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Charles P. Chiniquy (30 July 1809 – 16 January 1899) was a Canadian Catholic priest who became a Presbyterian pastor. ==Biography== Chiniquy was born in 1809 in the village of Kamouraska, Quebec. He lost his father at an early age and was adopted by his uncle. As a young man, Chiniquy studied to become a Catholic priest at the Petit Seminaire (Little Seminary) in Nicolet, Quebec. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1833. After his ordination, he served his church in Quebec and later emigrated to Illinois. During the 1840s, he led a very successful campaign throughout Quebec against alcohol and drunkenness. In 1855, he was sued by a prominent Catholic layman named Peter Spink in Kankakee, Illinois. After the fall court term, Spink applied for a change of venue to the court in Urbana. Abraham Lincoln was then hired by Chiniquy to defend him. The spring court action in Urbana was the highest profile libel suit in Lincoln’s career. The case was ended in the fall court session by agreement. Chiniquy clashed with the Bishop of Chicago, Anthony O'Regan, over the bishop’s treatment of Catholics in Chicago, particularly French Canadians. He declared that O’Regan was secretly backing Spink's suit against him. Chiniquy stated that in 1856 O’Regan threatened him with excommunication if he did not go to a new location where the bishop wanted him. Several months later the ''New York Times'' published a pastoral letter from Bishop O’Regan in which O’Regan stated that he had suspended Chiniquy and, since the priest had continued in his normal duties as a priest, the bishop excommunicated him by his letter. Chiniquy vigorously disputed that he had been excommunicated, saying publicly that the bishop was mistaken. Chiniquy left the Roman Catholic Church in 1858.〔 He claimed that the church was pagan, that Roman Catholics worship the Virgin Mary, that its theology spoils the Gospel and that its theology is anti-Christian. He also claimed that the Vatican had planned to take over the United States by importing Catholic immigrants from Ireland, Germany and France. Chiniquy claimed that he was falsely accused by his superiors (and that Abraham Lincoln had come to his rescue), that the American Civil War was a plot against the United States of America by the Vatican, and that the Vatican was behind the Confederate cause, the death of President Lincoln and that Lincoln's assassins were faithful Roman Catholics ultimately serving Pope Pius IX. After leaving the Catholic Church, Chiniquy dedicated his life to trying to win his fellow French Canadians, as well as others, from Catholicism to the Protestant faith. He wrote a number of books and tracts pointing out his views on the alleged errors in the faith and practises of the Roman Catholic Church. His two most influential works are ''Fifty Years in The Church of Rome'' and ''The Priest, The Woman and The Confessional''.〔''(The Priest, The Woman and The Confessional )''〕 These books raised concerns in the United States about the Catholic Church. According to one Canadian biographer, Chiniquy is Canada’s best-selling author of all time. He joined the Orange Order and said of it "I always found them staunch and true. I consider it a great honour to be an Orangeman. Every time I go on my knees I pray that God may bless them and make them as numerous and bright as the stars of the heaven above."〔Beyond the Banners: The Story of the ORange Order, pg. 93〕 He died in Montreal, Canada on January 16, 1899. To this day, some of Chiniquy's works are still promoted among Protestants and "Bible-Only" believers. One of his most best known modern day followers is Jack Chick, who created a comic-form adaptation of ''50 Years In The Church of Rome'' called "The Big Betrayal" and who draws heavily on Chiniquy's claims in his own anti-Catholic tracts. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Charles Chiniquy」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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