I’ve seen the other side of it, though – anti-non-Catholicism.
Buffalo is very Catholic. Imagine a blue collar city, whose predominant ethnic groups are Polish, Italian and Irish – the three most pious in Europe – and throw in some Germans from the southern end of the country for good measure. All the private colleges are Catholic. All the non-secular hospitals are Catholic. Almost all of the private elementary and high schools are Catholic. There hasn’t been a Protestant mayor in over 50 years.
Now, imagine growing up Lutheran in that city.
Around Christmas time, most Buffalo area TV newscasts will start off showing about five to ten minutes of clips of various masses from throughout the city, and maybe show a few seconds from some Methodist church to appease the heathens. Some restaurants won’t serve meat on Friday, and almost all of them add fish fry to the menu. Many Catholics in Buffalo held very strong anti-Protestant beliefs. About half the women I asked out would turn me down because I wasn’t Catholic and/or ethnic group X. Many residents have large anti-abortion signs or shrines to the Virgin Mary on their lawns. The only comparison I can think of is Salt Lake City and the LDS church – it permeates every nook and cranny of your life, whether you’re of the faith or not.
Growing up non-Catholic in Buffalo must be like growing up black in a middle class white communty – not only do you feel out of place and reminded of it at every turn, but you’re also attacked because of your differences, the equivalent of getting pulled over by the cops all the time because of the color of your skin. Growing up in that sort of environment, it’s hard not to feel some sort of resentment towards the majority, however irrational or stupid it might seem.
Um, not true. As Captain Amazing pointed out, there were (Church authorized and approved, btw) vernacular translations of the Bible in the Middle Ages. These were largely unnecessary, however, because most of the population was illiterate, and anyone who could read, could read Latin, which was, aside from being the language of the church, also the common language of trade throughout most of Europe (much as English is today.)
The Church did suppress many vernacular translations, not in the interests of keeping the Bible out of the hands of the masses, but because they contained many translation errors, which could be potentially misleading. (Get a New World Translation, which is the Jehovah’s Witness “Bible” and you’ll get a sense of what I’m talking about. Of course, the JW’s did it on purpose, basically making Scripture fit their doctrines, but that’s another thread.)
BTW, even for Catholics who don’t own a Bible, if they attend Mass every week for three years, will have virtually the entire Bible read to them, except for some very dry statistical stuff.
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Just FTR, in the LB series, the current Pope is raptured away with other true believers; the next Pope is appointed by the man who later is revealed to be the Anti-Christ.
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On the LBMB, there is a LOT of Catholic-bashing. Most of the fundamentals over there truly believe that Catholics are not Christians. The ignorance and hatred over there is amazing. The whole “death cookie” thing is almost funny.
I am Lutheran, and my husband is Catholic. I have never seen any animosity between Catholics and Lutherans. Sure, there was that little spat back in 1517, but I think we have all gotten over it now. In fact, my church, part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA), has been moving back a little more towards Catholicism in recent years…“death cookies” every week, confession, ashes on Ash Wednesday, etc.
Um, Kinsey, in the LB series, the Pope who was raptured had been teaching heresies that were more akin to Lutheran doctrine than the traditional teachings of the Catholic Church.
Guin, I think you misunderstood your catechism. That’s supposed to be bow to the priests. Then again, maybe in your case, this misunderstanding was deliberate (on whose part, I’m not going to speculate…)
Not the entire Bible, but much of the New Testament. There is always a reading from one of the Gospels (or sometimes Acts) plus a reading from an Epistle. Readings from the OT or other parts of the NT (e.g. Revelations) were rare.
To answer the OP…“where did this anti-catholic sentiment come from?”
Spending time with my future mother-in-law. If you aren’t catholic (like me) and have the pleasure of spending any quality time with her, you’ll understand anti-catholic sentiment.
Oh. Okay.
It’s been a while since I read that first one. I don’t remember that part exactly, I just remember being surprised that the writers would have the Pope be raptured, considering how some fundies feel about those heathen Catholics.
Raised a Catholic in Texas in the 50s. You can bet there’s such a thing as anti-Catholic sentiment. Even some people who pretended to be nice would say “here’s a peanut butter sandwich for you because (voice rising just loud enough for everyone in the room to hear) WE KNOW YOU CATHOLICS DON’T EAT MEAT.”
