It takes a lot to stand up for what is right, but that’s exactly what one priest did in an inspirational homily on October 2, 2016.
Fr. John Lankeit addressed his congregation with zeal and courage — saying something many are afraid to say.
[lz_third_party includes=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=881aDDE5qFY”]
If a Catholic votes for Hillary Clinton — or for any pro-choice candidate — it is a serious sin in the Catholic Church. “Your soul will be in grave danger,” he explained about a Catholic voting for Clinton.
“There is a candidate, in this 2016 race for president, who along with that candidate’s political party does, in fact, sanction the killing of blacks and Hispanics in the situations previously described under one particular condition: That that black person or that Hispanic person is still in his or her mother’s womb,” said Lankeit, who is rector of The Cathedral of Saints Simon and Jude Cathedral in Phoenix, Arizona.
It’s an especially important reminder considering that Clinton is currently leading among Catholics ahead of Election Day. Catholics favor Clinton over Donald Trump 51 to 40, according to a recent poll by the Public Research Institute.
Perhaps this reminder should be promulgated more often. While not everyone is a one-issue-voter, Catholics have a religious responsibility to the unborn.
Related: Why I Chose Not to Have an Abortion
Fr. Lankeit’s homily reminded Catholics that they cannot vote for Clinton, “especially if you present yourself for Holy Communion after casting such a vote with the full knowledge of what you’re doing,”
But even his strong words were accompanied by compassion: “God’s mercy is bigger than your sin and your pain. In 10 years of priesthood, I have often been blessed to be the one who gets to welcome back a woman to the merciful embrace of God the Father — take her hand and put it back in the hand of God the Father — after she has admitted to, and repented of, her abortion in the Sacrament of Confession,” he explained.
Related: Why Abortion Trumps All Other Issues
“A priest in such a situation has the privilege of assuring the woman that she has never for a single moment lost the love of God the Father, nor her dignity as his beloved daughter of that same God, no matter what she did,” said Fr. Lankeit.
His words are inspiring to all — and are a vital reminder to Catholics as Election Day quickly approaches.
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