The occasional, often ill-considered thoughts of a Roman Catholic permanent deacon who is ever grateful to God for his existence. Despite the strangeness we encounter in this life, all the suffering we witness and endure, being is good, so good I am sometimes unable to contain my joy. Deo gratias!


Although I am an ordained deacon of the Catholic Church, the opinions expressed in this blog are my personal opinions. In offering these personal opinions I am not acting as a representative of the Church or any Church organization.

Friday, April 30, 2021

President Biden: Devout Catholic?

Let’s get one thing straight right from the start: President Joe Biden is NOT a devout Catholic, even though he obviously wants White House press secretary Jen Psaki to describe him as one whenever his faith is questioned. Yes, the man who likes to show us the Rosary beads in his pocket quite obviously wants us to believe this lie. Wouldn’t you love to hear a reporter ask the president to name the five sorrowful (or glorious, or joyful, or luminous) mysteries of the Rosary? Are we really supposed to believe he prays the Rosary daily? I think it especially telling that back in 2005, when he was testing the waters for a 2008 presidential run, Joe Biden stated, “If I’m the nominee, Republicans will be sorry. The next Republican that tells me I’m not religious I’m going to shove my rosary beads down their throat.” 

How does the Church put it? “Lex orandi, lex credendi.” To paraphrase: the law of prayer determines the law of belief. Joe Biden’s prayer life should, then, lead him to an acceptance of the deposit of faith. One need only observe his actions and listen to his words and it becomes obvious he considers the magisterial teaching of the Catholic Church, the manifestation in today’s world of the deposit of faith, as meaningless. He rejects Church teaching on abortion, on homosexuality, on sexual identity, on marriage, on First Amendment rights, and a slew of other issues. And what is most concerning, at least to some of our bishops, is his willingness to exclaim that his positions are perfectly OK for a practicing, “devout” Catholic.  

The U.S. bishops, who join together as the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB.org), intend to examine the president’s anti-Catholic stance on these and so many other issues during their June meeting. Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco is particularly concerned. In his words, “There’s a growing sense of urgency. Abortion is not just one among many important issues...It is a direct attack on human life.” Indeed it is. The Archbishop wants Catholics like President Biden to “understand the scandal that is caused when they say they are faithfully Catholic and yet oppose the Church on such a basic concept.” Three cheers for the Archbishop. In the same way, Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City said that “we bishops have the responsibility to correct him” for calling himself a “devout Catholic” while he opposes the Church on virtually all life and marriage issues. He added that Biden, because of his prominent prominent position, “is usurping the role of the bishops and confusing people.”

Let us pray that the all the bishops have the courage to do what is right and take the president to task, along with all those other nominally Catholic politicians who arrogantly flaunt the Church’s and the Holy Spirit’s teaching. They need to be reminded that they not only endanger their own salvation, but also that of those whom they influence. Unfortunately, the two bishops who have jurisdiction in Wilmington, Delaware and Washington, D.C., the dioceses where the president usually worships, have both indicated they have no problem with the president receiving the Eucharist in their churches. Perhaps it would be helpful for the faithful in those dioceses to send a respectful letter to Bishop W. Francis Malooly of Wilmington and Cardinal Wilton Gregory of Washington and urge them to follow the lead of Pope Benedict XVI who, when he was prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith wrote:

“Regarding the grave sin of abortion or euthanasia, when a person’s formal cooperation becomes manifest (understood, in the case of a Catholic politician, as his consistently campaigning and voting for permissive abortion and euthanasia laws), his Pastor should meet with him, instructing him about the Church’s teaching, informing him that he is not to present himself for Holy Communion until he brings to an end the objective situation of sin, and warning him that he will otherwise be denied the Eucharist. When these precautionary measures have not had their effect or in which they were not possible, and the person in question, with obstinate persistence, still presents himself to receive the Holy Eucharist, the minister of Holy Communion must refuse to distribute it. This decision, properly speaking, is not a sanction or a penalty. Nor is the minister of Holy Communion passing judgment on the person’s subjective guilt, but rather is reacting to the person’s public unworthiness to receive Holy Communion due to an objective situation of sin.”

 That says it all...

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