Faculty members at the University of Notre Dame say that attacks on Bishop Daniel Jenky of Peoria, Ill., over remarks about Hitler and Stalin in a recent homily have taken his words out of context.
“Bishop Jenky properly drew attention to the impending dangers to religious and personal freedom,” said Notre Dame law professor emeritus Charles Rice.
He argued in an April 24 statement that the bishop’s critics “misread” his comments, which presented a “simple truth” about history.
On April 14, Bishop Jenky delivered a homily at an annual men’s Mass at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Peoria. He urged courageous action in the face of modern-day threats to religious freedom in America.
“Remember that in past history other governments have tried to force Christians to huddle and hide only within the confines of their churches like the first disciples locked up in the Upper Room,” said Bishop Jenky.
He pointed to attempts by Otto von Bismarck and Georges Clemenceau to close down every Catholic school, hospital, convent and monastery in imperial Germany and France, respectively.
“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,” he said.
“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.”
By April 20, a letter protesting the bishop’s remarks had been signed by 49 members of the Notre Dame faculty, including sociology professor Ann Marie Power, who wrote a February opinion article in the student newspaper, The Observer, calling for the Church to reconsider its view on “the responsible use of contraception.”
Also among the signatories was art history professor Robert Coleman, who, according to The Observer, is an openly homosexual professor. He has previously voiced his objections to the university’s handling of "homosexual and transgender" student groups seeking official school approval.
The faculty letter asserted that the comparisons used by the bishop “demonstrate ignorance of history, insensitivity to victims of genocide and absence of judgment.”
The signatories said that they found it “profoundly offensive” that the bishop would “compare the president’s actions with those whose genocidal policies murdered tens of millions of people.”
They called on Bishop Jenky to resign from the university’s board of fellows “if he is unwilling to renounce loudly and publicly this destructive analogy.”
However, several other faculty members have spoken out in defense of the bishop, pointing to the actual text of the homily and observing that it refers specifically to instances of religious intolerance.
Theology professor David Fagerberg told EWTN News on April 27 that he did not interpret the bishop’s comments in the same way that the signers of the letter had.
“I understood Bishop Jenky to compare our current administration’s restriction of religion to several other instances in the past when one government or another (he mentions four) restricted religion to private worship,” Fagerberg said.
Rice echoed this sentiment, explaining that the context of the statement clearly shows that the bishop was referring to the way in which Obama, like the other figures, will not allow religious organizations to compete “with the state in education, social services and health care.”
The “limited and appropriate reference to Hitler and Stalin” was used to present an undisputable historical fact, he said.
Religious tolerance has been an issue of critical concern for the U.S. bishops since the Obama administration issued its contraception mandate.
In an April 19 statement responding to the outcry, Patricia Gibson, chancellor of the Diocese of Peoria, called it “unfortunate” that Bishop Jenky’s comments had been “taken out of context.”
She explained that the bishop is concerned about threats to religious freedom that could prevent Catholic institutions from continuing in their ministry.
In his homily, she said, Bishop Jenky gave historical examples of religious groups being persecuted for their beliefs.
“We certainly have not reached the same level of persecution,” Gibson said. “However, history teaches us to be cautious once we start down the path of limiting religious liberty.”
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To say that Obama is following a path similar to Hitler’s and Stalin’s is to make a moral equivalency between Obama’s America and Europe of the dictators. Bishop Jenky has his right to do so, but those of the faithful who find his comparison hyperbolic and dangerous also have the right to protest. I challenge Bishop Jenky to stand in the mass grave pits at Majdanek next to the earn of human ash and remain unmoved in his position. I fear he might be insulting the experiences of millions who died under Hitler and Stalin.
