On Monday of Holy Week, the priests of the diocese of Lincoln gathered at the Cathedral of the Risen Christ for an afternoon of recollection with Bishop Conley and Bishop Emeritus Bruskewitz. Our speaker was Father Andrew Apostoli, who challenged us to follow the example of our new Holy Father, Pope Francis. After his inspiring words, Bishop Conley offered the Chrism Mass when we priests recommit ourselves to the sacred promises we made on the day of our ordinations.
Father Apostoli reminded us our new pontiff is committed, like St. Francis of Assisi, in remembering the poor and in the renewal of the Church. In one of his talks, Father Apostoli stated that before Blessed Pope John Paul II was elected pope, he said we are now in the midst of the most severe persecution of the Church since its founding 2,000 years ago, and most Catholics are unaware of it.
This is an astonishing statement, for there have been many severe periods of persecution in the Church since it was founded on the rock of Peter. However, now in many places in the world Christians are being actively persecuted and martyred. Now in the western world, we are losing our rights of conscience in the public square.
Soon, because of efforts in legalizing "same-sex marriage" and making sexual orientation and gender identity a protected class like race, coupled with the HHS mandate which forces us to pay for insurance plans covering contraception, abortion and sterilization, discriminating justly in certain circumstances and refusing to pay for immoral things will be illegal and punishable by the revocation of medical and mental health licenses, fines and imprisonment. Many Catholics will be forced out of many jobs and professions. Listing them is beyond the scope of this article.
Many Catholics, unfortunately, do not understand the difference between just and unjust discrimination. To clear up any confusion, when it comes to sexual orientation, the Catholic Church teaches that it is wrong to unjustly discriminate against anyone, period. For example, it would be immoral for a doctor to refuse treating a gay man for his coronary artery disease, hypertension, diabetes etc. or to refuse to make a referral to another doctor if they are unable to provide the said service. However, if that same man asked for a prescription for Viagra, the physician must justly discriminate by refusing to write the prescription or to make a direct referral to another physician who would be willing to write it. The same goes for a mental health professional who must treat a client for their mental health needs or to refer them to another professional if they are unable to provide it, but not for "marriage counseling" between two persons of the same sex.
It is especially stinging that many of our foes are fellow Catholics. Try to find a Catholic OB-GYN who does not prescribe contraception, perform sterilizations or in-vitro fertilization, or a Catholic FP who does not prescribe contraception, or a Catholic urologist who does not perform vasectomies, or a Catholic pharmacist who does not dispense contraceptive agents. It’s almost as hard finding teeth in chicken. Many lay people are equally complicit. It should be no surprise then that some of our most vehement enemies in our fight to maintain the right of conscience in the public square are fellow Catholics. I am proud and thankful to those professionals listed above who are faithful to the Church.
Father Apostoli challenged us all by what I call ‘pulling a Blessed Mother Teresa’ by making a pledge to Jesus to ‘refuse Him nothing.’ Only then he said we will begin to see many of our prayers answered. Please make that pledge of never refusing Jesus anything and then pray for our Church, the world and our country. Are you in?
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