Attempts to discuss "Vatican interests" or to criticize policies advocated by Roman Catholic bishops often provoke accusations of bigotry or Catholic-bashing, sometimes with references to "nativism." One writer has even opined that "anti-Catholicism is the anti-Semitism of intellectuals."
The United States is, of course, a child of western Europe, so images and perceptions of Europe's religious, ethnic, and other conflicts have become incorporated in complex ways in American ...