It is interesting that those signing the letter of protest are “offended” by criticisms leveled against the president. To be an offense the bishop’s homily has to “constitute a transgression of what is fitting or proper.” Though comparison to Hitler and Stalin is commonplace in popular media, rarely is the comparison appropriate because the matters in discussion are trivial. In this instance, where there is no more important discussion than the analysis of whether religious liberty is being curtailed, such a comparision is entirely apt. So, is the faculty saying it is not proper to critique Mr. Obama? Since I find it hard to believe the faculty would not find religious liberty important, they must be, in fact, saying the latter. This is a chilling thought, in and of itself.
More chilling is the fact that there are those who seem to be oblivious to the lessons of the past while brandishing the atrocities of the past at every chance. My understanding of the lessons that the reigns of Hitler and Stalin gave us is, that thoughtful citizens of a free democracy should not be taken in by the cult of personality or the hollow promises of utopia.
Theology aside, can any individual truly say that any human or, any human institution can be truly perfect? Yet that is the subtext of the current administration’s agenda: follow us and we will give you the perfect society. Critique this agenda and you are branded offensive by those who support it. And, as my parents experienced personally in pre-war Germany, that is exactly what supporters of Hilter did. The brown shirt movement started out small, but became a monster.
Truly, I pray for these people who do not understand the comparison between what is going on with the current administration and the totalitarian regimes of the past, because they do not know what they are doing.
We must learn from history. Perhaps we should think about the specific aspect of history as hypothesized. This, especially in academics, should be discussed for merit, context, and, yes, differences. This is the strength of academia especially, which, eakingas a professor it saddens me that the university has not chosen to discuss the merits intellectually, but rather do the typical knee jerk nonsense our politically charged environment would prefer. Just easier to dumb down discourse. Not what I expect from my chosen profession. I’m not asking for 100 percent agreement. Only to discuss the regiment put forth, offer new ones and. Be intellectuals.
“I challenge Bishop Jenky to stand in the mass grave pits at Majdanek next to the earn of human ash and remain unmoved in his position.”
@Meghann,
I don’t suppose you actually read or listened to the Bishop’s homily. And according to your logic, only Jews suffered under Stalin or Hitler. You may wish to visit Poland and speak to the Poles about that. In any event, what Bishop Jenky said was true. The Nazis essientially shut the RCC out of public affairs. That included charities, homeless shelters, etc… This is exactly what the Obama administration and the Democrats are doing here. You should also know that the Nazis had a strong Student Movement program at all German Universities( the first of its kind). The Nazis were also ardent Naturalists, and Enviormentalists. In other words, the Fascism of the 1920s and 1930s in Europe was a forerunner to the Progressives of today. While today’s Left isn’t homocidal (accept when it come to the unborn), much of what it does today was done earlier in Europe.
I recently finished reading a fascinating book written by Robert Royal with the title The Catholic Martyrs of the Twentieth Century. Anybody reading that book can easily see the parallels in history with what the Obama administration has been doing with many regimes in the twentieth century alone who have oppressed the Catholic Church. It often starts out rather mildly. As the regime succeeds with minor steps it gets bolder and bolder, eventually resulting in imprisonment, torture, and death of priests, religious, and lay Catholics. The Bishop knows his history.
Can’t happen here? Our grandparents would have said the same thing about legalized abortion, legalized homosexual marriage, legalized assisted suicide, etc., etc.
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I fear he might be insulting the experiences of millions who died under Hitler and Stalin.”
On the contrary, Bishop Jenky is honoring the millions who died by remembering what happened and speaking up courageiously so that it never never happens again.
These protestors should reconsider their sense of fidelity and take stock of their allegiance to the Church and to its laudable ministers.
The bishop said nothing contrary to Church teaching and neither was he in any way offensive to any person.
But, sometime in preaching the gospel, people who are guilty of an offense, will themselves act like the “wounded buffalo” so that their faults are covered up.
Today, loyal Catholics need to be supportive of the bishops especially when there is a profound attack on the Church where Jesus Christ is its Head.
“Can’t happen here? Our grandparents would have said the same thing about legalized abortion, legalized homosexual marriage, legalized assisted suicide, etc., etc.”
