The Pope in the Oval

We rightly decry the hatreds and prejudices that tragically permeate our country. Yet, as we do that, let’s also recognize that it has ever been so.

The great US of A, what the star of Bedtime for Bonzo called, “The Shining City On The Hill,” has historically been a hotbed of all types of hatred and discrimination. We have a tradition of slavery, segregation, racism, Anti-Semitism, Japanese Exclusion Acts, the slaughter of Native Americans as well as other injustices. This past of ours’ diminishes our shining city to the point where its glow is almost impossible to see. 

But ironically, we can also take comfort in remembering our atrocious history. This comfort comes from the realization that we truly are getting better. For example, let’s take a look at a lesser publicized of our historical hatreds – our anti-Catholicism. Just a brief summary of that particular dark streak of our national character will suffice. 

In 1642, the colony of Virginia passed a law prohibiting Catholic settlers (Yes, Virginia, there is an Equal Protection Clause). Five years later, Massachusetts did the same. And if that wasn’t enough for “New England”, in 1719, Rhode Island prohibited Catholics from voting. 

Shall I go on? Of course, I shall.

Two of our founding fathers joined the anti-Catholic parade in the 1770’s. John Adams publicly ridiculed Catholic rituals and John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the United States, urged the New York Legislature to require all office holders to renounce the Pope. Awful, but still, relatively speaking, some progress from the worse attitudes of a century earlier. (As an aside, how ironic is it that Alito, Kavanaugh, Thomas and Barret, not to mention the late Scalia – those who believe in interpreting the Constitution based on what the founders thought – are all Catholic.)

In the 1850’s came the aptly named, “Know Nothing Party.” One of their principal policies was opposition to what they called the “Romanists,” – a not so subtle description of Catholics. If you think they were just a joke, not so, Horatio. They actually held significant power, once having as their candidate for President, the then ex-President Millard Fillmore. I realize that of all Presidents, Millard is not among the A-listers, but he is a member of the club. There is another member of the club, an orange one, who has also been considered a joke but who also would fit perfectly into the “Know Nothing” category. Are you willing to ignore him?  But the Know Nothings in the 1850’s soon faded away (that time). It’s hard to call that progress, but you must admit it was better than a century before.

Then came the Presidential election and JFK.  His Catholicism was such a problem for his candidacy that he was forced to address it in a famous speech in September of 1960. So many feared that his loyalty would be more toward the Vatican than the U.S. that he was forced to proclaim how he would not be a tool of the Pope. He won and became the first Catholic President. Progress.

And that brings us to what we have now.  The man who sits in the Oval Office today is the second Catholic President.  But that isn’t the entirety of what demonstrates the progress we’ve achieved. More than that, Joe Biden, who proclaims his ardent Catholic faith, actually has hung, on the wall of his iconic Presidential office, a picture of the Pope. 

Can you imagine what the original colonists would have said about that? How about John Adams and John Jay? JFK would never have been elected if he had said he was going to do anything like that.

With all due respect to the point I am trying to make, thank God that we have progressed as far as we have. A Catholic – a person whose ancestors couldn’t live here, and, even when they could live here, couldn’t vote here; then, when they could vote here, whose votes were considered un-American. These same people now have one of their own as a President and who has hung a picture of the Pope on his office wall. 

And no one seems to care.

Sometimes it appears that we are unavoidably diving into a racist, prejudicial dumpster marked “divisive.” But hang in there, folks. Keep trying to remove the contents of that dumpster. As slow as it may be, and as important as it is to keep it going, we do have a history of garbage removal.