Bishop Jenky of Peoria, Illinois has redesigned homily. His pulpit has been turned into a lectern. In a big nut shell, his complaint with Obama, embellished with a nonsensical and irrelevant comparison to Hitler and Stalin, revolves around the insurance coverage of contraceptives, making it sound as if the governmental mandate required all Catholics to use them. I wonder what Jenky thinks of the insurance coverage of AIDS victims? Would he expect the insurance companies to investigate each case and offer coverage depending upon cause, as long as the church accepted the activity?
4 comments:
Must disagree with you. After reading the text of the homily I think Bishop Jenky was putting today's problem between Catholic church and US Government in proper historical context. He also mentions Clemenceau and Bismark all in the context of attacks on religious beliefs which nobody can argue that these events of the past are anything but that. He is also right in calling schools and hospitals run by the church "ministries" and the inherent conflict the administration is placing these organizations in. If the rules stand then we can expect these institutions in the US to go away. This has already happened on smaller scale in Illinois with Catholic charities getting out of adoption and foster care due to state rules on civil unions. As Jenky indicated no religious organization under any circumstance will chose to violate their beliefs due to some government regulation.
My point is that a homily that comes off as a dissertation on politics crosses the line of propriety for a tax exempt institution. If hospitals run by religious organizations are paying taxes, they are part and parcel of government laws. If something is legal, it can be offered, and should be available in these hospitals. It is ludicrous to me that contraceptives, offered, would threaten the Catholic church's existence. The fact that Jenky's homily has enraged a nation of Christians and Jews is testament to his poor judgment in using the church as a soapbox.
A follow up and a simplification. Don't aggravate the population and then publish a clarification and NEVER compare ANYONE to Hitler
I meant to comment on this a while ago. I totally agree with everything you said, Tracy. Regardless of one's opinion of contraceptives (which, for some reason, are controversial again), comparing anyone to Hitler immediately reduces any argument to nonsensical mud slinging.
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