Destroying Offensive or Anti-Catholic Literature



Editor's Note: To submit a faith question to Catholic Exchange, email href=”mailto:faithquestions@catholicexchange.com”>faithquestions@catholicexchange.com. Please note that all email submitted to Catholic Exchange becomes the property of Catholic Exchange and may be published in this space. Published letters may be edited for length and clarity. Names and cities of letter writers may also be published. Email addresses of viewers will not normally be published.



Dear Catholic Exchange:

When I am in a public place (such as a laundromat or waiting room) and find misleading literature (such as the Watchtower or a brochure on “safe sex”) I will sometimes collect the offending material and place it in the nearest recycling bin.

Am I committing a sin or an act of public service?

Robert Montgomery

Dear Robert,

Greetings in Christ. I hope this response will adequately address your question.

Your zeal for the faith is commendable. There are two “offensive materials” scenarios: (1) that found in a church or other church property which is open to the public; and (2) that found on other property open to the public, whether privately or publicly owned. In the first scenario, you wouldn’t have to ask your parish pastor whether to remove the offending materials, although you should inform him so that measures can be taken to curtail further non-authorized placements.

A laundromat, doctor’s waiting room, subway station, etc., are different, though, because they are not owned and operated by the Church. Regarding privately owned establishments, you should check with the owners or managers of the establishment to see if they authorized the placement of such materials. Oftentimes, the Jehovah’s Witnesses will simply leave their materials in an establishment without permission, and establishment owners will thus readily dispose of them. (Doctors are particularly watchful for offensive materials in their waiting rooms.) But the choice is the owner's or manager's, since the materials have been placed on their property (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2409). If by chance they have authorized such placement, you can express your dissatisfaction about the controversial materials being placed in the establishment, especially if there is a misinformed, anti-Catholic focus to them, as is often the case with the materials of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. If you think that the owner’s view may be different than the manager’s, you can always ask to speak to or you can write to the owner. If the owner refuses to remove the materials and won’t allow similar Catholic materials, you can witness by going elsewhere with your business.

The same principle applies to a public, non-privately owned place, such as a subway station. Has the placement been authorized? If not, the information will be quickly removed. If the materials’ placement has been authorized, make your case about the deficiency of the materials and, if the materials are not removed, see whether those in charge are open to Catholic materials. In the case of publicly owned establishments, you can also appeal to elected officials, such as city councilmen, state legislators or Congressmen.

In summary, it is wrong to decide for oneself what reading materials may be made available in a privately owned laundromat, doctor’s office, etc., as well in public buildings, since they are owned by others. Instead, your well-founded concerns regarding such materials should be channeled toward letting owners and managers know about the offending materials, and then possibly “voting with your feet” and going elsewhere if the materials are not removed.

Please feel free to call us at 1-800-MY FAITH with any further questions on this or any other subject. If you have found this service to be helpful, please consider a donation to CUF to help sustain this service. You can call the toll-free line, visit us at www.cuf.org, or send your contribution to the address below. Thank you for your support as we endeavor to “support, defend, and advance the efforts of the teaching Church.”

United in the Faith,

Thomas J. Nash

Senior Information Specialist

Catholics United for the Faith

827 North Fourth Street

Steubenville, OH 43952

800-MY-FAITH (800-693-2484)

Subscribe to CE
(It's free)

Go to Catholic Exchange homepage

MENU