And its shameful that there are those that would call this progress.
You’ll find a very interesting defense of Bishop Jenky at http://www.adoration.com/
THANK YOU Bishop Jenky for your recent homily. You have restored my faith in the Catholic Church. Someone has to speak the truth and God has blessed you to do just that. I support you 100% and I’m proud that you had the courage to speak-up during a time of rapid social and political decay. Catholics need to be held accountable, especially those in elected office!
God Bless You and Keep You.
Mark Vukelich, St. Paul, Minnesota
If we could hear the voices of the martyrs of the last 100 years, they would warns us to avoid what led their countries down that path of such horrific actions. Meghann, the silencing challenge you and others propose is an easy one to dish out because most people haven’t been to the camps and mass grave sites. I have, and from the walls and dirt you can hear their clamor, “Never again.” The only way to assure that it happens “never again” is to recognize the signs of such evil. Bishop Jenky does nothing but honor those persecuted individuals by voicing their plea for the sake of humanity.
They had better have some respect for Bishop Jenky as we are ready to throw all the priest and professors at Notre Dame out. Their seculur attitude and actions have lost Notre Dame great respect and the wrath of the catholic faithful. If they can’t follow the teachings of our church and follow the word of Almighty God they deserved to be attacked as they are offensive not only to our church but all faiths. I would rather take Holy Communion from any good holy man or woman in our church than to receive from a seculur priest. It is in fact time to clean our church out
of these impostures.
Covering symbols of our faith to allow a Muslim entrance to speak? Where is their loyalty? We either follow the teaching of Jesus Christ and He says very simlpy in scriptures it is either black or white. No Gray !
To Meghann Pytka, i don’t have a mass grave pit to ask you to go stand at—a place where someone can go and be near the remains of millions of innocents who wer senselessly killed, but i’ll tell you what—- go to your local trassh dump or your local sewer waste disposasl site. That’s where you can go and be near the remains of most of the 53 million pluswm innocent babies who have been killed by abortion in this country alone. The record shows that this president has done every thing in his power to see that this killing continues and, if possible, increases. Statements made by him, while serving in the Illinois state senate, indicate that he would like to extend this killing to those who are born. i think Bishop Jenky got it very right.
I don’t have the great minds of so many that have made their comments but all I can add is the fact that those protesting DON’T belong at N.D., especially Power and Coleman. I thank God that Prof. Rice is still there, as he is a man of great spiritual wisdom. As for Miss Gibson, she should look into what Obama was reading and studying before he became a dictator; all of Hitler’s papers, along with Marx and Lenin, and with this background, he is following their teachings. Check on Obama’s youth ‘army’ dressed in brown and the Oval Office painted in brown. If God will continue to punish us this Nov., we will see many of our Priests and Bishops taken away if they even speak about the sins of homosexuality, birth-control or abortion and without our Pastors, we will see many more Churches being shut down. This is only the tip of the iceberg and as Our Blessed Mary has said too many times: we are at war. We need to know who our enemies are, and sad to say, many are called ‘catholics’. +JMJ+
@Meghann Pytka- I think you better go study how Hitler moved from being an elected official to a dictator. I suggest you also view the move of communism within the former Soviet Union and the current People’s Republic of China from a supposed worker’s movement to the regimes they became and are. Obama is just moving along the lines of his communist idols such as his Father taught him. This can even be read in one of the books Obama wrote. Dictator’s hate religious freedom because they know as long as the people have religious freedom they can never be truly controlled. I would also like to remind you of a very old truthfilled saying,“Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
Ther have been 50 to 60 million babies murdered since Roe v Wade. Since Obama now wants to make this everyone’s law I would say he ranks right up there with Hilter and Stalin.
@JMJ who wrote: and as Our Blessed Mary has said too many times: we are at war. We need to know who our enemies are, and sad to say, many are called ‘catholics’. JMJ, your source, please. Multiple times? When and to “whom” did Mary proclaim “We are at war?” I would like the full context.
