American Catholics have become “remarkably passive even in the face of relentless hostility from the media, the entertainment industry, and now from some politicians” according to a leading US bishop.

In a new pastoral, Bishop Daniel Jenky (pictured) of Peoria in Illinois said that “[e]ven when our institutions are attacked and our most sacred beliefs held up for scorn, many Catholics sadly remain silent”.

And he called on Catholics to be more assertive action in defending “our religion and those public ministries which we hold to be the work of Christ”.

He was responding to a series of developments which have seen the state of Illinois attacking religious freedom.

Last year, Catholic adoption agencies in the state were forced to close because of civil partnership legislation obliging them to refer same-sex couples as prospective adoptive parents.

Bishop Jenky said that the diocese of Peoria, now existed “in a political reality that is increasingly secular in outlook and today is often specifically hostile to the convictions of our Faith”.

He said that political power in the state of Illinois was concentrated in a region which gave “determined special interest groups a unique opportunity to impose their views on everyone else as they endeavour to exclude faith from any role in the public forum”.

He cited the passage of “The Illinois Religious Freedom Protection Act” last year.

Bishop Jenky said: “The bishops of Illinois were personally assured that the Church’s institutions such as Catholic Charities and Catholic health care would be exempted, as a reasonable accommodation such as was given in the states of New York and Rhode Island that around the same time also passed civil union legislation.

“In Illinois, however, these assurances were promptly disavowed when the state’s political leadership was threatened with financial retribution by persons and organisations basically operating out of Chicago.

“What would be unthinkable against the convictions of any other religious group in Illinois has apparently become acceptable against believing Catholics. In the case of Catholic Charities, not the slightest consideration was given to the needs of those children whose quality of life was most at risk.

“Some of these young people have been so neglected or damaged that they could never be placed in family foster care. Instead they required the care of group homes on the campus of Guardian Angel Orphanage, where for over 100 years our Diocese has lovingly served those children most in need. The enormous disruption and awful pain of the most vulnerable apparently meant nothing whatsoever to the political leadership of our state.”

He said that some politicians in the state had “even begun to publically depreciate the unique contribution that Catholic healthcare offers to people of every race, color, and creed, often in areas that would otherwise be seriously underserved”.

“It should be apparent to everyone who watches the news or reads the papers how often in Central Illinois the victims of crime or accident as well as the critical needs of babies and children are so generously and extraordinarily well served by Catholic healthcare,” Bishop Jenky said.

He said that it was now “critically necessary to raise an alarm among the faithful regarding growing threats to our religious freedom due to the increasing steps toward radical secularisation taking place in Illinois”.

And he warned of “future moves that could be made against the independence of our Catholic schools and other public ministries of our Diocese”.

“Eventually it may come to pass that our fidelity to the Gospel of Christ and to Catholic tradition may place us in direct conflict with recent legal definitions of the State of Illinois. There are certainly some in our state whose commitment to aesthetic secularism is so intense that they may well try to restrict the Church’s role only to the sacristy and sanctuary,” he said.

He was “especially scandalised by some ‘Catholic’ politicians who willingly collaborate with efforts to restrict the civil liberty of the faith tradition from which they were originally sprung”.

Bishop Jenky said: “Many of those in office who were taught to read and write in Catholic schools, now seem entirely indifferent to the consciences of those Catholics who live their faith. On Ash Wednesday, they like to be conspicuous with crosses on their foreheads, but the true Cross of Christ seems far from their hearts and minds.

“They enjoy parties on March the 17th and wearing green sweaters but in effect are ashamed of Saint Patrick’s unwavering zeal for the Catholic Christianity. They like photo opportunities with the hierarchy, but break their word to them without a moment’s hesitation.”

He said that he had told those in his diocese “which party or what candidates deserve their vote”.

However, he said: “Among religious groups, however, American Catholics have in recent decades become remarkably passive even in the face of relentless hostility from the media, the entertainment industry, and now from some politicians.

“Even when our institutions are attacked and our most sacred beliefs held up for scorn, many Catholics sadly remain silent. As your Bishop, it is therefore my duty before God to call faithful Catholics into more assertive action in defense of our religion and those public ministries which we hold to be the work of Christ.”