Illinois Bishop Fasting for Pro-Abort Democrat

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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (ChurchMilitant.com) - A U.S. bishop following the tradition of the saints is praying and fasting during this Lenten season for the conversion of pro-abortion politicians.

Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois announced Wednesday he is combining the forces of prayer and sacrifice to wage spiritual war against those committed to the abortion industry, specifically a senator from his own state.

"I am offering my prayers and fasting during this penitential season of Lent for the conversion of Senator Dick Durbin, that he will return to the pro-life position he once held when he was first elected to public office by the people of central Illinois," Bp. Paprocki tweeted.

The bishop's announcement comes in the shadow of the February defeat of the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act in Congress that Durbin and 40 other Democrats joined forces to filibuster.

The legislation was sponsored by Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) and designed to ensure that doctors provide medical care to children who survive the attempt to kill them in the womb.

Sasse clashed with Durbin on the Senate floor before the vote after Durbin referred to Sasse's legislation as an "abortion" bill. Sasse countered that his bill is "about babies that are born that are outside their mother," adding, "And what's actually happening is the senior senator from Illinois is wanting to obscure the debate because he wants to use euphemisms about choice."

"You can't defend the indefensible," Sasse added. "We are talking about killing babies that are born."

In arguing against the bills, Durbin and other Democrats accused Republicans of "fabricating an infanticide narrative," to which Sasse said:

We're talking about killing babies that are born. ... That's the actual legislation we're voting on today in the Senate. That's what the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act is. Is it okay in the eyes of the United States Senate for us to say, "Well you can't actively kill the little baby, you can't take a pillow and put it over her face and smother her to death, but you can back away and kill her that way."

President Trump joined the discussion after the vote in Congress. "Senate Democrats just voted against legislation to prevent the killing of newborn infant children," he said on Twitter. "The Democrat position on abortion is now so extreme that they don't mind executing babies AFTER birth."

Trump also promised that the American people would not forget it. "This will be remembered as one of the most shocking votes in the history of Congress," the president warned. "If there is one thing we should all agree on, it's protecting the lives of innocent babies."

This is not the first time Bp. Paprocki has spoken out in the public square for the Faith. In June, he decreed that Illinois Speaker of the House Michael Madigan, Senate President John Cullerton and all the Catholic lawmakers who voted for pro-abortion bills are barred from receiving Holy Communion in the Springfield diocese because of "their leadership roles in promoting the evil of abortion."

In 2013, the Springfield prelate offered prayers for "exorcism in reparation for the sin of same-sex marriage" at the time then-Democrat Gov. Pat Quinn was about to sign the same-sex marriage bill.

Through his Lenten gesture, Bp. Paprocki aligned himself with the ancient tradition of the Church, which honors the 40 days and nights of prayer and fasting undertaken by Christ in the desert after He was baptized by St. John the Baptist, where he was tempted by the devil (Matthew 4:1–11).

Saint Monica's prayer and suffering for many years led to the conversion of her husband and her son, who went on to become St. Augustine.

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux prayed and offered her sufferings for the conversion of a murderer named Henri Pranzini, who had been sentenced to death. To avert that "irreparable calamity," she decided to employ "all the spiritual means" she could think of, as she recounted in her autobiography The Story of a Soul, to work for the condemned man's repentance. When Pranzini was about to put his head into the guillotine, "He turned, took hold of the crucifix the priest was holding out to him and kissed the sacred wounds three times!"

And Pope St. John Paul II has reminded the faithful: "Prayer joined to sacrifice constitutes the most powerful force in human history."

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