Stop Calling Joe Biden a "Catholic President"

It may not have occurred to many Catholics yet, but calling Joe Biden a Catholic President (never mind the insulting term "practicing Catholic") is like calling Adolf Hitler a practicing Christian Führer. (Though I readily admit there are striking similarities between the two men.)

In case Catholics have completely forgotten, in the Catholic Church, a Catholic is excommunicated for certain serious offenses latae sententiae (of a/the sentence [already] passed) no matter who you are. And unless you are living under a rock you are aware of Biden's abortion infatuation.

In the Catholic Church, abortion is so serious an offense that, Canon Law states that those who efficaciously procure abortion are excommunicated immediately by their own action (Can. 1398 A person who procures a completed abortion incurs a latae sententiae excommunication.) Cardinal Raymond Burke, former prefect of the Church's highest court said in August 2020 that, specifically because of Biden's abortion policies "Joe Biden is not a Catholic in good standing, and he should not approach to receive Holy Communion." In fact, Canon Law (Canon 915) orders all clergy to refuse Communion to public sinners: "Those upon whom the penalty of excommunication or interdict has been imposed or declared, and others who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin, are not to be admitted to holy communion." This should have been publicly declared by our Bishops collectively since the first offense. By all means Your Excellencies, continue shuffling papers around and voting on soft, apologetic statements while making no clear and vigorous order. The United States would change overnight if the entire USCCB imitated the statements (and actions) of the great Bishop Paprocki. Oh powerful successors of the Apostles of Jesus Christ, the sheep are crying out to you to be warriors for Christ, not Satan! (Also, USCCB, can we talk about the evidence that you financed an effort to elect Sleepy Joe with our money???)

On Biden and abortion, Cardinal Burke continues, "'This is not a political statement, I don’t intend to get involved in recommending any candidate for office, but simply to state that a Catholic may not support abortion in any shape or form because it is one of the most grievous sins against human life, and has always been considered to be intrinsically evil and therefore to in any way support the act is a mortal sin.'

Asked specifically about Biden, Cardinal Burke said he 'has not only been actively supporting procured abortion in our country but has announced publicly in his campaign that he intends to make the practice of procured abortion available to everyone in the widest possible form and to repeal the restrictions on this practice which have been put in place.'"

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI said in 2004 while he was Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, "Regarding the grave sin of abortion or euthanasia, when a person's formal cooperation becomes manifest (understood, in the case of a Catholic politician, as his consistently campaigning and voting for permissive abortion and euthanasia laws), 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." (See entire memo below) Speaking of former Popes, St. John Paul II blasted abortion in his Encyclical "EVANGELIUM VITAE" adding that, "The close connection which exists, in mentality, between the practice of contraception and that of abortion is becoming increasingly obvious." "Following this same logic, the point has been reached where the most basic care, even nourishment, is denied to babies born with serious handicaps or illnesses. The contemporary scene, moreover, is becoming even more alarming by reason of the proposals, advanced here and there, to justify even infanticide, following the same arguments used to justify the right to abortion. In this way, we revert to a state of barbarism which one hoped had been left behind forever. " Hmm... that inhumane logic does sound a lot like Hitler doesn't it??

For Catholics who do not understand what all of this means, let me make it perfectly clear: The Catholic Church has laws, specifically to educate us in what is offensive to God and how we, as His creatures, ought to worship Him and give Him due honor. This is done not only out of holy reverence to God Almighty but for the salvation of souls, that they may turn from error and come back to God. It is for these reasons that there are specific Doctrines that are unchangeable. Even though, to my horror, statistics show that in 2014, 24 percent of U.S. abortion patients identified as Catholic. Another survey adds that "The abortion index for Catholic women showed that their relative abortion rate was nearly the same as that for all women (1.1)." The 2019 Pew Research Center survey showed that more than half of U.S. Catholics (56%) said abortion should be legal in all or most cases. And according to another study, "Even when it comes to Catholics who attend Mass weekly, just 13% say contraception is morally wrong, while 45% say it is morally acceptable and 42% say it is not a moral issue."

However, the (shocking) number of apostatizing Catholics does not change Catholic Doctrine. The Church teaches contrapcetion and abortion are both morally wrong. This means that you're feelings cannot change it, this means that a Pope cannot change it (even if he wanted to), this means that there is no time between now and eternity that this will ever change. This is basic Catholicism. Those who have issues with it are invited to read more about Catholicism or, to be blunt, begin examining why exactly they are Catholic in the first place.

Since the feelings and emotions of many Catholics today are so easily hurt (my own included, to my shame) I must add the obligatory note that this is not simply my opinion, nor is it something that is meant to offend, but it is Truth. Jesus Christ is Truth Himself, to reject Truth is to reject Christ. To reject Christ's Church, is to reject Christ. Catholics have consistently been called to proclaim the Truth, no matter who it offends, no matter the time and place, and especially when Truth is being desecrated and deformed to fit the most diabolical narrative that one can still remain a Catholic in good standing while continuing to support one of the most grievous sins in all of time and space.

There is no politically correct speech, no "funny one liner", no scripted Mass attendance, no Rosary-bead-displaying (looking at you Nancy Pelosi), no fuzzy feeling, no nostalgia, no white washing of Catholicism that can wipe the reality of this mortal sin away.

