CNA Staff, Aug 6, 2020 / 11:30 pm (CNA).- Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday spoke about his Catholic faith, in response to comments from President Donald Trump that a Biden presidency would “hurt God.”
“Like so many people, my faith has been the bedrock foundation of my life: it’s provided me comfort in moments of loss and tragedy, it’s kept me grounded and humbled in times of triumph and joy. And in this moment of darkness for our country — of pain, of division, and of sickness for so many Americans — my faith has been a guiding light for me and a constant reminder of the fundamental dignity and humanity that God has bestowed upon all of us,” Biden said in an Aug. 6 statement.
“For President Trump to attack my faith is shameful. It’s beneath the office he holds and it’s beneath the dignity the American people so rightly expect and deserve from their leaders,” he added.
Speaking in Ohio today, Trump said that Biden wanted to “take away your guns, destroy your Second Amendment, no religion, no anything. Hurt the Bible, hurt God. He’s against God, he’s against guns.”
Biden has spoken about his Catholic faith on the campaign trail, and is known to attend Mass when he is at home in Delaware and when he travels. But the former vice president’s positions on some issues, most notably abortion and sexual orientation/gender identity policy, have put him at odds with Catholic teaching.
Brian Burch, president of political advocacy organization CatholicVote, told CNA that Biden’s faith itself should not be called into question, but his position on issues of importance to religious believers should be a matter of consideration.
“Joe Biden says his Catholic faith is important to him, and it’s not our place to question that,” Burch told CNA. “It’s obvious Biden attends Mass, and it’s obvious his Catholic faith has been a comfort to him at critical moments in his life.”
“But the question in this election is about what his plans are for this country, and that’s what believers should focus on,” Burch said.
“What matters here isn’t his devotional life, but his policies. And his policy agenda threatens the freedom of the Church in America,” he added, not only on life, but also on religious liberty.
Burch said that in his view, Biden’s positions could impact the Church’s social and charitable ministries.
“I worry that the Catholic Church in America is not taking seriously enough how a Biden presidency might threaten the freedom of the Church in America. Catholic hospitals, schools and charities will surely be forced to choose whether to operate in communion with what we believe as Catholics, compromise the Faith, or shut down altogether. Hundreds of millions of dollars in federal and state grants that serve the poor and vulnerable could be at stake,” Burch said.
In October 2019, Biden was denied Holy Communion at a South Carolina church because of his support for legalized abortion.
“Sadly, this past Sunday, I had to refuse Holy Communion to former Vice President Joe Biden,” Fr. Robert Morey, pastor of St. Anthony Catholic Church in the Diocese of Charleston, South Carolina, told CNA Oct 28.
“Holy Communion signifies we are one with God, each other and the Church. Our actions should reflect that. Any public figure who advocates for abortion places himself or herself outside of Church teaching,” the priest added. Canon 915 of the Code of Canon Law states that
“Those who have been excommunicated or interdicted after the imposition or declaration of the penalty and others obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to holy communion.”
Then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger wrote a memorandum to the U.S. Catholic bishops in 2004, explaining the application of Canon Law 915 to the reception of Holy Communion.
The memorandum stated that “the minister of Holy Communion may find himself in the situation where he must refuse to distribute Holy Communion to someone, such as in cases of a declared excommunication, a declared interdict, or an obstinate persistence in manifest grave sin.”
The case of a “Catholic politician” who is “consistently campaigning and voting for permissive abortion and euthanasia laws” would constitute “formal cooperation” in grave sin that is “manifest,” the letter continued.
In such cases, “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,” Ratzinger wrote.
At the time Biden was denied Communion, his website stated that one of his priorities as president would be to “work to codify Roe v. Wade” into federal law, and that “his Justice Department will do everything in its power to stop the rash of state laws that so blatantly violate the constitutional right to an abortion,” including laws requiring waiting periods, ultrasounds, and parental notification of a minor’s abortion.
“Vice President Biden supports repealing the Hyde Amendment because healthcare is a right that should not be dependent on one’s zip code or income,” said his website.
Biden’s website also pledges him to “restore federal funding for Planned Parenthood,” and promises to “rescind the Mexico City Policy (also referred to as the global gag rule) that President Trump reinstated and expanded.”
During his career as a senator, Biden voted numerous times in favor of the Hyde Amendment and Mexico City Policy, and opposed public funding for abortions.
