Chick Publications publishes a book entitled 50 Years in the Church of Rome, by Charles Chiniquy. Jack Chick claims that Chiniquy was a good priest who was unjustly persecuted by the Church. What is the truth about Chiniquy? Charles Chiniquy was born on July 30, 1809, at Kamouraska, a town on the right bank of the St. Lawrence, some forty miles below Quebec, Canada. His parents were Charles Chiniquy, a notary by profession, and Reine Chiniquy, née Perrault. His father dying on July 19, 1821, he was adopted by his uncle, the Hon. Amable Dionne, who, on finding that he desired to be brought up for the priesthood, sent him to school at the Seminary of St. Nicolet. He was ordained a priest on September 21, 1833 in the Archdiocese of Montreal, Canada. Father Chiniquy was twice suspended by two different bishops and there is no room to doubt that these suspensions were motivated by grave moral lapses of which the bishops in question had full and convincing proof, though, as often happens in such cases, the girls he had seduced could not be persuaded to face public exposure by pressing civil charges. He left Canada and immigrated to the United States where, after being suspended a second time, he applied to the Bishop of Chicago for temporary faculties. The Bishop gave him faculties in the belief that he had reformed his life, but Chiniquy continued in his immoral behavior and was finally excommunicated from the Church in 1858. Chiniquy then became affiliated and eventually expelled from two Protestant groups for embezzlement of church funds. His charges against the Church and its teachings are so gross and ridiculous that only very ignorant or very prejudiced people would give them credence. One can only hope that he received the grace of repentance at the hour of his death. The book to which you refer is a typical example of the lengths to which misguided or vengeful person such as Jack Chick will go in their attacks on the Church. Although it is poorly written and full of lies, it has been published and re-published since 1886, with the sole purpose of misrepresenting the Church’s stand on the Bible. Chiniquy’s life is long over. The existence of this book is a terrible example of the fact that the evil which a person does, not only lives after them, but may grow with the years.
Posted on: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 01:19:29 +0000
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