Bishop Hermann's clarion call

By Phil Lawler ( bio - articles - email ) | Jan 28, 2009

 Whether or not you have seen the CWN headline coverage of the powerful homily delivered by Bishop Robert Hermann at the pro-life Mass in St. Louis, I urge you to read the entire text. (Only a portion of the homily is available on the web site of the St. Louis archdiocese, but somehow Judie Brown was able to reproduce the full text.) Perhaps a few samples will whet your appetite:

It seems to me that when President Kennedy compromised Catholic teachings and accommodated political pressures in order to be elected to the highest office in the land, he set the tone for many Catholic leaders to follow and to compromise their Catholic principles to get ahead.

It does not take 100 percent of our Catholics to transform this country. If 75 percent of our Catholics were steeped in Catholic identity, the abortion issue would be over for our entire country

If our focus consists only in counting votes, we will be discouraged. If our focus is on giving ourselves and our activities totally to Christ so that He can use our witnessing as He wishes, our hearts will be throbbing and radiating with life and joy.

Here is an unmistakable call for the development of an authentically Catholic public witness. Required reading.

Update: Bishop Hermann's homily is now available in full right here on the Catholic Culture site.