Bishop Robert Gruss of Saginaw, Michigan, issued an apology on Friday for having referred to President Joe Biden as “stupid” during a talk earlier in the month.
Gruss had made the comment in a talk on April 5 titled “Forgiveness as the Heart of Christianity.” During the address the prelate remarked that he “[doesn’t] have any anger toward the president. I feel sorry for him.”
“I’m not angry at him, he’s just stupid,” the bishop said, arguing that he didn’t use the word in “a derogatory way.”
“It’s stupidity in the sense of he doesn’t know until he does things,” the bishop said.
On Friday the diocese provided CNA with a statement from Gruss in which he argued that his remarks “were taken out context.”
“I was speaking in the context of forgiving the president and any people in government who offend us by their words and actions — that we cannot harbor resentment toward them because in doing so, it would be sinful,” Gruss said.
“We must forgive them if we are to be free,” he said.
“I used the word ‘stupid’ in reference to President Biden, recognizing that it was poor judgment in my choice of words,” Gruss said. “It was not meant to be disparaging, and I apologize.”
“I will continue to pray for the president and all political leaders, that they may seek and be guided by the Spirit of Truth,” he said. “I encourage people of all faiths and goodwill to pray for our great nation.”
The bishop noted that “you can find the whole talk online to understand what was really said.”
The Saginaw Diocese, one of seven in Michigan, is located in the central part of the state.
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St. Hedwig’s Cathedral in Berlin, Germany. / Cedric BLN via Wikimedia (Public domain).
CNA Newsroom, Jun 19, 2023 / 16:40 pm (CNA).
Ahead of a crucial meeting on the German Synodal Way, one diocese has signaled its opposition to plans for turning the controversial event into a permanent Synodal Council — a new controlling body of the Church in Germany.
The official for the Synodal Way in the Diocese of Regensburg, cathedral chapter Josef Kreiml, warned that the preparatory work for a German Synodal Council contradicts a clear instruction from the Vatican, reported CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner.
The prelate also said that the concept of synodality underlying the Synodal Way isn’t in line with either canon law or the ideas of Pope Francis.
The bishops of Germany’s 27 dioceses are expected to make landmark decisions at their meeting in Berlin on June 19-20 regarding the establishment and funding of the so-called Synodal Committee, which is to then establish a permanent German Synodal Council by 2026.
Some bishops had reportedly considered blocking the move by not providing funds for the body, which could prevent a permanent superstructure overseeing the Church in Germany modeled on the German Synodal Way.
The German Synodal Way was a multi-year process initiated by Cardinal Reinhard Marx and co-organized by the German Bishops’ Conference and the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK), a lay body financed by the German bishops. Its official purpose was to discuss four main issues: the way power is exercised in the church, sexual morality, the priesthood, and the role of women.
The process was criticized by many cardinals and bishops from around the world, as well as by Pope Francis, who warned of disunity and schism in his 2019 letter to German Catholics.
The Vatican has issued a statement saying that the Synodal Way does not have the authority to oblige bishops and the faithful to accept new forms of governance and new orientations in doctrine and morals.
Citing these statements, Kreiml said that the Synodal Way had greatly interfered with the forms of ecclesial governance and had disregarded the general law of the Church, its sacramental constitution, and the proper duties of the bishops.
He urged the German bishops to respect the unity of the Church and to follow papal guidance on synodality.
Pope Francis and other Church leaders have expressed serious concerns about plans to create a permanent synodal council for the German Church.
Such a body would function “as a consultative and decision-making body on essential developments in the Church and society,” according to a Synodal Way proposal.
More importantly, it would “make fundamental decisions of supra-diocesan significance on pastoral planning, questions of the future, and budgetary matters of the Church that are not decided at the diocesan level.”
Warning of a threat of a new schism from Germany, the Vatican already intervened in July 2022 against a German synodal council.
