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Cardinal Tobin says Biden remarks not intended as endorsement

While the cardinal’s remarks Tuesday recognized that the Democratic party platform seeks to “remove the unborn child from the equation,” Tobin did not indicate what issues he thought might justify a vote for Biden.

Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin of Newark, N.J., is seen at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart during the Mass of ordination of deacons July 11, 2020. (CNS photo/courtesy Steve Hockstein via Archdiocese of Newark)

CNA Staff, Sep 16, 2020 / 01:45 pm (CNA).- Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark said on Tuesday that voters could choose Joe Biden in good conscience, and suggested he would have difficulty voting for President Donald Trump. The cardinal told CNA Sept. 16 that his comments were not intended to endorse any political candidate for office, but declined to say whether he believes a Catholic could vote in good conscience for Donald Trump.

While the cardinal’s remarks Tuesday recognized that the Democratic party platform seeks to “remove the unborn child from the equation,” Tobin did not indicate what issues he thought might justify a vote for Biden, in light of the U.S. bishops’ conference teaching that ending abortion is a “preeminent priority” in public life.

“I neither endorsed nor opposed anyone running for office. I simply reminded Catholics of our responsibility to take part in the elective process,” Cardinal Tobin said in a statement to CNA on Wednesday.

Cardinal Tobin spoke Tuesday on a panel on “The Church and Catholic Voters in the 2020 Election,” hosted by Boston College’s Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life on Tuesday.

During the panel, the cardinal said of the November presidential elections that “a person in good conscience could vote for Mr. Biden,” the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee. The statement provoked backlash from Catholics who pointed to Biden’s expansive abortion agenda as a reason not to vote for the candidate.

But Tobin said Tuesday that “I, frankly, in my own way of thinking, have a more difficult time with the other option,” in apparent reference to Trump.

The cardinal added that “[t]here are serious reasons to not consider either [political] party as being representative of the Catholic tradition,” but added that “the problem is we have to vote. We should vote.”

In a statement to CNA from the Archdiocese of Newark, Cardinal Tobin echoed the USCCB’s guidance to Catholics in the document “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship,” saying that he “recognizes that Catholics often face difficult decisions about how to vote as well as the need for a properly formed conscience in order to make a selection that respects the tenets of our faith.”

“A Catholic cannot vote for a political candidate because he or she supports an issue considered an intrinsically evil act, such as abortion, euthanasia, deliberately subjecting workers or the poor to subhuman living conditions or assisted suicide,” the statement said.

“At the same time” the statement continued, “a voter should not use a candidate’s opposition to an intrinsic evil to justify indifference or inattentiveness to other important moral issues involving human life and dignity.”

The archdiocese directly cited “Forming Consciences,” which states that “A Catholic who rejects a candidate’s unacceptable position on policies promoting an intrinsically evil act may decide to vote for that candidate for other morally grave reasons. Voting in this way would be permitted only for truly grave moral reasons, not to advance narrow interests or partisan preferences or to ignore a fundamental moral evil.”

CNA asked Cardinal Tobin about the possibility of Catholics voting for a third party candidate, and whether he believed a Catholic could, in good conscience, vote for President Trump.

The cardinal did not directly address those questions, but emphasized that he had not endorsed any candidate for office, and that Catholics have a responsibility to vote. In fact, “Faithful Citizenship” teaches that a Catholic can, in good conscience, choose not to vote in a particular race if the voter judges there to be no acceptable candidates.

Tobin did not offer the “grave moral reasons” that he thought might justify a vote for Biden, whose campaign has said his administration would to codify abortion protections into federal law, permit direct federal funding of abortion through the repeal of the Hyde Amendment, restore federal funding to abortion providers, and attempt to prevent the passage of limitations on abortion by state legislatures.

Biden has also said that he would repeal the religious exemption to the HHS contraceptive mandate, which granted relief to opposing groups such as the Little Sisters of the Poor; a repeal could reignite the Sisters’ years-long legal battle against the mandate.

Joseph Meaney, president of the National Catholic Bioethics Center, told CNA last week that Biden has taken “the most extreme stance he could on the abortion issue,”

During the panel, Tobin said Catholics should vote in favor of the common good, exercise prudence, and avoid reducing an election to “how a candidate stands on a single issue,” at least, he said “within the current panorama of issues.”

“I suppose if somebody was running on a nuclear war platform, advocating a holocaust, worldwide incineration, that might be the single issue that could make the discernment a lot easier,” Tobin said.

