Thursday, March 28, AD 2024 1:19pm

Fortnight For Freedom 2013: It is Good to Have a Bishop Who is a Fighter

 

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops have proclaimed a second Fortnight for Freedom from June 21-July 4th, and, as last year, The American Catholic will participate with special blog posts each day.

 

 

I doubt if any Bishop has fought harder against the threat to religious liberty in this country than my Bishop, Bishop Daniel Jenky of the Peoria diocese.  A great jovial bear of a man, he has been sounding the tocsin about this for some time, and has taken a lot of heat for his stance.  The video at the beginning of this post shows a petition against Jenky being delivered last year after Bishop Jenky criticized Obama and mentioned past leaders of nations who have persecuted the Church.  The group behind the petition was a George Soros supported left-wing front group called Faithful America.  Go here to read all about the group.

Prior to the election last year he had a letter read from each pulpit in the diocese warning against the threat to religious liberty.  As a reaction to the threat to religious liberty he has ordered that the Saint Michael Prayer be read after every Mass.

Criticism of him has not deterred him from speaking out one whit, as he demonstrated by the following letter that was inserted in all parish bulletins last Sunday:

 

 

Dear Catholics of the Diocese of Peoria,

There has always been anti-Catholicism in the United States of America. Some organizations and lodges, some denominations, the Know Nothings, the Ku Klux Klan, and especially some powerful elements of the American academic and cultural elites have long despised our Faith and our religious convictions.

Guided by the First Amendment, however, the Federal Government has, up until now, upheld freedom of religion as a fundamental right for all Americans, including Catholics. The First Amendment not only forbids the establishment of a “state religion,” but also provides that citizens may freely practice their own religion without governmental interference or control.

The HHS mandate of Obama Care, which is scheduled to go into effect this August, clearly violates this guarantee of religious liberty. By means of governmental coercion, they would try to force Catholics in our own institutions to fund practices such as abortion which our Church holds to be intrinsically evil and gravely sinful. Contrary both to the Constitution and to long established political precedent, this new mandate for our schools, hospitals, and charitable organizations would in effect reduce American Catholicism to a legally disfavored religious entity. This deliberate and bigoted step is clearly agenda driven by the extreme radical secularism of the current administration.

This year, just as last year, the Bishops of the United States have asked that local dioceses observe the weeks before the Fourth of July as a “Fortnight for Freedom.” We ask that Catholics reflect upon our rights as citizens, our commitment to our public ministries, and most especially our loyalty to the Lord Jesus Christ and his Gospel of Life. In the coming months, dioceses and other institutions of our Church will no doubt have recourse to the Federal courts, but much more essentially Catholic believers must turn to Almighty God with renewed faith and conviction. May God our Father deliver us from evil, and may God bless America.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Most Rev. Daniel R. Jenky, CSC Bishop of Peoria

Bishop Jenky reminds us all that we must act as if we part of the Church Militant and not cringe as part of the Church Mushy.

 

 

 

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Pat
Pat
Tuesday, June 25, AD 2013 9:03am

1. The name of the group, Faithful America, is cynical- as if it were a joke on the members. The sponsor is blowing them around like dust in the wind.

2. Church bulletins are so important, but wasted in downloaded drivel and drool. No wonder Church Mushy. That would sound funny, if it weren’t so pathetic.

3.

Pat
Pat
Tuesday, June 25, AD 2013 9:14am

The “3” just appeared, so I’ll use the opportunity to say it would be good if many more Bishops could reach their members through the costly weekly bulletins. Even printing things like the Ten Commandments as related to 2013 would help.

Karl
Karl
Tuesday, June 25, AD 2013 11:35am

Too bad no bishops fight to defend valid marriage, Don.

I am not impressed by any of them. None!

Marietta
Marietta
Tuesday, June 25, AD 2013 3:55pm

God bless Bishop Jenky!

Now if we could only have another like him out here in the West.

(We do have Santa Rosa Bishop Robert Vasa who is one heck of a shepherd for church militants! He downright said “No!” to radical Obama-style community organizations infiltrating this area. God bless him, too!)

Right now, the Sacramento diocese is busy having the Alinskyite (read: Luciferian) IAF organize its faithful for “political empowerment.” I understand Bishop Soto (and Stockton Bishop Blaire) have at least two – or three – dogs in the national political fight: Immigration reform, welfare entitlements, and Bishop Soto’s own USCCB subcommittee, the CCHD of which he is chairman.

I think Bishop Soto should first clean up CCHD and stop funding organizations forming community leaders to promote more abortions, amnesty for illegals, gay “union”, and ordination of women. (IAF is connected with Acorn, Call to Action, etc.) Why does CCHD continue to fund anti-Catholic groups?

We love Bishop Soto but right now I’m heartbroken.

3rdstringer
3rdstringer
Wednesday, June 26, AD 2013 3:20pm

Right on, Marietta!

The CCHD funding of extreme liberal (ex-Acorn, Alinsky/Obama, Progressive) type groups has to be recognized by both the pew dweller and hierarchy. In Wisconsin it is Wisdom (a Gamaliel affiliate) and a dozen or so local groups like Joshua, Esther, Micah, etc.) who pose as do-gooders but simply are functionaries of the uber-Democrat/Progressive party that helped hammer home the abortion-positive Obamacare and its ilk but will not admit it.

Mary De Voe
Thursday, June 27, AD 2013 7:55am

These people are standing up claiming to be Catholic. Unbelievable. The only thing Catholic about them is their say so. The Catholic Church does not owe them allegiance. The Catholic Church owes them and all the Truth. The HHS Mandate refuses to acknowledge the human person’s soul.

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