leave the Catholic Church because they are divorced and remarried — obviously they go to a church that allows divorce.

And it is OUR fault as well. If you truly want to help Catholics, ask God to revive the Catholic Church — because the Church is NOT the clergy, but EVERY Catholic. If you hate the Catholic Church, you hate ALL Catholics! True Catholics will NEVER consider a saint more powerful than God… they will never be lazy; they will rejoice to take part in the Mass… they will gladly go on missions and help the poor… they will defend human rights. It will be very hard to convert an active Catholic, because he carries the Holy Spirit within him. He knows that Christ is really present in the host he receives at every Mass… he feels the love of God when he takes communion. He feels His protection when he prays the rosary… he feels loved by God.

But what about the Catholics in name only, who do not go to Mass and do not care? Like taking candy from a child. In other words:

(And, for the worse, this can be caused by a bad priesthood, bad parents, bad catechists… the fault does not lie with the ex-Catholic alone — in fact, in very few cases is he 100% responsible for it. No one told him what Catholicism really was — and that hurts)

Concerning the anti-Catholics: Jesus tells us to know the tree by its fruits. And according to Galatians (5:19-23), the fruits of the Spirit are charity, joy, peace, tolerance, benignity, goodness, faith, mildness, temperance. The fruits of the flesh are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcrafts, enmities, quarrels, jealousies, wraths, contentions, dissensions, heresies, envies, murders, drunkenness, gluttony…

Here we can clearly see who has the truth: the one who has charity, joy, peace, tolerance, benignity, goodness, faith… or the one who has enmities, quarrels, jealousies, wraths, contentions… etc.

• Do the anti-Catholics have a love for the truth? Do they really want to understand Catholicism? Or do they just grab the catechism — which they do not even understand — to see what they can contradict?
• Are they so eager to get someone out of the Catholic Church that they never acknowledge their sources and verify whether they truly come from God?
• Are the anti-Catholics embittered against the Catholics who have hurt their feelings?
• Do the anti-Catholics recognize the Holy Spirit in people like John Paul II, Mother Teresa, and the Catholic martyrs?

If you are a pastor — please check your sources. It is a shame that Christians do not believe Catholics when they tell the truth, yet they do believe anti-Catholics when they tell lies!

If you came to believe that the Catholic Church is the “whore of Babylon,” it is very likely that whoever told you so was an anti-Catholic. Would you like to know the truth?

You see, God’s purpose for us is not only that we “be saved.” He also wants us to come to the knowledge of the Truth. Which means we must be serious, unprejudiced, and do some decent research… and see whether we ourselves are not mistaken in believing that anyone who does not agree 100% with our ideas will go to hell…

Do you really love Jesus?

Then the Truth should matter to you.

God bless you all!