Critics of Biden’s agenda note that it would reinstate foreign aid to providers of abortion, and support United Nations efforts to expand protections and public funding of abortion globally. According to the Guttmacher Institute there are 73 million worldwide abortions globally.

For his part, Cardinal Tobin has been critical of the Trump administration’s immigration policies and resumption of federal executions.

In a January 2019 op-ed in the New York Times, he criticized Trump’s policy of building a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border; Tobin said the president “is not acting with concern for the impact of the wall” on the lives of migrant families and has tried to justify its construction by using “lies and smears against the vast majority of immigrants who are law-abiding and moral.”

In 2017, Cardinal Tobin told CNA that Vice President Pence and President Trump addressing the March for Life “was very encouraging,” but that Trump’s immigration policy “needs to be challenged and needs a respectful debate.”

As Archbishop of Indianapolis in 2015, Tobin’s archdiocese resettled a Syrian refugee family in Indiana despite then-governor Mike Pence’s suspension of accepting Syrian refugees in the state.

Then-archbishop Tobin met with Pence over the matter and “prayerfully considered” the governor’s policy before deciding to move ahead with resettling the family; Pence said he respectfully disagreed with the decision.

Cardinal Tobin in July also asked for clemency for one of the federal death row inmates executed by the U.S. this summer, Dustin Honken.

As Trump’s administration resumed the federal government’s use of the penalty in 2020, Cardinal Tobin warned that Honken’s execution “will reduce the government of the United States to the level of a murderer and serve to perpetuate a climate of violence which brutalizes our society in so many ways.”

Tobin said he had known Honken for seven years, dating back to his time as archbishop of Indianapolis; the archdiocese includes Honken’s federal prison of Terre Haute in its territorial jurisdiction.

Other U.S. bishops have also raised objections to Trump’s resumption of the federal death penalty. Biden supported the death penalty until 2019, and his running mate, Kamala Harris, has been criticized for her defense of California’s death penalty during her stint as the state’s attorney general.

Asked what Pope Francis would say to voters, Tobin speculated Tuesday that the pope “would encourage people to make their political decisions in light of their faith, and not try to even use a pope as a prop for their own moral discernment.”


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61 Comments

  1. If the Cardinal doesn’t think 73 million infants being denied their potential is a holocaust- then he must have failed Theology and Philosophy 101 ! How sad! Scandal with a Capital “S” !

    • Card. Tobin’s political subtility masquerades itself as genuine Catholic moral social teaching. He substitutes the Second for the First Commandment i.e. God for the mundane physical care of a neighbor. thereby denying God’s right as the Author of the 5th Commandment in the matter of the life of an unborn child! As a priest, I have seen such a speculated perversion of Catholic spiritual truth end in the very loss of the Priesthood!

      • I am not a theologist, but I so support what you said. I hate when Cardinals and Bishops muddy the waters of simple reasoning on the teachings of our Lord and the Church. It saddens me deeply that we have Cardinals and Bishops that think like him.

    • Seems like cardinal would have said ok to vote for Hitler. After all he killed less people than our Supreme Court and American abortionists.

    • This is absolutely stunning! This so-called catholic, bishop (what a joke!) Defends the life of this man, Dustin Honken who BRUTALLY killed FIVE PEOPLE, TWO OF WHOM WERE CHILDREN !!!!!!! And on the other hand passively supports democrats who have and are, legislating UNRESTRICTED abortion THROUGHOUT pregnancy. AND in cases where a baby is born alive after a failed abortion,they can leave the baby abandoned in a room to die alone of neglect! How can this man call himself catholic?!?!? He’s an absolutely APPALLING human being.

  2. Does Tobin really think that faithful Catholics care what he thinks? Michael Voris and Taylor Marshall have more influence on what faithful Catholics think than does Tobin of Newark NJ.

    • The problem with Taylor Marshall is that he is now perilously close to the schismatic line. He routinely advocates rejection of Vatican II, and basically touts Lefebvrism in all its ugly, schismatic forms. I think people are finally figuring out that both of these guys occasionally go way off the Catholic reservation, and while they both still sometimes go good work, in the end, they are no longer worthy of being followed. As long as they highlight the true corruption in the church, fine. But should they be considered some sort of theologically correct people? No, neither of them seems to have a grasp on things. But conspiracy theories are guaranteed to get you views on youtube.

