Bishop Finn calls his diocese to prayer and sacrifice for election

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Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City-St. Joseph

Kansas City, Mo., Oct 23, 2008 / 03:35 am (CNA).- With the presidential election only days away, Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City-St. Joseph is calling his flock’s attention to the gravity of the choice they face and is urging them to join him in prayer.

Bishop Finn describes the coming election in the opening lines of his column for The Catholic Key by quoting Deuteronomy: “I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live.”

Finn also turns to Pope Benedict for insight on how Americans should view the choice they will face in the voting booth. ‘The fundamental human right, the presupposition of every other right, is the right to life itself. This is true of life from the moment of conception until its natural end. Abortion, consequently, cannot be a human right – it is the very opposite. It is “a deep wound in society’.”

Contrary to some Catholics who have been arguing that other moral concerns can outweigh a candidate’s position on abortion, Bishop Finn said, “Our Catholic moral principles teach that a candidate’s promise of economic prosperity is insufficient to justify their constant support of abortion laws, including partial-birth abortion, and infanticide for born-alive infants.”

Finn also targeted the Freedom of Choice Act, describing it as a “pledge to eliminate every single limit on abortions achieved over the last thirty-five years.” Sen. Barack Obama has promised to sign the Freedom of Choice Act into law if he is elected president. “The real freedom that is ours in Jesus Christ compels us, not to take life, but to defend it,” Bishop Finn stated.

Given this political climate, Bishop Finn, along with the other Bishops of Missouri is calling on all the faithful to make the last week before the election “a week of prayer for our nation - a week of prayer for the protection of Human Life.”

Invoking the intercession of Our Lady of the Rosary, Bishop Finn asks her to “watch over our country and bring us the victory of life.” The bishop of Kansas City-St. Joseph also turns to the Guardian Angels for their intercession on behalf of the 47 million babies lost through abortion in our country in the last thirty-five years. “This horrendous loss of life remains one of the greatest threats to human civilization we have ever faced,” he writes.

“This week,” Bishop Finn exhorts his flock, “please pray and make some sacrifices for our country. I ask every parish to provide some additional opportunity for prayer in the church: an evening Mass, or rosary, or time of adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. Say the rosary as individuals or as a family, or even simply a decade each night with your children. Say the election prayer. Give up meat, or do without some convenience this week. Make a good Act of Contrition and get to Confession. Offer a worthy Communion.”

Bishop Finn closes his column by announcing that he will preside over an Eve of the Election Mass at St. Therese Parish, North at 7:00 p.m. on November 3.

Comments: 7

Subscriber comments:

Published by: Susie Hillix
Kansas City, MO 09/14/2009 04:34 PM EST

I did pray feverently prior to the election and I continue to do so. I pray for hateful, misinformed, hypocritical and/or misguided people like Bishop Finn (and Sarah Palin)who are speaking as Christ's representatives to do evil. It is evil to inflame others against an intelligent, hard-working person who is truly trying to follow the teachings of Christ in its fullness. It is beyond hypocritical to say that you are pro-life and not speak out against torture, unjust wars, discrimination, inadequate health care, etc. Bishop Finn is anti-choice only. His beliefs are as far as east is from west from the beliefs that I was taught as a child in Catholic schools and from my almost 50 years of participating in mass and church life. I am ashamed of him, but will continue to pray feverently for his conversion.

Published by: Gary
Lawrence, Kansas,U.S. 01/11/2009 02:54 AM EST

I happened on this site by accident, and although the election is long over felt the need to reply to S. hiatt, in KCK. What does expressing an opinion on how I feel the bishops, including Bishop Finn had overstepped their bounds spiritually have to do with Nazi Germany. What I was trying to say was that although I certainly feel that the bishops, and all of the clergy in the church have a right to their opinion, public or otherwise on issues that they feel are important, they do not have the right to de facto threaten the laity with implied loss of salvation, simply because they may not vote the way the Church might like them to. As for the Nazi reference s Hiatt makes, where does that come from? As a Catholic the last thing I want to see is suppression of our religious liberties in this country. As an American the last thing I want to see is anyone trying to blackmail me, spiritually or otherwise into voting the way THEY want me to. Finally, it is not I, or people like me who you should be worrying about pilgrim, but people like Bishop Finn, and others in the Church who seem to be trying to impose a theocracy on us all. Maybe once the democracy which you claim to endorse so much, is gone,with the theocracy firmly in place we can set up the Inquisition again. Then we can burn all of the "heretics" who don't express exactly what the Church orders, either in or outside of the voting booth.

Published by: S hiatt
KCK 11/03/2008 11:30 PM EST

Dear Gary in Lawrence We are not living in Nazi Germany yet. As with Mother Teresa it is a priests fundamental duty to speak out when issues that challenge the word of God are brought to the forefront, be it slavery, the Holocaust, or abortion. That's why the first Pilgrims came to America. To flee the religious persecution you would impose.

Published by: Jen Barnhouse
Kansas City 11/03/2008 11:12 PM EST

Absolutely out of line! Remember the seperation of church and state? I seem to recall that lesson taught in the 4th grade at St. Therese in Omaha, where I went until the 6th grade, and then on to Roncalli.

The Bishop has no right to tell us who to vote for, and why. My choice is to vote for the candidate I feel with lead the country, not be told by the bishop in my diocese.

As for voting for Senator Obama...I'll take my chances and I can promise that God will forgive me.

Published by: Maria Palie
Orlando, Florida 11/03/2008 10:49 AM EST

God Bless Bishop Finn for having the courage to speak the truth, when other Bishops have become mute.

Published by: Gary
Lawrence, Kansas,U.S. 10/25/2008 01:19 AM EST

Bishop Finn has crossed the line. This is an endorsement of Sen. John McCain. Saying ending abortion should be a goal of all Catholics, and all Americans is one thing. Listing the reasons why Barrack Obama has not agreed with certain core fundamental truths of Catholic teaching, abortion or otherwise,and then reminding us of our responsibility to vote for a candidate who will uphold those teachings {specifically abortion} is a de facto endorsement of John McCain. Bishop Finn knows this. So does his buddy Archbisop Naumann. Both have put their imprint on this election by doing an end-run around the original letter by then Cardinal Ratzinger on faithful voting, by inserting the addendum that nothing they see can be thought of as a compelling counter to the one issue of abortion. Where is the IRS when you really need them?

Published by: Michele Peate
Thousand Oaks, CA, U.S. 10/23/2008 12:35 PM EST

Thank you Bishop Finn, may all Bishops of this country follow your example.

I must say that many of our Bishops have really stepped up to the plate this election cycle. God bless them!

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