Have The Attacks On The Catholic Church Strengthened Your Commitment To The Church?

Question

Make no mistake - the Catholic Church has been attacked by jews, liberals, homosexuals and other faiths as a symbol of ALL Christianity. Our Heirarchical structure is why they target us. These attacks have caused me to see that we are at war and I will support the Church at any cost. What about you have you been faith been forged by the war at hand?

Answer 1

Attacked by liberals? I'm a liberal Catholic, one of many thousands of them, and I'm not attacking myself. I don't think there's any so-called "gay agenda" against the church, either, and I watch in pain as my gay colleagues, friends, and acquaintances who wish to remain Catholic go through hell on earth. In my personal case, the vast majority of the anti-Catholic sentiment (and I've endured a ton of it) is coming from other branches of Christianity, particularly right-wing Protestant evangelicals. I support the Church, but hope to see certain reforms take place. In the meantime, I remain a staunch Catholic (albeit it a leftist one), and attacks don't change that fact one little bit. I have to analyze each case of anti-Catholic sentiment. Is there any truth in it? Is the person merely parroting something they heard from an unenlightened source? When dealing with opposition, one must consider the source, and respond as intelligently as possible, under the circumstances.

Answer 2

Absolutely! Such attacks have also caused me to study, read and learn more about my faith. The more I learn, the more rock solid my commitment to the Church becomes, because everything backs up my belief that The Catholic Church is the One True Church, the Church of Jesus Christ.

Such attacks have also caused me to pray for patience and inspiration when answering the tiresome questions based on misconceptions that others have about the Church. I rely heavily on the Holy Spirit in these matters.

Archbishop Fulton Sheen said, "There are not over a 100 people in the U.S. that hate the Catholic Church, there are millions however, who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church -- which is, of course, quite a different thing." I think this is even more true now than when he said it.

Answer 3

Anyone who truly knows Jesus Christ knows his one, true church ... and in the end, when one defends the Catholic Church ... one is also defending Jesus, along with all of his grace, and all of his truth.

Defending the church is not simply a matter of defending it from those on the outside who would destroy it, but also from those who are inside the church, and bent on its' destruction.

Defending the Catholic faith can seem tedious at times, but it is always a singular privilege, a distinct honor, and in compete accord with the unique human and Christian dignity that Jesus gave to us.

The Catholic Church has always been at it's best during times of trial and suffering ... even when those trials were in part, self inflicted.

The toughest part is truly discerning the difference between the church, which is holy, and will always be so, simply because God wills it, and some of the people who belong to it, and even govern it, and who commit the great and public sins, which serve to scandalize it.

A small number of well known bishops, priests, and Catholic politicians immediately come to mind.

This, plus a couple of recent generations of confused and luke-warm Catholics, constitute the greatest danger to the life of the church.

And your reasoning is correct ... if the Catholic Church is ever overcome by evil ... so goes the whole world ... and then, the times of the end will surely be at hand.

Answer 4

its not so much the attacks as it is the rebuttals.

its like when someone posts "why do catholics do this? its not in the bible, its cause the catholics suck"

but then 9/10 of the answers are "yeah its in the bible, right here, why not take a look"

i dont know, its just...good

would i say its a "war" though? maybe not...

edit

see Pat M is what i'm talking about, if he were to post a question about mary worship, he would A:get slammed with Rev. about praying to saints, B:get told that the catholic church doesnt hold mary over Jesus and C:that it most certainly isnt a cult, to which he would end up picking as best answer the guy who said "back at ya homefry"

Answer 5

I LOVE the Church. Since my conversion two years ago, the Faith has literally changed my life. I've also found out how hard it can be to be Catholic, much less Protestant. The Catholics get it from all sides, lol!

Yes, the fight forges you. I've learned more about my faith when I had to defend it than I did otherwise. It's also tempered me, shown me how to be kinder and more understanding of others. A lot of people believe a lot of stupid things about the Church, and the Church has taught me the patience for how to lovingly show them the truth and hopefully bring them home.