      • It is Tobin whose actions are under discussion here, not Marshall; the latter was mentioned only in passing. Tobin is trying to pretend he didn’t endorse a ticket fully in favor of the mass murder called abortion. That is a lie and he knows it. Even he is bright enough to know that headlines would only report his blessing given to Catholics who ignore the Church’s clear teaching to vote for a party the favors cold-blooded killers. Tobin is exemplary of everything that is wrong with the American hierarch….and that covers a huge lot of territory these days.

        • Exactly! Cardinal “Nighty-night” frequently has difficulty expressing himself clearly. No one in his right mind takes him seriously.

      • I prefer to listen to Voris and Marshall than to card. Tobin for one simple reason: I don’t hear any Truth from Tobin. As a cardinal, Tobin is supposed to be telling the Truth but he isn’t. It’s sad.

    • You took the exact words I was going to
      Write! Stay with the true church even if we have to make a whole new one minus these false prophets!

  3. It is about time that men like Bishop Tobin be told by higher Church leadership to just plain shut up! Any good Catholic could NOT in good conscience vote for Biden and that is that! If you don’t like the other party’s candidate then don’t vote! It is sad, the things Bishop Tobin says in this article, trying to sway voters! He will be held accountable, in the end!

  4. Hear we see the reason why so many Catholic’s abandon their Church in droves.The really sad and unsettling part? Cardinal Tobin is not alone in his warped thinking.The devil finds many wearing the “Mitre” to be very easy “Marks” these days.

  5. No political party in the history of the United States has ever–to the best of my knowledge–“been representative of the Catholic tradition.” It is clesr, though, that the Cardinal considers a denial of unfettered access to the country for virtually anyone to be a far more important issue than the unfettered “right” to slaughter one’s unborn offspring. It is good to understand the priorities of those purporting to represent the Catholic tradition.

  6. If the Democratic party endorsed segregation in the same way it embraces feticide, the US bishops would commence excommunications en masse.
    They simply don’t consider the destruction of infants in the womb to be a non negotiable evil. This is why we are where we are.

    • Hmm, I think rather if the GOP endorsed segregation the excommunications would begin. Segregation occurred in the South, more so than the North, and the South was controlled by the Democrats. The KKK members are largely Democrats–Senator Byrd was an Exalted Cyclops, although he supposedly renounced the group.
      .
      Biden was opposed to integration at one point.

      • Kathryn,
        To be fair to the US bishops, I do want to believe that on segregation they’d excommunicate political leaders regardless of party affiliation.
        But the USCCB has surprised me before. Who knows?

    • It’s been a goodly while since I’ve seen that word, and with the very appropriate adjective ‘true’ accompanying it, I say – welcome back!!

  7. Nothing less than disingenuous and unbearable. Will the double talk never cease? Or do us groundlings just not get it.
    The episcopate digs itself a bottomless pit.

  8. Just wow. He is against Trump for the wall blocking illegal immigration, and for executing convicted criminal humans…but fine with Biden’s complete plan for executing Innocent, Unborn humans?
    Laughable and sad at the same time.
    Abortion is evil. It should be the first card on the table when making this political decision.
    This priest needs to go. The Left and the devil (is there a difference?) have already corrupted this weak, pathetic man.

  9. Father Altman: “You cannot be a catholic and a democrat. Period.” Unfortunately, three of the four bishops in my state are registered democrats, including my own bishop. They are members of the party of death. What a scandal. It leaves me totally unimpressed by my bishop’s October pro-life mass.

    • Father Altman is some sort of kooky conspiracy guy. He believes that Covid is a conspiracy to take over the world. So despite his flailing away at Democrats (well deserved) he is more of a passionate guy who has lost control of himself. He has become a partisan, rather than a calm master of the Gospel. So while it may be fun to listen to a priest rant somewhat righteously, especially when the bishops should be taking Democrats to task, individual priests putting slick highly produced videos on youtube is just a publicity stunt. Notice how nervous, how he went off on tangents on Taylor Marshall.
      For all those who glory in “passionate” priests – well that is what I heard the left say all my life. They loved people who were “passionate”. Because they were filled with emotion and no reason at all.
      Galatians 5:22-23
      22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

      Read full chapter

      • samton909,
        I can lose patience with conspiracy theorists too, but Fr. Altman may have some valid reasons to believe the Covid epidemic did not originate from a naturally occurring virus. There’s a been a theory it escaped from or was introduced into the population by a lab & the Chinese communists are not the sort of govt. to let an opportunity pass them by.
        Whether or not that’s the case I don’t see how it might affect Fr. Altman’s statements re. the Democratic platform & feticide. I think he’s 100% correct on that even if he’s wrong on Covid.