In January 2023, the Vatican asserted “that neither the Synodal Way, nor any body established by it, nor any bishops’ conference has the competence to establish the ‘synodal council’ at the national, diocesan, or parish level.”
A Soviet-style council in Berlin?
In June 2022, Cardinal Walter Kasper, a theologian considered close to Pope Francis, said there could be no Synodal Council, given Church history and theology.
“Synods cannot be institutionally made permanent. The tradition of the Church does not know a synodal Church government,” he said. “A synodal supreme council, as is now envisaged, has no basis in the entire history of the constitution. It would not be a renewal but an unheard-of innovation.”
Cardinal Walter Kasper. . CNA/Bohumil Petrik.
The president emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, who was bishop of the Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart from 1989 to 1999, said the German process had invited comparisons to communist structures in the Soviet Union. “It was a political scientist, not a theologian, who recently expressed this notion somewhat strongly, referring to such a Synodal Council as a Supreme Soviet,” Kasper said.
The cardinal continued: “‘Soviet’ is an old Russian word that means exactly what we call a ‘Rat,’ a council in German. Such a Supreme Soviet in the Church would obviously not be a good idea. Such a council system is not a Christian idea, but an idea coming from quite a different spirit or un-spirit.”
The German theologian and prelate also warned this “would choke off the freedom of the Spirit, which blows where and when it wants, and destroy the structure that Christ wanted for his Church.”
Further concerns were raised by a professor of theology from the University of Vienna in June.
The dogmatist Jan-Heiner Tück warned that a German Synodal Council would transfer leadership authority “from sacramentally ordained persons to bodies, a conversion of power that shows a clear closeness to synodal practices in the Protestant Church in Germany.”
Orlando, Fla., Jul 20, 2019 / 06:01 am (CNA).- An Orlando-area McDonald’s is being sued for denying employment to a man on account of his beard.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which filed the lawsuit on the man’s behalf, said in their lawsuit that the McDonald’s manager told the man that “he could not hire him because doing so would violate McDonald’s policies and the law,” News 6 in Orlando reported.
According to the lawsuit, the man told the restaurant that he was a Hasidic Jew and that his religious beliefs prevented him from shaving his beard, but that he offered to wear a beard net instead. He was applying for the position of a maintenance worker at the restaurant in September 2016.
His employment was still denied. The EEOC filed a lawsuit with the Orlando McDonald’s July 17, three years after the incident. The man is asking for three years worth of back pay for the job in damages, News 6 reported.
Hasidic Judaism is an orthodox movement within Judaism in which men do not shave their beards, per instructions in the Torah. In the lawsuit, the EEOC argues that McDonald’s violated the man’s rights by declining his employment due to his religious beliefs.
In an interview with News 6, Rabbi David Kay with Congregation Ohev Shalom in Maitland, another Orlando suburb, explained that the beard was an “expression of faith” for Hasidic Jewish men, and that he considered the lawsuit to be a teaching moment on Jewish traditions.
“Anytime we have the opportunity to expand our awareness and understanding of how faith traditions express themselves, I think that’s a plus,” Kay told News 6.
McDonald’s had not responded to News 6 requests for comment by press time. It is unclear why this lawsuit is being filed now instead of immediately after the incident occurred.
Pro-life activists protest the incarceration of nine activists charged with FACE Act violations. / Credit: Photo by Tyler Arnold
CNA Staff, May 31, 2024 / 18:40 pm (CNA).
Paulette Harlow, an elderly woman with a debilitating medical condition w… […]
11 Comments
As William F. Buckley once apologized to Gore Vidal, in a National Review article, Gore’s homosexual activity was quite okay, but it was not okay for Buckley to simply use the word; “bottoms up,” he ended.
“[….] Compared to the general population, adults who have undergone sex-reassignment surgery continue to have a higher risk of experiencing poor mental health outcomes. One study found that, compared to controls, sex-reassigned individuals were about 5 times more likely to attempt suicide and about 19 times more likely to die by suicide [….]”
