A letter from Bishop Jenky regarding Election Day 2012
Citing unprecedented threats to religious liberty
and with strong words of warning to Catholic politicians and their
electoral supporters who “callously enable the destruction of innocent
human life in the womb,” Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, has called on all
practicing Catholics to vote in the coming election.
“Be
faithful to Christ and to your Catholic Faith,” said Bishop Jenky in a
letter to be read at all weekend Masses on Nov. 3-4, the weekend prior
to the Nov. 6 elections. The letter was released to the media on Oct.
18.
Following is the full text of Bishop Jenky’s letter:
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Dear Catholic Believers,
Since
the foundation of the American Republic and the adoption of the Bill of
Rights, I do not think there has ever been a time more threatening to
our religious liberty than the present. Neither the president of the
United States nor the current majority of the Federal Senate have been
willing to even consider the Catholic community’s grave objections to
those HHS mandates that would require all Catholic institutions,
exempting only our church buildings, to fund abortion, sterilization,
and artificial contraception. This assault upon our religious freedom is
simply without precedent in the American political and legal system.
Contrary to the guarantees embedded in the First Amendment, the HHS
mandates attempt to now narrowly define and thereby drastically limit
our traditional religious works. They grossly and intentionally intrude
upon the deeply held moral convictions that have always guided our
Catholic schools, hospitals, and other apostolic ministries.
Nearly
two thousand years ago, after our Savior had been bound, beaten,
scourged, mocked, and crowned with thorns, a pagan Roman Procurator
displayed Jesus to a hostile crowd by sarcastically declaring: “Behold
your King.” The mob roared back: “We have no king but Caesar.” Today,
Catholic politicians, bureaucrats, and their electoral supporters who
callously enable the destruction of innocent human life in the womb also
thereby reject Jesus as their Lord. They are objectively guilty of
grave sin. For those who hope for salvation, no political loyalty can
ever take precedence over loyalty to the Lord Jesus Christ and to his
Gospel of Life. God is not mocked, and as the Bible clearly teaches,
after this passing instant of life on earth, God’s great mercy in time
will give way to God’s perfect judgment in eternity.
I
therefore call upon every practicing Catholic in this Diocese to vote.
Be faithful to Christ and to your Catholic Faith. May God guide and
protect His Holy Church, and may God bless America.
Catholic Bishop of Peoria
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