JMJ I couldn’t have said it better ! I salute you as you have identified the enemy within.Secular religious and they are not qualified to stay
in the Catholic church. We don’t need them! We have good and holy brothers and sisters i.e lay perons who can give Communion.As we have marched across America for the unborn to be saved only to find that our secular preiest-pastor has voted against the church time and time again.
He even sports a huge picture of the current president hanging in his office and tells all he is LIBERAL.Give them no retirement. Throw them out !
Bishop Jenky is a warrior in the purest sense: he has the courage to defend those who cannot defend themselves. He is an inspiration. I pray that he continues to speak, and I pray that other leaders, religious and political, will be able to hear him.
Whether Notre Dame supports or not, what the Bishop said is historical fact. Hitler and Stalin were dictators, anti-people personalities, and mass murderers. What have they gained ? Even to day some leaders cause divisions among people and resultant fights, killings and destructions. Such leaders are the spiritual children of Hitler and Stalin
4000 abortions a day, Meghann, but there’s no pit to stand by. The Bishop is right. “Clean-up” is much easier when you exterminate in the womb, you don’t need ovens or bullets. It’s “reprouctive Health-care.” Eugenics is alive and well in the US. And one of it’s biggest supporters is Obama and many “catholic” politicians.
Obama has Hitler regime down pat. He doesn’t care about Catholic or religious votes, the children are the focus. College “educated” liberals, utopian virtues. We’re all equal, including Jesus Christ and and all others. Christ is no better than Buddha. etc. etc. But our equality comes from the government, not Christ. The government will make us equal. Abortion, Homsexuality, gay marriage, embryonic stem cell research, gender reassignment, artificial contraception, artificial insemination and on and on, these are supported by the government in their humanist goal to make us all equal. They are opposed to everything that I thought christianity taught. Am I incorrect in that asssumption? JMJ, you know what’s going on. Read the 24 principles of the National Socialist Party, wow. Hitler began his trek long before being named chancellor. 1920 the Nazi party held 20 seats in parliament, 19 yrs. later they had transformed the entire German government and it’s laws and were rolling into Poland. I’ve been told abortion is legal, so was murdering Jews in Nazi Germany. Watch “Nietzche and the Nazi’s”, good documentary on the underpinnings of Nazi Germany from the beginning. A philosophical viewpoint, interesting.
There’s more protestants int he Catholic church than Catholics.
Thank God we have some bishops who are not afraid or timid to speak the truth. How I pray there be more like him!
@Joseph Metrick who said: “And one of it’s biggest supporters is Obama and many “Catholic” politicians. One of biggest and the most influential was Ted Kennedy (and for that matter, the whole family of Kennedy politicians who have voted for such bills down through the years in Congress). So why did the Boston Archbishop agree to the lavish funeral mass for Ted in Boston instead of saying “no” —based on principle? His funeral could have been held at the Kennedy parish church in Hyannis Port, but then all the pomp and ceremony would not have been paraded for all to see. The Bishop sent the wrong message not only to Catholics but to all people that Ted’s support of abortion really didn’t matter to the church. Seems $$$ trumps righteousness not only with some of the laity but with the USCCB’s as well.
PRAISE GOD! THANK YOU BISHOP JENKY FOR BEING A GOOD SHEPHERD IN THESE DARK TIMES!!! MOTHER MARY AND ST MICHAEL BE WITH YOU IN FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT WITH YOUR FELLOW BISHOPS & GOD’S TRUE FLOCK!!!
THERE IS NO ARGUMENT !
If you do not agree with The Catholic Church teachings, get out.
We don’t need trouble makers who only want to cause apostasy.
If you want to support Bishop Daniel Jenky’s religious free speech rights, please encourage him by signing this petition http://tinyurl.com/supportjenky
There seems to be two prevailing arguments in favor of Jenky’s homily:
1. He is honoring, not disrespecting, those murdered by Hitler,etc, by calling out actions that may lead to similar circumstances.
