Anti-Catholic tract distribution was 'reprehensible,' Tenn. bishop says

I can't help thinking what the public outcry would have been if Catholics had distributed hateful materials like this about another faith. Fortunately, good Bishop Stika spoke up and defended our faith.

The recent distribution of Anti-Catholic tracts in a Tennessee town constituted “reprehensible acts of prejudice and hatred” by people who were ignorant of true Catholic teaching, the Bishop of Knoxville has said.

Copies of a Chick Publications tract titled “The Death Cookie” were being distributed in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. by members of Conner Heights Baptist Church. The 1988 cartoon tract claims that the Church was founded by the Devil and that Catholics worship a “wafer god.”

A student upset about the tract discussed it with Fr. Jay Flaherty on March 3, the Diocese of Knoxville said. The priest then contacted the diocesan chancellor, who in turn informed Bishop Richard F. Stika about the material.

After protests from the bishop and media coverage, the Baptist pastor Rev. Jonathan Hatcher ended the distribution. He had initially defended the action, but admitted to WBIR-TV that he is “obviously not schooled in the Catholic religion.” The pastor also reported that he teaches and preaches from the King James Version of the Bible.

Bishop Stika issued a March 5 statement about the tracts, saying he was “greatly saddened by the reprehensible acts of prejudice and hatred of a few souls who, out of ignorance of Catholic teachings, have promoted the distribution of anti-Catholic tracts.”

He said the materials contained “outright lies and blatant exaggerations.”

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