Abortion is the brutal, painful, murder of the life of a human being before they can even be Baptized. One human being (that could touch a million lives, that stems an entire generation) snuffed out from life and away from the Face of God. In case anyone has forgotten. Oh, and by the way, the number of murdered human babies from abortion, worldwide since 1980 is 1,653,720,837 (that's over one BILLION, and the number goes up every second, literally), with 63,763,928.2 in the United States alone since 1973. Each of those numbers is a brutally murdered human baby. Just think of that for a moment. Then tell me how Biden's policy to bring in more illegal immigrants into the United States is more than enough reason not to loudly blast him for his disgusting promotion of abortion... no please, keep gushing, it's not like it's morally wrong or completely embaressing or anything...

Is this clear enough? Can we stop grovelling and white-washing Catholicism every time the topic comes up and for the sake of Joe Biden's immortal soul and for the soul of our nation stop with this gross charade and speak the truth?? Please and thank you.

If these truths still lead any Catholic to have a blubbering mental breakdown, please revisit the links below.

Final Notes / Highly Recommended Articles:  

Article: Is Abortion the Preeminent Issue of Catholic Social Justice?

Article: Catholic Doctrine Is Divine Unchangeable Doctrine

"(T)he meaning of Excommunication in the Tradition of the Catholic Church, since the primary purpose of excommunication is to preserve the integrity of the Catholic community of faith, not only the faithful who are alive today, but also the faithful who have gone before us, and to respect those who are now participants in the 'democracy of the dead.'" Bishop Paprocki, "The Meaning of Excommunication in the Tradition of the Catholic Church"

Cardinal Ratzinger' s memo on Communion principles:

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, head of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, sent the following memo to Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick of Washington to offer guidance to the U.S. bishops during their June retreat in Denver. It was published online by the Italian newspaper L'Espresso on July 3. It is reprinted here for the benefit of Register readers.

1. Presenting oneself to receive holy Communion should be a conscious decision, based on a reasoned judgment regarding one's worthiness to do so, according to the Church's objective criteria, asking such questions as: "Am I in full communion with the Catholic Church? Am I guilty of grave sin? Have I incurred a penalty (e.g. excommunication, interdict) that forbids me to receive holy Communion? Have I prepared myself by fasting for at least an hour?" The practice of indiscriminately presenting oneself to receive holy Communion, merely as a consequence of being present at Mass, is an abuse that must be corrected (cf. Instruction "Redemptionis Sacramentum," 81, 83).

2. The Church teaches that abortion or euthanasia is a grave sin. The encyclical letter "Evangelium Vitae," with reference to judicial decisions or civil laws that authorize or promote abortion or euthanasia, states that there is a "grave and clear obligation to oppose them by conscientious objection. ... In the case of an intrinsically unjust law, such as a law permitting abortion or euthanasia, it is therefore never licit to obey it, or to 'take part in a propaganda campaign in favor of such a law or vote for it'" (73). Christians have a "grave obligation of conscience not to cooperate formally in practices which, even if permitted by civil legislation, are contrary to God's law. Indeed, from the moral standpoint, it is never licit to cooperate formally in evil. ... This cooperation can never be justified either by invoking respect for the freedom of others or by appealing to the fact that civil law permits it or requires it" (74).

3. Not all moral issues have the same moral weight as abortion and euthanasia. For example, if a Catholic were to be at odds with the Holy Father on the application of capital punishment or on the decision to wage war, he would not for that reason be considered unworthy to present himself to receive holy Communion. While the Church exhorts civil authorities to seek peace, not war, and to exercise discretion and mercy in imposing punishment on criminals, it may still be permissible to take up arms to repel an aggressor or to have recourse to capital punishment. There may be a legitimate diversity of opinion even among Catholics about waging war and applying the death penalty, but not however with regard to abortion and euthanasia.

4. Apart from an individual's judgment about his worthiness to present himself to receive the holy Eucharist, 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 (cf. can. 915).

5. Regarding the grave sin of abortion or euthanasia, when a person's formal cooperation becomes manifest (understood, in the case of a Catholic politician, as his consistently campaigning and voting for permissive abortion and euthanasia laws), 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.

6. When "these precautionary measures have not had their effect or in which they were not possible," and the person in question, with obstinate persistence, still presents himself to receive the holy Eucharist, "the minister of holy Communion must refuse to distribute it" (cf. Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts Declaration "Holy Communion and Divorced, Civilly Remarried Catholics" [2000], 3-4). This decision, properly speaking, is not a sanction or a penalty. Nor is the minister of holy Communion passing judgment on the person's subjective guilt, but rather is reacting to the person's public unworthiness to receive holy Communion due to an objective situation of sin.

A Catholic would be guilty of formal cooperation in evil, and so unworthy to present himself for holy Communion, if he were to deliberately vote for a candidate precisely because of the candidate's permissive stand on abortion and/or euthanasia. When a Catholic does not share a candidate's stand in favor of abortion and/or euthanasia, but votes for that candidate for other reasons, it is considered remote material cooperation, which can be permitted in the presence of proportionate reasons.