Joe Biden shouldn't call himself 'devout Catholic', says Kansas City archbishop over POTUS' pro-abortion stance
President Joe Biden has often been touted as a "devout Catholic" — a claim also repeated by family members, staff, and several news outlets. However, members of the Catholic church have pushed back against the Delaware Democrat's support of abortion.
Speaking with Catholic World Report, Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City criticized the president's support for legalized abortion. He said Biden “should stop defining himself as a devout Catholic” as his views on abortion stand in direct opposition to the Catholic Church.
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“Mr Biden professes to be a devout Catholic, yet is 100% pro-choice on abortion. How do you think America’s bishops ought to respond to this situation?” CWR asked Naumann.
“I can tell you how this bishop is responding. The president should stop defining himself as a devout Catholic, and acknowledge that his view on abortion is contrary to Catholic moral teaching," Naumann responded. "It would be a more honest approach from him to say he disagreed with his Church on this important issue and that he was acting contrary to Church teaching." He continued: “When he says he is a devout Catholic, we bishops have the responsibility to correct him. Although people have given this president power and authority, he cannot define what it is to be a Catholic and what Catholic moral teaching is.”
“What he is doing now is usurping the role of the bishops and confusing people,” Naumann, who also serves as chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, told CWR. “He’s declaring that he’s Catholic, and is going to force people to support abortion through their tax dollars. The bishops need to correct him, as the president is acting contrary to the Catholic faith,” he added.
In 2019, Joe Biden was denied communion at a Catholic church in South Carolina over his support for abortion rights, according to Florence Morning News. Father Robert Morey, the pastor at Saint Anthony Catholic Church in Florence, told the paper that he had denied Biden communion because “any public figure who advocates for abortion places himself or herself outside of Church teaching.”
“Holy Communion signifies we are one with God, each other, and the Church. Our actions should reflect that,” Morey explained. He said that “as a priest, it is my responsibility to minister to those souls entrusted to my care, and I must do so even in the most difficult situations. I will keep Mr. Biden in my prayers.”
Last month, a number of Roman Catholic bishops criticized Biden's executive order on applying anti-discrimination protections to certain groups, arguing it didn't properly account for religious liberty and furthered "false theories on human sexuality."
Bishops across the country signed a statement saying the order threatened to "infringe the rights of people who recognize the truth of sexual difference or who uphold the institution of lifelong marriage between one man and one woman," adding that it may "manifest in mandates that, for example, erode health care conscience rights or needed and time-honored sex-specific spaces and activities."