Then I moved to St. Louis. A more catholic city you won’t find. But even here there are distinctly a Catholic power structure, a Protestant structure and a Jewish structure. Whichever circle you’re associated with, you’re on someone’s enemy list.
Moved back South after college. My first wife decided to convert to Catholicism. Her grandmother essentially disowned her and never spoke to me.
Came back to St. Louis. Fell in love with a Lutheran. You should hear the stuff she thought bout Catholics.
With all that, there’s less prejudice than when I was a kid. Which gives you an idea how bd it was at one time.
There are two Scriptural Reading cycles in the Catholic Liturgy. The first is a three-year cycle (lettered A, B, and C) that is read on Sunday. There are, as noted, one reading from the Old Testament, one from the Epistle and Revelation, and one from a Gospel each Sunday. The second cycle is a two-year cycle (labeled I and II) that is read the other six days of the week. In addition, most of the psalms are used as responsorial prayers between the first and second readings (although a lot of parishes substitute a different hymn or antiphon to keep the choir busy.) Between the two cycles, an attendant at daily mass will hear the entire bible read. There are a number of passages in Chronicles, Revelation, and a few other places which will not be heard by a person who attendds on Sunday and Feastday masses.
This does not exactly address the issue of the original claim that the bible was “withheld” from the people during the middle ages, since the two cycles are only 29 years old.
In the days of the Latin mass, the priest used to read two passages from scripture in Latin, then read them again in the local language. I do not know when that practice started and I will have to look it up.
It should be noted that during the middle ages, not only was the lack of a printing press a deterrent to distributing the bible in the vernacular (or in Latin), but anyone who actually learned to read, learned Latin. So a person who actually wished to “study” the bible would have probably practiced reading on the bible.
Having been required to attend mass until I was 18, I know well the entire Bible was not read. Most of the New Testament minus most of Revelation was read. It was not until I took religion in college that I discovered the tale of Noah’s daughter tricking daddy into having sex with her. Or much of the Judges, some of the stories could easily be translated into modern police crime stories. There was also story of a woman who lusted after lovers with balls of a donkey and an emission like that of horses (Ezekiel?). Didn’t hear that at mass.
Maybe you mean Lot’s daughters? They got him drunk and had sex with him. Noah’s son saw him naked, but no idea about his daughters. Maybe you’re talking about Judah’s daughter-in-law?
I was describing how things were when I used to attend mass on a regular basis. That stopped about 1972 or so. Whoda figured the church would change things that much?
Latin mass was still being held when I first started going. I don’t remember the readings being done in Latin, just in English. But that was 35 years ago, and my memory is less than perfect.
In the Tridentine Latin Mass, just before the priest took a “time out” and came over to the pulpit to proclaim the readings and give the sermon, he read from a book on the right-hand side of the altar (that was the Epistle), then some kid scurried up, took the book and headed down the steps with it, genuflecting at the bottom of the steps in the center, then took the book up and placed it on the left side. At that point the priest read the Gospel.
(This could be pretty amusing when the kid was some nine-year-old and the selected missal was one of the 30-pound varieties with a five-pound stand. Of course, all that running around for reasons lost in time was what gave some Protestants ammunition for claims that the RCC was more into ritual than belief.)
Well, this is somewhat related, but in the town next to Monterey called “Pacific Grove”, it was originally set up as a methodist retreat town. Their annual festival of lanterns is a hold over from the “culture” of the Methodist retreat.
But, Monterey has a strong Catholic heritage (the old presedio chapel is a Cathedral actually), and any anti-catholic sentiment there wouldnt be met very kindly. But, the Protestants here tend to be tolerant, even if they are ignorant on many issues. I cant recall any anti-catholic protests or literature going around.
Hm, let me make a few clarifications before I get accused of making sweeping generalizations ;). It should read “Many of the protestants here are tolerant, even if many tend to be ignorant on Catholicism related issuses”.
I also wanted to add: The Catholic heritage of this area is not only evident by the various missions in the towns here, but by the annual festivals held by different ethnic groups. Such as the Santa Rosalia festival which Italians here celebrate (there’s even a statue of her at the harbor), and also La Posada which is something from the Mexican tradition which happens every Christmas.
Catholics.