But as he campaigned for the Democratic nomination last year, Biden shifted his views on abortion funding.
Over the course of one week in June 2019, Biden went from publicly supporting the Hyde Amendment–which prohibits the use of Medicaid funds for most abortions–to pledging to repeal it if he were to be elected president.
Previously, Biden supported some aspects of pro-life legislation. In addition to his Senate vote in favor of the Hyde amendment, he also supported the Mexico City Policy in 1984, voted again in favor of Hyde in 1993, and voted to ban partial-birth abortion in 1995 and again in 1997.
On Thursday, Biden said that his Catholic “faith teaches me to love my neighbor as I would myself, while President Trump only seeks to divide us. My faith teaches me to care for the least among us, while President Trump seems to only be concerned about his gilded friends. My faith teaches me to welcome the stranger, while President Trump tears families apart. My faith teaches me to walk humbly, while President Trump teargassed peaceful protestors so he could walk over to a church for a photo op.”
The candidate’s statement did not address his position on abortion.
In July, a grop of 115 Christian leaders, including Bishop John Stowe of Lexington, Kentucky and other Catholic clergy, religious, and laity, signed a letter to the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Platform Committee, asking the party to support pro-life policies including “legal protection for pre-born children.”
“We call upon you to recognize the inviolable human dignity of the child, before and after birth,” the letter stated, asking for a rejection of “a litmus test on pro-life people of faith seeking office in the Democratic Party.”
Biden, who as the 2020 presidential candidate is de facto leader of the Democratic party, did not comment on their letter, and has not responded to other entreaties from pro-life Democrats.
Earlier on Thursday, CatholicVote and former Congressman Tim Huelskamp called on Biden to denounce a recent spate of vandalism and arson at Catholic Churches across the U.S, which they called “a rising climate of anti-Catholicism” in the country. Biden has not spoken out about the matter, and his campaign has not responded to a request for comment on that issue from CNA.
For his part, Trump has faced criticism from U.S. bishops for his positions on the death penalty, immigration and refugee policy, social welfare programs, housing policy, and other issues. At the same time, the president has been praised by bishops and other Catholic leaders for policies that restricted abortion funding, and addressed religious liberty and conscience protections.
Trump has also been criticized by some Christian leaders for incidents they said instrumentalized religious faith, especially a controversial June appearance outside of a Washington, DC church, at which the president displayed a Bible while posing for photographs at the height of protests immediately following the death of George Floyd.
The Trump campaign has made a push in recent weeks for religious voters, after polling showed the president’s favorability declining among some religious voters. Among white Catholics, a crucial voting block for Trump in 2016, support dropped by almost half between March and June. Polling has shown that Catholics who say they attend Mass regularly are more likely to support Trump’s reelection than those who do not.
In addition to his statement on faith, Biden also made efforts on Twitter Thursday night to walk back controversial comments he’d made earlier in the day on race.
In an interview, Biden had told journalists that “what you all know but most people don’t know, unlike the African American community with notable exceptions, the Latino community is an incredibly diverse community with incredibly different attitudes about different things.” His tweets Thursday night said that “in no way did I mean to suggest the African American community is a monolith — not by identity, not on issues, not at all.”
A campaign adviser told CNN that Biden was “referring to diversity of attitudes among Latinos from different Latin American countries,” on some issues, including immigration policy.
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Bravo.
Response (or lack thereof) should be interesting.
The adage is “don’t ask for permission, but later for forgiveness.” But, an apology only, or what else?
Besides, the IOC might harmonize polarities—a recent theological trick—by suggesting that the float was “non-liturgical, spontaneous, and therefore not scandalizing” (why not bless the float, two-by-two, under Fiducia Supplicans?). The sin is not only anti-religious blasphemy, but also an underlying STUPIDITY. Or, maybe the French novelist Georges Bernanos is even more perceptive:
“The modern world will shortly no longer possess sufficient spiritual reserves to commit genuine evil. Already . . . we can witness a lethal slackening of men’s conscience that is attacking not only their moral life, but also their very heart and mind, altering and decomposing even their imagination . . . The menacing crisis is one of INFANTILISM.” (Interview with Samedi-Soir, Nov. 8, 1947, cited in Hans Urs von Balthasar, “Bernanos: An Ecclesial Existence” [San Francisco: Ignatius, 1996], 457, caps added).
