Anti-Catholicism - It's out there

The Catholic News Agency is reporting that according to recent FBI statistics on hate crimes, in 2008 there was a nine percent increase in crimes against religious groups - and an almost 25 percent increase in reported hate crimes against Catholics.

The statistics show that there were 1,519 incidents classified as hate crimes based on a victim’s religion. About one third of those crimes were anti-Jewish. There were 75 such crimes against Catholics - up from 61 in 2007. That's obviously far fewer than the anti-Jewish acts, and represents only about 5 percent of the crimes.

But it is out there, and it did increase at a faster rate than religiously-motivated hate crimes in general.

Given Church leaders' opposition to some of the actions of the Obama administration when it comes to life issues, their stand against recent attempts to legalize homosexual marriage, and their ongoing concerns about health care reform, I would not be surprised if the number of anti-Catholic attacks increased again this year.