Government Persecution of Catholics

It is accepted amongst many scholars that persecution of Catholics is on the uprise. Archbishop Dolan of New York and William Lori, Bishop of Bridgeport, Connecticut give good examples.

What the Obama Administration is doing, seems intentional according to Archbishop Dolan. This, after Notre Dame allowed the President to speak on its campus. It seems wisdom is sometimes lacking in Catholics. We are not supposed to give pro-abortionists a platform from which to speak, which makes them look legitimate in Catholic eyes.

Christians Persecute Christians
Perhaps, some Christians do not know the commission that Christ gave us, to preach the Gospel "Preach the Gospel to all Nations" (Matthew 28:19). However, recently, many Christians have tried to silence other Christians from preaching the Gospel. While, for Catholics, this applies only within your field of competency according to Christefidelis Laici. Certainly, any informed Catholic may give a basic Catechesis.

In my experience, some Catholics are trying not to rock the boat, any have silenced other Catholics from preaching the faith. Most often, these are cafeteria Catholics who do not take their faith seriously. Perhaps, many of these Catholics are wanting to preserve their income, over the sake of the Gospel.

Certainly, the virtue of prudence demands that one give due consideration to a proper time, method and place to preach the Gospel as John Paul II had stated:

This phenomenon [of cultural sensitivity] implies a particularly sensitive response which is entrusted to your own judgement and pastoral prudence.

However, total silencing of the preaching of the Gospel, has nothing to do with prudence. Even Pope Benedict XVI has called us to evangelize:

"We cannot keep to ourselves the words of eternal life given to us in our encounter with Jesus Christ: they are meant for everyone, for every man and woman. ... It is our responsibility to pass on what, by God's grace, we ourselves have received" (Pope Benedict XVI, Verbum Domini, 2010).

Ongoing Persecution
More Christians have died in the Twentieth Century, due to persecution, than all centuries in the past combined. This often stated statistic seems overlooked by Catholics in the United States.  Some Christian Groups have called this the "Age of Martyrs." According to one set of statistics, 26 million Christians died in the 20th Century, compared to 14 million in all centuries before combined.

What would your answer be to deny your faith? Steve Centanni, of Fox News, was captured by Palenstinian Terrorists along with independent cameraman Olaf Wiig. As Olaf recounted it on Fox News, he told Centanni that the terrorists were planning to execute him if he did not take the Shihada, which is the muslim proclamation of faith.

Centanni stated:

We were forced to convert to Islam at gunpoint, and don't get me wrong here, I have the highest respect for Islam, and learned a lot of very good things about it, but it was something we felt we had to do, because they had the guns, and we didn't know what the h**l was going on.

Centanni, if he was a Catholic, had an opportunity for matyrdom. He could have given an alternate Shihada instead of "There is one God and Muhammad is his prophet," he could have said:

There is one God, and He is Jesus Christ.

However, he did not. It is a sad dissappointment.

This just points to the loss of a sense of holiness in our culture and the growth of secularism. Certainly, sincere Catholics endeavor to be holy. I would hope they would all struggle to be Saints. However, persecution has only one true response: Saintliness.

However, there is someone who gave a different response. Mary of Egypt, "The Little Arab" was coerced to convert to Islam, but she refused. Her uncle wanted to marry her to a muslim. But Mary had a vision from the Blessed Virgin and would not go back on her promise. She suffered so much, in fact, that she was small from malnutrition. Mary, left her abusive uncle and worked for various families, eventually becoming a Discalced Carmelite Nun.  Mary, because her holy life, refused to convert to a false faith. Mary's uncle could have killed her, but she did not care. God was her all in all.

Today she is called St. Mary of Egypt. Several miracles are attributed to her. It all started by a simple refusal to submit to the coersion of muslims.

UPDATE
Bishop Aquila of North Dakota, stated that the Church may be persecuted in the future:

“We could see the possibility of it within the United States where we are no longer free to preach the truth from the pulpit or to present Catholic teaching."