Author Claims Anti-Catholic Sentiments on the Rise in U.S.

June 28, 2003

Source: Zenit

http://www.zenit.org/

On June 28, 2003 Zenit reported that "anti-Catholicism is enjoying a renewed lease on life in the United States. So says Philip Jenkins in his latest book, The New Anti-Catholicism: The Last Acceptable Prejudice (Oxford University Press)... A professor of history and religious studies at Pennsylvania State University, Jenkins starts off by explaining that he left the Catholic Church, and since the late 1980s has belonged to the Episcopal Church. 'I have no vested interest in defending the Roman Catholic Church, nor can I fairly be described as an uncritical defender of Catholic positions,' he writes... The book doesn't pull any punches. 'Catholics and Catholicism are at the receiving end of a great deal of startling vituperation in contemporary America,' he contends. Not only is the number of attacks astounding, but even more surprising is how the mainstream media downplay even the most violent anti-Catholic actions, notes Jenkins. Similar acts committed against other groups would have received much more publicity and been criticized as 'hate crimes.'"