The Romans, the Jihadis, the Nazis, and Hollywood: Wow, bishop, tell us how you really feel

The debate about the HHS mandate and religious liberty took a turn toward the surreal last Saturday when Bishop Daniel Jenky of Peoria rallied 500 men at the annual men’s march against “the entrenched corruption and sheer incompetence of our Illinois state government, and even the calculated disdain of the President of the United States, his appointed bureaucrats in HHS, and of the current majority of the federal Senate.” In case you didn’t know it, all those people are Democrats. The bishop goes on to note that President Obama “seems intent on following a similar path” to that trod by Bismark in Germany, Clemenceau in France, and, of course, Hilter and Stalin, and, for good measure, “the hatred of Hollywood, the malice of the media, and the mendacious wickedness of the abortion industry.”

To say that this is an outrageous politicization of the Mass–this was all in Jenky’s homily–is an understatement. To compare the current president to mass murderers is at the very least beyond the bounds of charity. You may disagree with the man, but I hardly think he ranks up there with Hitler.

The Episcopal Church was once jibed as the Republican Party at prayer, but I thnk it would be hard to outdo Bishop Jenky. Jenky declared the HHS mandate is “a battle that we could lose–but before the awesome judgement seat of Almighty God this is not a war where any believing Catholic may remain neutral.” I don’t know what that could possibly mean except that every Catholic should vote Republican. One wonders if that is indeed what he hopes to achieve, for reasons that remain completely beyond me.

About the author

Bryan Cones

Bryan Cones is a writer living in Chicago.