I was not familiar with the particulars of Mr. Buckley’s apology to Mr. Vidal, so your quoting it – particularly the phrase ‘bottoms up’ gave me a much-needed laugh, for which I thank you.
Were Bishop Gruss my Bishop I would be proud of him and I would tell him so. He had to know in advance that what he said would get him in trouble.
1) He said it
2) He got in trouble
3) He made the proper apology
I have said a lot worse about Biden and I don’t apologize for it. Whether his senility has rendered him stupid is an interesting question. He certainly was smart (and unscrupulous) enough to eventually occupy the most powerful political position in the world, even though he is not calling the shots.
Bishops Gruss should have ignored whatever backlash he may gotten from his offhand remark. It was a nonstory that didn’t deserve a reply. Of course, he did just the opposite, offering an apology and even saying that he doesn’t harbor any anger towards this Catholic president who has relentlessly and consistently implemented extreme anti-Christian policies. Apparently, His Excellency does not think there is such a thing as righteous anger. It was a pathetic performance, so typical of what we get from the hierarchy of the Church. We would be much better off if they didn’t say anything.
I think the word, “unwise” would have been more accurate and more acceptable to Pres. Biden and his supporters. Also, the adjective should have been connected with Pres. Biden’s words, not with him personally.
Perhaps you are not aware that at this time in history, children are not permitted to use the word “stupid” in most school, sports, or childcare settings. It antagonizes others and can lead to a counterattack, which for children, often means hitting, slapping, etc. Among older children, insults like this can lead to even worse and more violent retaliation.
If children can’t use the word, adults should set the example and not use the word. There are many words in the English language that can communicate a message without insulting the person.
It’s intuitively obvious to the most casual observer that Bishop Gruss’s choice of this adjective in describing Joseph Robinette Biden Jr is entirely accurate regardless of the offense that the thin skinned cabal may take to it.
stupid stu·pid adjective
a: slow of mind : obtuse
b: given to unintelligent decisions or acts : acting in an unintelligent or careless manner
c: lacking intelligence or reason
Well Mrs. Sharon, you are correct that we shouldn’t insult others. Especially as Christians.
But I think stupid is a perfectly good word and I hate to see the thought police clamp down on the English language.
Really dreadful obscenities are a routine part of our entertainment industry these days but we get more upset over old fashioned words like stupid. And I’m not picking on you Mrs. Sharon. I just mean our current culture.
Well Sharon, mark me down for “couldn’t care less” what the kiddies are allowed to do. I am not interested in having my use of language confined to what is appropriate for slap-happy toddlers, just because some woke administrator says so. I am not interested in the leftist playbook of suppressing acceptable speech, or distorting it with made up words, but I am sadly aware of efforts in that direction by our “educational” institutions. “Stupid” is a perfectly good English word, which means showing a lack of intelligence or common sense. There are a great many stupid politicians to whom the word applies.Joe Biden is one of them. His mental acuity has deteriorated to an obvious and considerable degree, and his fantasy stories of uncles eaten by cannibals ( along with MANY other proven lies and exaggerations) does not help his intellectual profile.
As for kids hitting each other, I am aware that some schools are so extreme as to prohibit children striking a blow to DEFEND themselves. Here is what I always told my sons: Never let me discover you were the first to hit someone. But if they hit you first, hit them back hard enough to make certain they will not attempt to hit you again. Pacifist is another word for willing victim.
As William F. Buckley once apologized to Gore Vidal, in a National Review article, Gore’s homosexual activity was quite okay, but it was not okay for Buckley to simply use the word; “bottoms up,” he ended.
Biden might not be certifiably stupid, but he is an evil puppet by now redefining Title IX to include gender identity. Also, at least sorta stupid, given the science–and evidence of underlying problems–which cannot be suppressed forever.
https://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/executive-summary-sexuality-and-gender
“[….] Compared to the general population, adults who have undergone sex-reassignment surgery continue to have a higher risk of experiencing poor mental health outcomes. One study found that, compared to controls, sex-reassigned individuals were about 5 times more likely to attempt suicide and about 19 times more likely to die by suicide [….]”
