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The Roman Catholic Diocese of Peoria has clarified comments by Bishop Daniel Jenky by saying the bishop was giving current events a historical context and had been taken out of context.
Bishop Jenky has come under fire for comparing President Barack Obama to being on “a similar path” as Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin.
In his sermon, Jenky claimed that American Catholics are currently in a “war” due to the Obama administration’s ruling on birth control and other issues.
“Hitler and Stalin, at their better moments, would just barely tolerate some churches remaining open, but would not tolerate any competition with the state in education, social services and health care,” preached Jenky.
“In clear violation of our First Amendment rights, Barack Obama, with his radical, pro-abortion and extreme secularist agenda, now seems intent on following a similar path,” Jenky added.
“May God have mercy especially on the souls of those politicians who pretend to be Catholic in church, but in their public lives, rather like Judas Iscariot, betray Jesus Christ by how they vote and how they willingly cooperate with intrinsic evil.”
Patricia Gibson, chancellor of the Peoria Diocese has sought to help clarify the bishop’s comments.
“Based upon the current government’s threatened infringement upon the Church’s religious exercise of its ministry, Bishop Jenky offered historical context and comparisons as a means to prevent a repetition of historical attacks upon the Catholic Church and other religions,” said Gibson.
“Bishop Jenky gave several examples of times in history in which religious groups were persecuted because of what they believed,” Gibson said.
“We certainly have not reached the same level of persecution. However, history teaches us to be cautious once we start down the path of limiting religious liberty.”
However, Rabbi Daniel Bogard of Peoria’s Anshai Emeth congregation said that “casual use of the Holocaust and tragedy in general is really inappropriate.”
And, according to the Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Bishop Jenky’s homily clearly urged people not to vote for Obama in this year’s presidential elections, which is in violation of a federal law stating that tax payer-funded organizations should not seek to influence electoral campaigns.
“To be sure, Jenky never utters the words ‘Do not vote for Obama,'” Lynn told the Chicago Tribune. “But the Internal Revenue Code makes it clear that statements need not be this explicit to run afoul of the law.”
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News category: World.