2. He is defending the protection of Catholic doctrine against the HHS mandate and such his statements are warranted and welcome.
I offer my thoughts on responses to each of these points:
1. Before the HHS mandate was published, 30 states had similar requirements already in place, requiring contraception coverage at all public institutions. In most of these cases, religious exemption was extended to all religious organizations—including hospitals and charity organizations. The only difference proposed by the HHS mandate was that hospitals and charity organizations, who employ and service more non-Catholics than Catholics, provide their employees with contraception coverage.
I have studied much the origins of the Second World War, and I can assure you this is not the path that Hitler—or anyone in fascist Europe—took to power. There is no subversive desire by the government to shut down hospitals and/or charity organizations. The HHS mandate stems from a desire to offer what they consider “basic medical coverage” to the American public.
When stemming from a place of universal human rights (yes, I know these rights do not extend to unborn children currently) and universal medical coverage, these actions starkly differ from the pointed, racist, and bigoted actions that forced secularism and state-sponsored sterilization on millions, including those with disabilities, homosexuals (let us not forget this), and many others…in addition to the murder of numerous Roman Catholics as well as Jews.
As such, Jenky’s statements do, in fact, make light of what has happened under the fascist regimes of the 20th century. They take a complex American political decision and turn it into a calling card for “pro-Catholic” and “anti-Catholic” rhetoric, which in turn only adds to the ignorance of the situation.
This leads me to point number 2.
2. There is a strong reason why Pope Benedict has never made such comparisons between American policy and that of fascist dictators. Having lived through such atrocities, he sees the differences between the two, and can appreciate that while the forcing of contraception on Catholic hospitals is definitely a threat to religious freedom in its broader interpretation (will Catholics one day be forced to have women priests in hospitals?), it should not be compared with the most heinous human rights violations in recorded history.
In short, despite what Jenky may think, the HHS mandate is not a step towards fascism. Allowing gay marriage is not a step towards fascism—if anything, it is quite the opposite, since the persecution of homosexuals under Hitler is so well documented. These things conflict with Catholic doctrine, but using such rhetoric devalues them to the level of common political jargon and hyperbole.
I disagree with the HHS mandate in its interpretation of what constitutes a religious organization, but I do not agree with the way Bishop Jenky handled the situation.
It would be interesting to know just what history books you are reading ?
Susan,
I think you’ll find my data backed up in nearly every high school or college textbook on the subject. A recent excellent book on the topic is “Holocaust: A History,” published in 2003 by Deborah Dwork and Robert Jan van Pelt. If you find specific errors in my arguments, I would be happy to respond with further details.
A lot of the history put out these days is sanitized and politically correct. Have you read Robert Royal’s book The Catholic Martyrs of the Twentieth Century? If not, I recommend you do so as it will help you a lot in understanding what is happening in our country right now. It is a tremendous history book. Even if you are not Catholic you will learn a lot of history and about how evil works.
BRAVO Bishop Jenky
And where is the protest over Obams’s brillant plan to spend additional billions on Afaghanistan after the coalition troops have retreated. Would expect the many bankrupt American towns and cities,the many unemployed, veterans and even the professors at North Dame would protest. Seems Saint Obama can con them all.
would protest
Bishop Jenky makes a correct historical comparison in its context. It is a stretch to imply that he was talking about holocaust in his comments. I find the objections of Notre Dame professors interesting. Isn’t this the same university that was willing to cover crosses, seemly embarrassed by its Catholic faith? The historical comparisons is to what all “socialist” governments have tried to impose. In order to silence the Church’s moral authority, they attempt to marginalize the Church to a Sunday only “inside the doors” institution. Freedom of religion (not worship) means more than that. And being a Catholic means being willing to pick up your cross in the face of “political correctness.”
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