          • Could be, Terrence. I’m no scientist nor a conspiracy theorist but I have heard credentialed scientists discussing several theories of the origin of Covid & escape from a lab was one possibility they considered worthy of consideration. But it’s not the only theory out there & nothing has been proven yet.
            I’ve never read the Epoch Times, only been interrupted multiple times on YouTube by their ads but perhaps I should take a look. Thank you for the suggestion.

      • I find it strange that people use the word “conspiracy” as if it automatically discredits any idea that follows it. Why is that? Do people think there’s no such thing as a conspiracy?
        .
        What is a conspiracy after all, but people who work together towards a common goal? If the goal is bad, it’s called a conspiracy; if the goal is good, it’s called a strategy.
        .
        We know there is such a thing as organized crime. What is THAT but a conspiracy? There have tragically, been MANY instances of wicked revolutions in the history of the world. They didn’t just appear from thin air. They had to have been planned–in secret–they were the result of conspiracies.
        .
        Listen closely to what Fr. Altman says. Of course this particular corona virus (there are many) is a real disease–every disease is a real disease! What he points out is that there is a tremendous amount of coordinated lying and manipulation associated with this one. Those who hate God and hate our nation are exploiting this virus to deliberately cause chaos. As the leftists say: “Never let a good crisis go to waste!”

  10. Also a failure of rudimentary imagination to grasp what the zeros mean on the left side of any decimal point, not unlike politicians of all stripes yawning at federal budget deficits year after year. 73 MILLION children, or a TRILLION dollar deficit, etc.

    It seems, too, that even the granular language of discernment is obsolete and fails the current moment–it’s no longer about one “single issue” voting decision against others. The abortion question is no longer a “single issue”, it’s the poster child for imposing unambiguous state Socialism on a flapping-in-the-breeze post-Christian world.

    If there’s still a single issue, might it be about the judicial branch, and appointments for the long term?

  11. Lord likely allowing these differing opinions to help many to look more deeply into the not so familiar aspect of the Divine Will devotion , which is like a Twin to The Divine Mercy teachings , to see the deeper meaning in same too .
    This from someone , who liked the latter , for its promises , yet always felt some missing dots … 🙂
    The fear , lack of trust that The Will meant more suffering , thus in the prayer that at the end of the Chaplet – ‘in difficult moments .. may not despair… but submit to Your Holy Will ‘ – with lip service , yet saying in the depth –
    ‘Lord if I am already in despair , how I am going to take up more of Your Cross and submit to Your Holy Will ‘ ! – 🙂

    thus , now seeing how so , so little can be the grasp of same in many ..

    and how The Lord chooses one , Little Louisa , named after Magdalene , for our rebellious times that has such confusion as to what love truly is ..even if desiring to love God ,not knowing how ..and God opening up an ocean of goodness and light ..
    and answering prayers of Elijah and others ..

    good talk , by a Franciscan priest here , introducing the good of this gift to
    The Church , thus the world at large in our times , to help in all matters small and great , to also help bring more light to take in the true meaning of The Word and the Oneness in The Divine Will –

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rILp1eWTTLk

    Interesting how the Vice Pres. candidate comes from a background that advocated noncooperation with ‘evil’ – unsure if what truly moved in the depth of the heart though was to bring in pagan power dominion into the land ..

    Thus , in the same foot steps , would it not be better for those who do not want to cooperate with candidates who advocate the blindness of self will and not the good of The Divine Will for the nation as a whole , to refrain from voting altogether !

    On this Feast Day of St.Albert , may the challenge of Elijah , as to whose Will does the nation desire to follow …

    May same echo in all our hearts , to trust that the power and promises in the
    Divine Will far outweigh our imaginations for all concerned , to help hasten the Kingdom , its peace , holiness and blessings , for the creation on up , to encompass efforts for climate change , poverty, migrations ..
    all in rather ‘baby steps’ too 🙂

  12. My God can you believe the Cardinas comments ,it’s hard to keep the faith intact when it’s atacked internally.He is a faithfull Democrat

  13. To the Pro-life community/archdiocese that Cardinal Tobin shepherds:
    Please invite him to a screening in which an abortion is performed. Perhaps when he sees that a real child, made in the image and likeness of God, is destroyed before it enters the ‘visible’ world, he will see every single abortion for the holocaust that it is. Pray hard. Picket and fast outside his home and his chancery. Bring him in love and prayer and sacrifice to the Truth.

