Do you know when it first came about? I don't. I'm going to take a guess and say that it's origins lie in the pre-Vatican II era when priests were far more likely to preach fire-and-brimstone homilies than they are now. In doing so, they focused on God's punishment rather than on His mercy. A writer noticed this, and wrote an article or story which focused on the idea of Catholic Guilt and it grew in popularity (if that is the right word) from there.
I haven't done a search on the internet to find out the truth of the matter so I may be way off the mark. Either way, perhaps because I am a post-Vatican II child, and a convert at that, I don't feel much affected by the idea of Catholic Guilt.
No one should, really. God is love. If we sin and repent, He forgives us. Once He does that, we are in a state of grace. No more sin. No need to feel guilty.
Of course, it usually (always) happens that we fall out of that state of grace and sin again. No problem: say sorry again; get back to that state of grace. Keep doing it and keep doing it. Each time, focus on repentance and rejoice in the grace. That has to be the perfect antidote to this idea of Catholic guilt.
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It occurs to me that this post is sixty years too late. By-and-large, priests no longer preach fire-and-brimstone homilies, and no one talks about Catholic Guilt, anymore; well, except me, it seems. I am very happy to be out-of-date. I know how history works, however, and how old errors can reappear. Maybe not in the same form as before, but in a not-so different one, either. This post is just in case anyone starts trying to making Catholics guilty again.
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