For an historical take on blasphemy/stupidity/infantilism on the Seine, yours truly humbly suggests my own letter to the IOC (July 30), found in the thread to an earlier CWR article: https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2024/07/27/how-the-olympic-committee-violated-its-own-charter/ From a back-bleachers layman! Very synodal, that.
So, in addition to a minimal apology, how about restitution from the IOC for violating its own charter? Maybe an IOC resignation, plus housecleaning of float organizer Thomas Joystick or whatever.
It does not matter so much that we mere humans are offended but that God was mocked. Those who committed these blasphemies should be called to repent, lest they be cast into Hell. The IOC sins grievously against the first of the commandments, and they will be held to account before God, if not by men. Now I applaud the small cadre of bishops for their letter, but it could have been stronger. And yet, the letter is much louder than our pontiff’s voice, which remains silent in the face of this international blasphemy. Perhaps he is ambivalent and is still in a hangover from his Pachamama blessing, or perhaps he is embarrassed, as he had just endorsed the Olympics for its peacefulness. Perhaps there are prelates inside the Vatican whispering in our pontiff’s ear, who, like Sr Jeanne Grammick, are looking for an angle of endorsement “I applaud the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence for their financial assistance to those in need. I support them because of all their good works.” That quote is from last year. Maybe someone is waiting for the IOC to make a donation (of sorts) to the Vatican, and then all will be OK.
“It is hard to understand how the faith of 2 billion people can be so casually and intentionally blasphemed” say the prelates.
WRONG – It is NOT hard AT ALL to understand. Can we at least agree on that much?
Thomas Jolly and Anne Descamps – you could at least have the decency to admit what is obvious to anyone with half a brain – you INTENTIONALLY meant to offend billions of Christians.
For what seems to be the umpteenth time – has the pope had anything to say about this? 8 days after the fact that doesn’t seem like too much to ask for.
Or does it?
Addendum – Apology?
Don’t hold your breath.
How telling that the saying of the centuries old Latin Mass is apparently more offensive to Bergoglio than this evil mockery of Christ in His holiest of Sacraments.
Acceptable to Bergoglio:
Abominable Paris blasphemy.
Rupnik abuses, both sexual and artistic.
Martin and others encouraging sinful acts.
Not acceptable to Bergoglio:
The celebration of traditional form of the Mass in which Christ Jesus Himself is praised and adored.
What does that tell us?
I wonder. If this same group had submitted an application to mockingly act out verses from the Koran, would it have been approved? Of course, we know the answer. Only Christians are fair game.
Athanasius, may I suggest that Christians are fair game for freemasons in France ever since the genocidal Freemasonic coupe d’état described as a “Revolution” sought to eliminate them?
Even if a raunchy parody of Muslims had been approved it would probably be the last time. There would be consequences far greater than polite letters from clergy.
Exactly my thought. I can imagine a similarly extremely offensive “parody” and what the reactions would be ..
The Good News amidst the bad – that many would have obtained the Portiuncula indulgence today – https://spiritdaily.org/blog/news/how-can-you-get-the-portiuncula-indulgence-tomorrow
France and Francis and Francis … Holy Father visiting the amusement park to remind the persons there that they too are capable of being set free from undue attachments to creatures which is the temporal punishment of sins that are removed through indulgences , to strengthen our ‘bones ‘ of holy relationship with the Famly of heaven ..The bears who came to tear up the children who mocked Prophet Elisha – our times too , millions have been torn up by the bears of scorn and mockery towards God and the Sacraments …the call to bring them all again and again unto The Mother – to her many manifestations of the role given her in France alone – The Immaculate Conception – to be set free from the carnal flood waters of our times …manifested by those who are drowning in same… Lord never tires of throwing the ring of His holiness and Love unto us ..and tell us to be ever ready to be struck on the other cheek for doing same ..to keep at it without expecting honor from those who indirectly are demanding that they be seen as family in excess of tolerance without any demands of love as responsibility …
The Winning Family of Heaven – Sts Francis , Holy Fmly and all – flood waters of that Love to wash out the dragon waters … in the hidden springs of holiness such as at Lourdes and The Immaculate Conception … Glory be!
I will leave the link to the video of an Eastern Orthodox priest (based in California) speaking about the blasphemy and those who designed it. He also speaks about so-called “apology” (I agree with him and this is why I do not care about “apologies” from those people)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEMx33nsIyA
That they could only gather 27 out of thousands of bishops is itself a scandal.
