David Quinn
Mr Biden and his wife Jill pray during Mass at the
Cathedral of St Matthew the Apostle in Washington on
the morning of his inauguration. Photo: CNS It would be a failure of moral witness if the Church did not point to policies at odds with the Catholic Faith, writes David Quinn
On the morning of his inauguration as president of the United States, Joe Biden attended Mass. He carries a set of rosary beads on him that belonged to his late son, Beau, who died of cancer in 2015. President Biden is, without question, a personally devout man, unlike his predecessor, Donald Trump.
On-demand
But he is also a supporter of policies that are at total odds with his Church. For example, he supports abortion-on-demand. A few days after being sworn in as president, he and his vice-president, Kamala Harris, reiterated their support for Roe v Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that forced a very permissive abortion regime on all 50 US states.
One of the first things he did on taking office was to sign an executive order that greatly advances the transsexual agenda. Mr Biden wants men who say they are women to be able to play women’s sports, go into women’s changing rooms, toilets, prisons and women’s shelters.
He believes all a person has to do is declare themselves a member of the opposite sex for it to be so, and the government must then go about facilitating this regardless of its effects.
How would Joe Biden, a devout Catholic in his private life, justify these things? He would probably say what some of our politicians say, namely that he leaves his personal beliefs at the door of his office and governs for everyone.
This is a cop-out, however, because his policies must be informed by some moral viewpoint, and no moral viewpoint is held by everyone. So why dump his Catholicism at the door of his office, and not all moral beliefs?
He clearly believes in the right to choose and that this is more important than the right to life. Not everyone agrees. Far from it. He has made a moral choice in favour of ‘personal autonomy’. He has not left that belief at the door of his office.
These principles are rooted in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the social teachings of his Church”
To coincide with the inauguration of Mr Biden, the head of the US Catholic bishops’ conference, Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles archdiocese, issued a well-considered statement about the attitude Catholics ought to take towards Joe Biden, and politics in general.
He prayed that God would grant President Biden the wisdom to govern well. He then reminded Catholics that the Church is above partisan politics.
He said that when the bishops speak on issues in American public life, “we try to guide consciences, and we offer principles. These principles are rooted in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the social teachings of his Church. Jesus Christ revealed God’s plan of love for creation and revealed the truth about the human person, who is created in God’s image, endowed with God-given dignity, rights and responsibilities, and called to a transcendent destiny”.
He explained that those principles “do not align neatly with the political categories of left or right”.
Concerns
Archbishop Gomez referred to a document from the American bishops called Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, which addresses a wide range of concerns, including abortion, euthanasia, the death penalty, immigration, racism, poverty, care for the environment, criminal justice reform, economic development, and international peace.
But then Archbishop Gomez turned his attention to the issues of abortion and the family. Acknowledging that Joe Biden is America’s first Catholic president since John Fitzgerald Kennedy, he expressed concern that “our new president has pledged to pursue certain policies that would advance moral evils and threaten human life and dignity, most seriously in the areas of abortion, contraception, marriage, and gender. Of deep concern is the liberty of the Church and the freedom of believers to live according to their consciences.”
In a tweet he said it was ‘ill-considered’ and issued without proper consultation”
He said it would be a failure of moral witness not to point these things out.
The statement read: “as pastors, the nation’s bishops are given the duty of proclaiming the Gospel in all its truth and power, in season and out of season, even when that teaching is inconvenient or when the Gospel’s truths run contrary to the directions of the wider society and culture.”
There are reports that the Vatican did not like the statement.
Pope Francis himself said he prayed that President Biden’s decisions “will be guided by a concern for building a society marked by authentic justice and freedom, together with unfailing respect for the rights and dignity of every person, especially the poor, the vulnerable and those who have no voice”.
But one of America’s most influential prelates, Cardinal Blaise Cupich of Chicago directly criticised the Archbishop Gomez statement, which was issued on behalf of the US bishops as a whole.
In a tweet he said it was “ill-considered” and issued without proper consultation. He hinted at tensions among the American bishops over politics.
The reference to “moral evils” seems to have caused most offence, although Cardinal Cupich did not directly reference this.
But even if, at a stretch, Archbishop Gomez should have waited until another day to challenge President Biden, it does have to be done.
It would be extremely remiss on the part of bishops to simply ignore the fact that a Catholic president is such a strong backer of abortion and is promoting a view of gender and the family so at odds with that of his own Church.
Moral leadership
To say nothing, or else to offer only mealy-mouth opposition, would be a failure of moral leadership. Joe Biden might be a devout Catholic in his personal life, but precisely on account of that fact, many Catholics, and non-Catholics for that matter, might end up believing that it acceptable for a Catholic to promote and advocate for abortion, when it obviously is not.
America’s bishops will have to walk their usual delicate political line over the next four years, as they did during the Donald Trump years, supporting what they can support, and opposing what they must oppose. They cannot be silent simply because Joe Biden goes to Mass.