Rome, Italy, Oct 20, 2004 / 22:00 pm
In an interview with the Italian newspaper, “Il Messagiero,” Italian journalist Vittorio Messori denounced anti-Catholicism in Europe as a substitution for anti-Semitism, but he expressed his hope that this “anti-Catholic fury” would help believers to rediscover their identity.
Referring to the Italian politician Rocco Buttiglione, who was prevented from becoming a European minister of justice because of his Catholic convictions, Messori pointed out that someone has said that Catholics, together with smokers and hunters, form one of the “three groups not protected by political correctness, and which therefore can be freely slandered.”
“Thank God anti-Semitism has ended. But it has been substituted in Western culture by anti-Catholicism,” he said. “Before, blacks, women, Jews and homosexuals were the object of sarcasm and criticism. Now, luckily, these groups cannot be attacked. But I don’t see why other groups have to be harmed.”
Now, he explained, “Despite the fact the Muslims are beheading people, nobody badmouths Islam.” On the other hand, attacks on Catholics earn public applause, even in “very mistaken” films such as “The Magdalene Sisters.” According to Messori, this “is all proof of what we said before: One can, in fact one should, cause harm to Catholics.