Although President Joe Biden continues to tout his Catholic faith, U.S. bishops question his commitment to central church teachings.
José H. Gomez, archbishop of Los Angeles and the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said he is praying for Biden and looks forward to working with the new administration but remains concerned that the new president supports policies that “advance moral evil.”
“I am praying that God grants him wisdom and courage to lead this great nation and that God helps him to meet the tests of these times, to heal the wounds caused by this pandemic, to ease our intense political and cultural division, and to bring people together with renewed dedication to America’s founding purposes, to be one nation under God committed to liberty and equality for all,” he said.
Catholic bishops, Gomez said, “are not partisan players in our nation’s politics” but simply offer principles that “are rooted in the gospel of Jesus Christ and the social teachings of his church.”
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“I must point out 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,” he said. “Of deep concern is the liberty of the church and the freedom of believers to live according to their consciences.”
Gomez said he hopes Biden won’t further expand abortion but instead begin a dialogue with the bishops and the pro-life community “to address the complicated cultural and economic factors that are driving abortion and discouraging families.”
“We are all under the watchful eye of God, who alone knows and can judge the intentions of our hearts,” Gomez wrote. “I pray that God will give our new president, and all of us, the grace to seek the common good with all sincerity.”
Biden has been denied communion in the church over his support for unlimited abortion.
An organization that opposed Biden’s campaign, CatholicVote.org, applauded Gomez’s statements. They fully agree with USCCB President Archbishop Gomez’s assessment of Joe Biden’s Policies.
The group added that several of Biden’s plans create “confusion among the faithful and pose a serious threat to the common good.”
Biden was then urged to repent by Texas Bishop Joseph Strickland two days after the online meeting.
Strickland tweeted, “As a bishop, I beg Mr. Biden to repent of his dissent from Catholic teaching on abortion & marriage for his own salvation & the good of our nation.”
–Alan Goforth | Metro Voice