Christianophobia Taken from Magnificat magazine, June-July, 2006   INTRODUCTION THE TEACHING OF CONTEMPT THE MARGINALIZATION OF CATHOLICS FLAGRANT RESULTS THE DENIGRATION OF CATHOLICISM THE CORRUPTION OF THE WORLD CHRISTIANOPHOBIA IN ITS WORKS: INTIMIDATION CHRISTIANOPHOBIA IN ITS WORKS: HUMILIATION CHRISTIANOPHOBIA IN ITS WORKS: PERSECUTION THE SCANDAL AND THE MYSTERY Part 1: Introduction EARLY in 2006, Michael De Jaeghere published a third edition of his remarkable book entitled, Enquête sur la Christianophobie [Inquiry into Christianophobia]. Michael De Jaeghere, a forty-eight year old Frenchman of Flemish descent, a lay journalist with training as a journalist and a jurist, and a historian, is one of the leaders of a movement known as Renaissance Catholique. [1] In this book, the author defines a dominant socio-cultural phenomenon for which the media are largely responsible. It consists in marginalizing Catholics, making them appear as a backward-looking minority without a future, denigrating the doctrine they profess and discrediting the clergy without due cause. "L'enseignement du mépris" [The Teaching of Contempt] is the object of Part I of his book. Part II, entitled "La corruption du siècle" [The Corruption of the World], demonstrates that the promotion of once-prohibited morals and practices, the progressive trivialization of pornography, the use of provocative images in advertising, the presentation of abortion not as a deplorable, decriminalized last resort, but as a fundamental women's right --- all of this aims at portraying Christian chastity and marital fidelity as abnormal. The author then addresses  "La Christianophobie Dan sees oeuvres" [Christianophobia in Its Works]. He is well informed on current events. In support of his thesis, he presents one example after another, illustrating how every effort is being made to intimidate, humiliate and persecute those who manifest their faith. He passes recent cinema and literature in review, exposing those who are undermining the very foundations of the Church's faith through films, books and school textbooks which make a caricature of Catholicism, and addressing the question of media attacks upon anyone who "dares" to make any reference to Church doctrine. In the name of secularism, various initiatives aim at prohibiting any social "visibility" of the Christian religion. The purpose is to convince even Catholics to content themselves with the "private sector", to be Catholic in the home [if they insist] and secular in public. Michael De Jaeghere wonders: Why is Catholicism being ostracized from society when it is no longer in a dominant position and when, through its official representatives, it has lent itself to every compromise? Why have so many concessions, made to a pluralistic and relativistic democracy by a Church in crisis, not disarmed its enemies? Even certain bishops are asking these questions. They provide no answers, or in the author's opinion their answers are pathetic. His answer is that the current state of affairs reveals sheer hatred for Christ Himself. Over and above any Christianophobia, it is a matter of Christphobia. The following are extensive extracts from this book by Michael De Jaeghere, a very perceptive author who writes with a vigor and frankness that some might consider "politically or religiously incorrect." Tolerance and freedom of speech are widely advocated. Let the author therefore be granted the right to honestly tell what he has observed. True, his observations are hardly comforting, but paradoxically they convey a message of hope. THE NEXT PART CAN BE ACCESSED BY CLICKING THE FORWARD GEM BELOW OR BY GOING BACK TO THE TOP OF THE PAGE FOR THE LINKS. 1. Renaissance Catholique is a movement of adult laymen working towards the restoration of Christian values in society. E-Mail HOME-----------------------CHRIST THE KING www.catholictradition.org/Tradition/phobia.htm