I don’t think there will be an apology.
In any case, I think an apology won’t do.
Heads need to roll.
The Eastern Orthodox priest has it right.
I’ll be pleasantly surprised if it happens.
No desire to denigrate? No intention of disrespect? It’s unfathomable that anyone with a functioning brain can be that clueless.
Oh, and btw, if there was an outraged response from James Martin, SJ, the go-to guy for all matters rainbow, I must have missed it. I’m serious when I say, please, someone, let me know if he commented, and if so, how. Apparently, a response from the current pontiff is still forthcoming.
Or, maybe NOT a direct response from Pope Francis or from any pope? Would such an action be twisted to confer a kind of equivalence and legitimacy to a tribe of lunatics floating through Paris or wherever?
Another proposition is that the Holy Spirit already works in subtle but concrete ways…
The demand for an apology comes from bishops from around the world (just as the Olympic Games include nations from around the world). And the demand was possibly fostered by Cardinal Burke who, by incoherent circumstance, no longer lives in the Vatican. And, therefore, now is more free to say what must be said without engaging in an historic pissing contest between the perennial Catholic Church and moral mutants feeding on what’s left of the West.
The brief letter also evangelizes clearly and concisely, in only a few sentences, rather than in thousands of unread words on Vatican letterhead. The only fly in the ointment (fly, so to speak), is the earlier Vatican blessing of irregular “couples” under Fiducia Supplicans… butt surely pairs of drag queens are not to be excluded.
Better that oblique harmonizers of “polarities” stay out of this.
I would like to know if there was a pre parade briefing for the press as to the theme and nature of the depiction. Also what were the actors told by the artistic creators as to what they were portraying? If they say it was a pagan scene why the discrepancy? Why the misunderstanding? It seems that “there is something rotten in the state of Denmark “
I think that an apology will not be issued. The designers of the Opening Ceremonies will continue to insist that their display had nothing to do with Christianity.
So instead of continuing to demand an apology, I think we should drop it and concentrate on getting devout Catholic and Protestant Christians involved with planning/designing the 2028 Olympics which will be held in Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. I know that there are plenty of Catholics who have experience and expertise in designing/managing large events–put out the call for them to get involved with the 2028 Olympics, especially those who live in/near L.A. We need to act rather than react, volunteer rather than boycott, and pray rather than fuss. I fear that if Christians choose to avoid any involvement with the Olympics, as well as other secular “big events” (e.g., anything in entertainment, or sports), and instead, wait til the offence is committed before we cry out “Foul!”, we will continue to see even greater offences against what and WHO we know to be sacred. The reason there are so many beautiful works of architecture and art in Europe is that Catholics designed and built them!
If they truly believe that it had nothing to do with Christianity make them prove it? What were the actors told that they were representing? Was the press briefed beforehand as to what it was all about? What scenario did the artistic creators present to those who made decisions about the presentation? Things were known, decisions were made and the people involved should be held accountable.
If you had to debate this issue from their point of view, what would you say?
I see that the Biden-Harris administration got the message re their odious deal with the 9/11 organizer.
Didn’t pussyfoot around pleading for/demanding an apology either.
An apology will not happen, primarily because they operate with no moral framework and no religious sensibility of right and wrong. So, we have the defaming of the Last Supper. Then we have the attack on normal sexuality by their allowing men to pummel women in physical contact sports, which could easily end in injury or death to the genuinely female opponent.But of course death appears to be preferable to these folks, compared to telling a small and clearly mentally ill minority that not only is allowing them to compete physically dangerous for their opponent, but also gives them a grossly unfair advantage to win. How much of a “win” is it, when you win by cheating? In my opinion, none. Its clear we are on a path to eliminating womens sports. Trying to continue in this way will inevitably end in tragedy. Sadly I do believe that for their own safety, women athletes should refuse to compete when paired with a male opponent. Finally, all people should be making their voices on this issue heard loud and clear to your political representatives. The democrats have been pandering to this abnormality and trying to normalize it for years. Its disgusting. Good old Joe Biden has just pushed through the changes in title 9 allowing bio men to change in womens locker rooms and play on womens teams at our public schools. To the parents of young women: no scholarship is worth the potential danger and sexual harassment of your daughter in this situation. Remember which party has been pushing this through when next you vote.Only the blind cant see this is a societal turning point.