A concrete and very poignant case of anti-Catholicism is that of Linda Portál. Linda is director of The Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults program at a parish in Gainesville, Florida. She was raised as a Catholic in Michigan and in college she made the faith “her own.” Sadly, her spiritual journey has been punctuated by anti-Catholicism. In junior high school Linda was kicked out of class by her teacher, who explained, “No one should have to go to school with a Catholic.” At the same school, Linda was often beat up by her classmates. Local custom forbade Catholics to date Protestants. Linda also recalls neighborhoods – suburban ghettoes, as it were – where only Catholics could live. Protestants seeking a house were simply steered past these areas.

Years later, Linda applied for a job at a major electrical company. She learned that she had been hired and would begin working within a few weeks. But after several weeks without a call from the company, she grew anxious. Apparently, a high level executive in the company had been systematically firing all Catholics (approximately twenty) beneath him – and he had quashed Linda’s application before she was officially contracted. Despite all this, Linda views anti-Catholicism an admirable aplomb: she sees it as a pitiable “fear of the unknown” in this, our “predominantly Protestant country.”