Peoria Bishop Daniel Jenky has ordered priests in the diocese to read a letter at Mass this weekend criticla of the new health care law. (Photo courtesy flickr)

By The Associated Press

PEORIA - Catholic Diocese of Peoria Bishop Daniel Jenky has ordered priests in his diocese to read a letter from the pulpit this weekend critical of President Obama and Senate Democrats.

Jenky's letter cites the president's unwillingness to consider Catholic objections to a requirement that insurance companies provide birth control to employees of religious organizations.

The letter says voters who enable ``the destruction of innocent human life in the womb'' are ``guilty of grave sin.''

Critics say the letter amounts to a violation of IRS guidelines. But diocese chancellor Patricia Gibson says the letter doesn't violate guidelines because it doesn't mention any candidate by name.

Father Jerry Ward of St. Patrick's Church of Merna says it's the second time the bishop has weighed in on the issue during Mass.

"The feedback was positive for the most part, some of it was negative," said Ward. "Certainly supportive of the Bishop and of learning more about the issues."

Jenky also called President Obama's birth control mandate in the Affordable Care Act an assault on religious freedom.

When asked if the bishop's comments about the health care law in church made some parishioners uncomfortable, Father Ward was largely supportive.

"I think there was some discomfort, but overall we were positive and supportive," said Ward.

Critics say the letter amounts to a violation of IRS guidelines. But diocese chancellor Patricia Gibson says the letter doesn't violate guidelines because it doesn't mention any candidate by name.

Churches are allowed to engage in a wide range of political activities, and the IRS has rarely revoked a church's nonprofit status.

Churches are allowed to engage in a wide range of political activities, and the IRS has rarely revoked a church's nonprofit status. Here's the letter:

Dear Catholic Believers,

Since the foundation of the American Republic and the adoption of the Bill of Rights, I do not think there has ever been a time more threatening to our religious liberty than the present. Neither the president of the United States nor the current majority of the Federal Senate have been willing to even consider the Catholic community's grave objections to those HHS mandates that would require all Catholic institutions, exempting only our church buildings, to fund abortion, sterilization, and artificial contraception. This assault upon our religious freedom is simply without precedent in the American political and legal system. Contrary to the guarantees embedded in the First Amendment, the HHS mandates attempt to now narrowly define and thereby drastically limit our traditional religious works. They grossly and intentionally intrude upon the deeply held moral convictions that have always guided our Catholic schools, hospitals, and other apostolic ministries.

Nearly two thousand years ago, after our Savior had been bound, beaten, scourged, mocked, and crowned with thorns, a pagan Roman Procurator displayed Jesus to a hostile crowd by sarcastically declaring: Behold your King. The mob roared back: We have no king but Caesar. Today, Catholic politicians, bureaucrats, and their electoral supporters who callously enable the destruction of innocent human life in the womb also thereby reject Jesus as their Lord. They are objectively guilty of grave sin. For those who hope for salvation, no political loyalty can ever take precedence over loyalty to the Lord Jesus Christ and to his Gospel of Life. God is not mocked, and as the Bible clearly teaches, after this passing instant of life on earth, God's great mercy in time will give way to God's perfect judgment in eternity.

I therefore call upon every practicing Catholic in this Diocese to vote. Be faithful to Christ and to your Catholic Faith. May God guide and protect his Holy Church, and may God bless America. 

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Most Reverend Daniel R. Jenky, C.S.C.

BISHOP OF PEORIA

Eric Stock and Zach Dietmeier contributed to this story.  You can reach Eric at eric.stock@cumulus.com and Zach at zach.dietmeier@cumulus.com.