Mr. Beaulieu;
I was not familiar with the particulars of Mr. Buckley’s apology to Mr. Vidal, so your quoting it – particularly the phrase ‘bottoms up’ gave me a much-needed laugh, for which I thank you.
Were Bishop Gruss my Bishop I would be proud of him and I would tell him so. He had to know in advance that what he said would get him in trouble.
1) He said it
2) He got in trouble
3) He made the proper apology
ergo
4) Mission accomplished
Never apologize for speaking the truth, your Excellency.
Maybe he should have referred to Biden as a moral imbecile. Still harsh, but true nonetheless.
I have said a lot worse about Biden and I don’t apologize for it. Whether his senility has rendered him stupid is an interesting question. He certainly was smart (and unscrupulous) enough to eventually occupy the most powerful political position in the world, even though he is not calling the shots.
Bishops Gruss should have ignored whatever backlash he may gotten from his offhand remark. It was a nonstory that didn’t deserve a reply. Of course, he did just the opposite, offering an apology and even saying that he doesn’t harbor any anger towards this Catholic president who has relentlessly and consistently implemented extreme anti-Christian policies. Apparently, His Excellency does not think there is such a thing as righteous anger. It was a pathetic performance, so typical of what we get from the hierarchy of the Church. We would be much better off if they didn’t say anything.
I think the word, “unwise” would have been more accurate and more acceptable to Pres. Biden and his supporters. Also, the adjective should have been connected with Pres. Biden’s words, not with him personally.
Perhaps you are not aware that at this time in history, children are not permitted to use the word “stupid” in most school, sports, or childcare settings. It antagonizes others and can lead to a counterattack, which for children, often means hitting, slapping, etc. Among older children, insults like this can lead to even worse and more violent retaliation.
If children can’t use the word, adults should set the example and not use the word. There are many words in the English language that can communicate a message without insulting the person.
It’s intuitively obvious to the most casual observer that Bishop Gruss’s choice of this adjective in describing Joseph Robinette Biden Jr is entirely accurate regardless of the offense that the thin skinned cabal may take to it.
stupid stu·pid adjective
a: slow of mind : obtuse
b: given to unintelligent decisions or acts : acting in an unintelligent or careless manner
c: lacking intelligence or reason
thank you
Well Mrs. Sharon, you are correct that we shouldn’t insult others. Especially as Christians.
But I think stupid is a perfectly good word and I hate to see the thought police clamp down on the English language.
Really dreadful obscenities are a routine part of our entertainment industry these days but we get more upset over old fashioned words like stupid. And I’m not picking on you Mrs. Sharon. I just mean our current culture.
Well Sharon, mark me down for “couldn’t care less” what the kiddies are allowed to do. I am not interested in having my use of language confined to what is appropriate for slap-happy toddlers, just because some woke administrator says so. I am not interested in the leftist playbook of suppressing acceptable speech, or distorting it with made up words, but I am sadly aware of efforts in that direction by our “educational” institutions. “Stupid” is a perfectly good English word, which means showing a lack of intelligence or common sense. There are a great many stupid politicians to whom the word applies.Joe Biden is one of them. His mental acuity has deteriorated to an obvious and considerable degree, and his fantasy stories of uncles eaten by cannibals ( along with MANY other proven lies and exaggerations) does not help his intellectual profile.
As for kids hitting each other, I am aware that some schools are so extreme as to prohibit children striking a blow to DEFEND themselves. Here is what I always told my sons: Never let me discover you were the first to hit someone. But if they hit you first, hit them back hard enough to make certain they will not attempt to hit you again. Pacifist is another word for willing victim.
I needed a good laugh this morning. Thank you!