The Catholic Church must stand up for itself

Paul Gottfried asks: must One Believe in the Holocaust To Be a Good Catholic?. While pro-abortion catholics and other dissenters are free to remain in the Church, usually receiving support from the media whenever they air their liberal views, the unforgiveable crime is denial of the Holocaust, at least for the supporters of politically correct brow-beating and censorship. What if he had defended Stalin or Chairman Mao? No problem, I'm sure. While belief that the Holocaust happened is reasonable, it is not catholic doctrine; and in a free society, he can express his views.

Moreover, the threat of Anti-Semitism in Europe comes not from Catholic tradionalists but anti-israeli Muslims who don't take the trouble to distinguish between Israeli Government policy and Jewish people. Many Muslims believe that 9/11 was a plot by the Israelis; if they believe that, then it won't be difficult to believe the Holocaust was a Jewish plot either; the way to combat that viewpoint is by allowing a free debate rather than demonising every holocaust denier and accusing everyone who fails to do the same of being facists and anti-semites.

What matters here for the Catholic church is that the pressure on it to conform to modern-day liberal morality and beliefs is intense; any deviation from politically correct dogma will result in media-browbeating and demonisation. Like other Christian groups, the church is being policed here, whereas extremist and wacko views from members of other religions do not get the same constant attention unless, or even if, there is a terrorist incident associated with it. The Catholic Church probably needs a more media-savvy public relations arm, at least in the English- and German-speaking world; but it also needs PR to be backed up by Catholic Christian principles and its strong intellectual heritage.