I saw this quote from another person from Bishop Fulton Sheen and I was totally blown away:

"There are not over a hundred people in the United States who hate the Catholic Church. There are millions, however, who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church—which is, of course, quite a different thing. These millions can hardly be blamed for hating Catholics because Catholics “adore statues;” because they “put the Blessed Mother on the same level with God;” because they “say indulgence is a permission to commit sin;” because the Pope “is a Fascist;” because the Church “is the defender of Capitalism.” If the Church taught or believed any one of these things, it should be hated, but the fact is that the Church does not believe nor teach any one of them. It follows then that the hatred of the millions is directed against error and not against truth. As a matter of fact, if we Catholics believed all of the untruths and lies which were said against the Church, we probably would hate the Church a thousand times more than they do.

If I were not a Catholic, and were looking for the true Church in the world today, I would look for the one Church which did not get along well with the world; in other words, I would look for the Church which the world hates. My reason for doing this would be, that if Christ is in any one of the churches of the world today, He must still be hated as He was when He was on earth in the flesh. If you would find Christ today, then find the Church that does not get along with the world. Look for the Church that is hated by the world, as Christ was hated by the world. Look for the Church which is accused of being behind the times, as Our Lord was accused of being ignorant and never having learned. Look for the Church which men sneer at as socially inferior, as they sneered at Our Lord because He came from Nazareth. Look for the Church which is accused of having a devil, as Our Lord was accused of being possessed by Beelzebub, the Prince of Devils. Look for the Church which the world rejects because it claims it is infallible, as Pilate rejected Christ because he called Himself the Truth. Look for the Church which amid the confusion of conflicting opinions, its members love as they love Christ, and respect its voice as the very voice of its Founder, and the suspicion will grow, that if the Church is unpopular with the spirit of the world, then it is unworldly, and if it is unworldly, it is other-worldly. Since it is other-worldly, it is infinitely loved and infinitely hated as was Christ Himself. ... the Catholic Church is the only Church existing today which goes back to the time of Christ. History is so very clear on this point, it is curious how many miss its obviousness..."

--Bishop Fulton Sheen

Answer 6

I always come to the defense of the Roman Catholic church, but I am not RC. I hope you are not lumping me, your ally, in with the 'liberals, homosexuals, etc." as if being a liberal were a bad thing. As an high church Episcopalian I consider myself to be "Catholic" too. And there are others that are 'Catholic', such as all of the Orthodox Churches in the East.

Yes, there is a war. I see it between the Fundamentalist and the Catholic CHURCHES, not just the RC, but yours is the biggest and best know target.

Don't bit the hand that helps you. We may not agree on birth control, abortion, and gays, but we agree on more than we disagree on. And we do not hold the same misguided ideas that the Right wing fundies do. So like I said, don't bit the hand that helps you, my friend.

Answer 7

Pastor Billy says: simply YES 1,001 percent!

I had to laugh at the answer of Lazarus "The Catholic church throughout time has been the biggest twister of truth ever" have you read any of the question/answers of Lazarus?

The more the Roman Catholic Church is persecuted from all directions the little doubt it is the Church instituted by Christ and led by the apostles.

Answer 8

What ever happens, the Catholic Church, the Bride of Christ will remain here on earth as promised by Christ Himself. The Holy Spirit will protect and guide the church. There is nothing to worry. Christ said that His way is not of this world, the attacks only show and make my conviction and commitment of the Catholic church even stronger that it is the true church that Christ build on this earth.

Answer 9

>> Why do different denominations attack the Catholic church so oftentimes and many times?         properly, in element of fact, talking of those whom all have self assurance interior a similar One real God of Heaven, i don't see any further customary or vociferous a denunciation of the fake teachings of the Catholic Church over or above what I see of the Muslims, Jews, Mormons, LDS, Jehovah's Witnesses, and so forth. that's the epitome of an extremely oxymoronic subject that those of the extensive form one persecuting denomination ought to attempt to declare the extra advantageous persecution point against them. God bless.

Answer 10

I would be surprised if it were not the case.

In all examples when a dangerous cult is attacked, rather than its followers rejecting its beliefs, they actually become stronger and more defensive.

In the case of the Catholic cult, this is unfortunate for it could be well argued that The Vatican represents even today the most dangerous organization against the future of humanity than any other group.
See The Almanac of Evil for the highlights over the past 20 centuries.
http://one-faith-of-god.org/final_testament/end_of_darkness/evil/evil_0200.htm

Like every cult, this entire list of factual items will be completed ignored and denied by devout followers. That is the great sadness. For how many will able to be saved?