The Crucifixion of Bishop Robert Finn

I heard Bishop Robert Finn give his memorable address to the recent Kansas City Gospel of Life Conference and was much edified by this stalwart leader of the Catholic Church. He spoke candidly of militant Catholics who must fight a necessary spiritual war against Satan.

The battle we face for the salvation of our souls is the most important one we face – bar none. Where I spend all eternity; where you spend eternity – in bliss or in damnation – is important beyond any individual choice I make. But the individual human choices I make – even one grave choice in which we remain unrepentant – can determine the direction of my salvation.

To deliberately destroy a human person, and without any justification of self-defense, is to preempt without an equal and sufficient cause, the right to life bestowed by God alone. Life is a gift which we have from God, not from man. This right cannot be taken away by means of a human law. It ought to be protected and assured by human law. The constant magnitude of this crime against humanity is staggering. We must never get used to it.

Occasionally we still hear an elected official speak of his or her personal opposition to abortion, while they support the legal right to an abortion. We should be very clear: Such a person places him or herself completely OUTSIDE the moral framework, the moral imperative of Evangelium Vitae and other Church teaching on these issues. They are NEITHER defending human life against the forces of death, NOR or they taking steps to build a culture of life. They have abandoned their place in the citizenship of the Church. Quite simply they have become warriors for death rather than life.

Such a person who makes a public stand – and acts directly – in defense of the right to kill endangers their eternal salvation. If you and I support such a person who has so flatly told us of their intentions to protect a fraudulent Right to Death, a Right to an Abortion, we make ourselves participants in their attack on life. We risk our salvation, and we better change.

So it is not surprising that Bishop Finn's address has incensed liberal Catholics who feel they must defend the so-called "right" to kill an unborn child. First read Bishop Finn's great talk to pro-lifers published on the new Catholic Key Blog [should be bookmarked first on your list of Kansas City Catholic websites].

Then observe the crucifixion of Bishop Finn in multiple comments on the website of the infamous National Catholic Reporter, which is published in Bishop Finn's diocese. The anger of dissident, unfaithful Catholics and their friends in response to Bishop Finn's remarks clearly shows the influence of Satan.