    • I totally agree. Excellent comments! Today prayer is THE best solution, pray without ceasing. And Trust in the Lord and Him alone.

  14. A question for the reader. The USCCB previous to 2013 published the following regarding the liceity of voting for abortion: “It must in any case be clearly understood that whatever may be laid down by civil law in this matter, man can never obey a law which is in itself immoral, and such is the case of a law which would admit in principle the liceity of abortion. Nor can he take part in a propaganda campaign in favor of such a law, or vote for it. Moreover, he may not collaborate in its application” (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Declaration on Procured Abortion, November 18, 1974, nos. 19-22). “John Paul II, continuing the constant teaching of the Church, has reiterated many times that those who are directly involved in lawmaking bodies have a «grave and clear obligation to oppose» any law that attacks human life. For them, as for every Catholic, it is impossible to promote such laws or to vote for them” (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Doctrinal Note on Some Questions Regarding the Participation of Catholics in Political Life 2002, no. 4). U.S. Bishops’ Documents: “No Catholic can responsibly take a ‘pro-choice’ stand when the ‘choice’ in question involves the taking of innocent human life”. How can it possibly be construed that today this testament of the faith can be so radically abandoned by the same USCCB? 2013.

    • Thank you, Father Morello.

      There’s a big difference when one refers directly to Church teaching and when one concerns oneself only with political talking points. In the latter instance, even bishops make dumb and patently immoral statements. (I just hope that McCarrick is not hiding out in Tobin’s cellar and sending up talking points to his successor via the dumbwaiter…but one never knows in this Church of ours these says).

    • You are correct Fr Morello but we have Francis the confused at the helm now and beneath him every dissenter and liberal modernist has come out of their lairs. Tobin is a case in point. They now proudly trumpet their dissent from the deposit of faith and they do it with 100% impunity because they know full well that there will be no consequences with Francis holding the reigns.

  15. I think that the church is floundering these days in part because too many church leaders and individual pastors are afraid to speak up about what the church is supposed to stand for. People are looking for instruction and leadership. The upper church leaders are afraid to speak up for fear of people leaving with their wallets, never to return. Maybe so, but that is the risk they should be taking. A smaller but yet more faithful congregation might be the result. People don’t seem to even know the basic Catholic culture: prayers,genuflecting in front of the tabernacle, observing going to confession when needed( has any priest in the last 20 years told them why they should??)young couples living together, Etc,etc. . But as far as the moral stand of the church on things like abortion, there is no compromise possible. Cardinals and Bishops who settle for ” lets be nice” or “God would never be so mean as to hurt people’s feelings” by playing a political game and refusing to provide an example, are doing their flock a huge disservice and effectively abandoning their role as moral leaders. If the Cardinal cannot bring himself to condemn all the things which are championed by the Democrats like abortion, infanticide, gay rights and gay marriage, transgender surgical transitions of children , forcing employers to provide birth control and abortion services, and the outrage of months of riots, shootings, assaults, looting and burning which the DEM party has supported by “taking a knee” in Congress and silence at their convention, those churchmen are failing in their role.

  16. Trump promised more conservative justices – that is the first major step towards overturning Roe/Wade.

    OBAMA said we cannot overrun the country with illegal aliens. For those of you that don’t remember, Biden was his VP.

    OBAMA is a socialist and many of us now cannot afford health insurance. Trump took away the penalty for not having insurance, which hurt people caught in the middle when they did their federal income taxes. Biden was Obama’s VP.

    OBAMA promised the Bishops that the would not have to worry about the birth control mandate in Obamacare. As soon as he turned his back, he turned his back on the Bishops. Trump had nuns on the White House lawn when he reversed that absurdity. Don’t forget, Biden was Obama’s VP.

    Trump said he would take on China, a country that will not let you believe in and worship God and has no problem with millions of abortions. Now they realize their population is in peril from too few young. Duh Biden says China is great

    Trump is not personally perfect, especially his history with the women. Neither was JFK. Look at how much fornication is openly allowed in the Church, with easy-out marriages and leaders in illicit relationships.

    It will be either Trump or Biden elected; if you vote your ‘conscience’ for a spoiler it’s a wasted vote.

  17. Yet another Bishop serving his self interest by adhering to Marxist heresies. Smoke and mirrors, do not concern yourself with abortion…Look! Global Warming! Wall bad! Trump bad! The sooner the Bishops realize that they are the problem; the sooner the wayward Catholics will return to the fold. It’s a shame we cannot vote/impeach the clergy out of office.

