Dear James:

There are certainly some Protestant denominations that are outright bigoted against the Catholic Church and sometimes many other Protestant denominations. This is sin as bigotry and prejudice is always sin -- a form of false witness and calumny. It is not unusual to see this behavior among the mega-churches as most of them are fundamentalist with a dim view of Catholics.

Jesus tells us to love our enemies and to bless them. Thus, in our prayers we should be praying for the perceived enemy and blessing them, not propagating prejudicial remarks.

If there is a wayward group out there, like the Mormons and Jehovah Witness, we should pray for them to be enlightened by the truth. But, we need not detail their errors in the prayer as God already knows them. We need to be absolutely sure, by the way, that the groups we pray for like this are in actual error. The Mormons and Jehovah Witness are in clear error and are not, technically, Christian as they do not have valid baptism or minimal doctrinal affirmation as outlined in the Apostles and Nicene Creeds.

Among valid Christian groups there may be some doctrinal differences, but must always admit and affirm that we are still brothers in Christ and act accordingly. We can certainly discuss those doctrinal differences in a discussion, but to focus those differences in a prayer is out-of-line in my opinion.

"Lord, please wake them there Baptists from their errors such as denying the seven sacraments" is a wrong-headed prayer. Rather our prayer should be perhaps like this: "Lord enlighten all Christian groups to your Truth and bring us to unity in your One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church."

As for blasphemy, the definition is not only includes "speaking against God in a contemptuous, scornful, or abusive manner"  but also "serious contemptuous ridicule of the saints, sacred objects, or of persons consecrated to God is also blasphemous because God is indirectly attacked."

Thus, if a preacher ridicules the people of God in another denomination, or the True Church in the fullness of the faith, which is the Catholic Church, he may be committing a blasphemy. It depends on what he says and his intention by his words. At the very least he would be sinning against the virtue of Charity. One can honestly point out another group or individual's faults without contemptuous ridicule.

Needless to say a Catholic should not be dating a Protestant with such prejudice or even contemptuous views about the Catholic Church. Actually, the Church teaches that Catholics ought to marry Catholics. There is always problems when marrying outside one's Faith.

There is no canon law preventing a priest, or anyone else, from making snide remarks about others except for perhaps canons such as Canon 220, "No one may unlawfully harm the good reputation which a person enjoys, or violate the right of every person to protect his or her privacy" and the teachings of the Church on reputation such the prohibition against calumny, rash judgment, and detraction (CCC 2477-2479), and the Law of Love (CCC 2196). The Bible teaches charity and the Law of Charity prohibits such behavior.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary