Photo Caption: At the Oct. 7 Mass on the feast of the Holy Rosary, Bishop Jenky also renewed his call to turn to the Blessed Mother to protect our country.

Election Day will be “another decisive day” not only in the United States but in the history of the Catholic Church in this country, Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, said last Sunday.

“Depending on what happens, every Catholic school, hospital, and the other public ministries sponsored by our faith could ultimately be shut down because the Catholic Church will never cooperate with the intrinsic evil of destroying innocent human life in the womb,” said Bishop Jenky in a homily at St. Mary’s Cathedral on the Feast of the Holy Rosary.

While he did not mention it by name, Bishop Jenky appeared to reference the Health and Human Services mandate of the Obama administration, which both Catholic and non-Catholic leaders warn threatens religious freedom.

“We cannot and will not fund abortions, especially not through our own religious institutions,” said Bishop Jenky. “We cannot and will not fund late-term abortions, which murder children in the very process of being born.”

TURNING TO MARY
This summer, Bishop Jenky asked Catholics of the Diocese of Peoria to increase their devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and “turn to her to protect our country, to guide our leaders, and to turn our hearts to her Son.” He encouraged 30-day Marian consecrations that might conclude on last Sunday’s Feast of the Holy Rosary.

At the cathedral Mass, Bishop Jenky reaffirmed faith in the rosary. Its mysteries, he said, tell stories of “unshakable faith,” adding that “when Our Lady prays with us and for us, miracles to happen even in the face of suffering and loss.”

He said that “no matter what happens this November” Catholics should remain confident and fearless by imitating “the strong faith of Mary and Joseph.”

“Win or lose, we can never abandon the Law of God or the Gospel of Life,” said Bishop Jenky.

“Jesus is Lord, not any president or government bureaucrat, and it is Jesus who will judge the living and the dead,” he continued. “And may God have mercy on the souls of apostate Catholics who betray their Lord and Savior for the sake of any political party or politician, or for their own sinful advantage.”