  18. Here is a bit of what my bishop wrote. The lede is “Keep in mind abortion remains ‘preeminent’ issue in upcoming election” and the sidebar reads “To say that an issue is preeminent does not mean that it is the only issue, but that it surpasses all others in importance.” That is clarity. That is Bishop Paprocki.

  19. The fact that His Eminence recognizes “recognized that the Democratic party platform seeks to “remove the unborn child from the equation,” should, if he actually supports what The Church proposes to teach about the sanctity of life should lead him to no other conclusion other than no Catholic can support any Democrat, especially Biden for any office in good conscious lest they be a party to the continuation of abortion. It doesn’t require supporting a specific candidate to support the principles of one’s religion. Someone in his position is not only responsible for his own direction, but for the direction he gives those in his flock. I pray the Lord helps guide him back to the teachings of The Church.

  20. Cardinal Tobin said “A Catholic could vote in good conscience for Donald Trump”. I know that Biden is no saint. He has flipped on the Hyde Amendment and gave the impression that he was for abortion on demand. I know that he now supports the HA and is against convenient destruction of a fetus. Compare that to an amoral Trump.

    Trump is not pro-choice. He was a pro-choice for most of his adult life. His sinister coddling of the church hierarchy is only to gain our vote. Trump is selfishly pro-Trump. Trump decided in January 2020 to delay action on the COVID pandemic resulting in the deaths of 200,000 innocent souls. He accepts no responsibility. He cavorted with whores while his third wife was pregnant. He has invented the word “liar”. Trump committed outright treason when he favored our arch enemy, Russia, at Helsinki rejecting his intelligence expert’s caution. Keep in mind the constitution says, (paraphrased), anyone offering aid and comfort to an enemy while at war commits treason”. We are at a ciber war with Putin.

    Our allies are not able to understand why Trump removed the US from the Paris accords and the Iranian nuclear agreement and threatens to remove the US from NATO. Trump has been shunned by many world leaders for his lack of leadership and direction.

    Trump could not gracefully grow into the job. He is, as a result, a danger to out nation.

    • morgan,
      I think you meant to say that Mr. Trump is not pro-life? You wrote he’s not pro choice.
      I expect you’re correct that he may originally have not held the same views we do but that’s not unusual for folks in the entertainment industry.
      And it’s not what you say that counts in the end, it’s what you do. If Pres. Trump hadn’t done so very much to further prolife causes I don’t think there’d be this sort of animosity from the opposing side. No one spewed that kind of venom until Mr. Trump won & actually began to deliver on his promises.

    • “Our allies are not able to understand why Trump removed the US from the Paris accords and the Iranian nuclear agreement and threatens to remove the US from NATO. Trump has been shunned by many world leaders for his lack of leadership and direction.”

      Not the leaders of, for example, Israel, Bahrain, the United Arab Emiraes, Hungary, Poland, and a whole slew of others. Only the abortion-worshiping, open-borders, biological-sex-denying, moral relativist, left-wing nitwits.

  21. The man is in the wrong business. He should have been a politician. He uses a lot of words to say absolutely nothing. If you keep people confused you keep them from taking action. Pray for our poor church.

  22. Cardinal Tobin claims he did not intend a political endorsement of Mr. Biden. Surely he is intelligent enough to know that is exactly what his words did.
    Among other things, Mr. Biden wants to go after the Little Sisters of the Poor, who have been dragged through the courts by the Democrats, to force them to give contraceptives to employees. Yet it is OK to vote for Mr. Biden? Where is the support for the sisters from the hierarchy? The bishops and cardinals should be standing with the sisters as they resist government control. They serve the poor and elderly. The bishops and cardinals (with the pope’s approval) stand with black lives matter and with illegal immigrants. Why can they not stand with our own sisters who do God’s work?

  23. In respond to your article in the Star ledger concerning our up coming election was extremely out of character . No mention at all should have been given keeping Church out of politics . especially when the Left downs the Catholic religion . This only one topic in the decline of the Catholic religion . You stated this was not a endorsement but is said hard to erase.

  24. “Formal and material cooperation with the grave sins of others is indeed a serious sin but does not apply to our political life and voting”.
    Is this a perfect statement of the teaching of the Catholic Church as my North Royalton Ohio St. Albert the Great pastor proclaims? He seems more like a Pharisee or a Sadducee.

  25. I think cardinal Tobin received enough backlash to his Biden endorsement that he is now backpedaling a little. Your criticism works, people! Voice your opinion to wayward clergy, because nobody else will. Save your souls and theirs!

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