Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 50 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
A Papal Moment
Our devout Catholic President, Joe Biden, once again confirmed how clueless he is about his Catholic Faith. In a recent Q&A, an EWTN reporter confronted old Joe by saying that the Catholic Bishops are demanding that federal tax dollars not fund abortion. And our President responds by saying no they are not all doing that, nor is the Pope doing that.
Mr Biden can’t be allowed to twist the words of Pope Francis in this way. I implore the Vatican press office to emphatically clarify that Pope Francis rightly calls abortion murder. It is time to denounce Biden’s fake Catholicism. https://t.co/RBEbWmczsl
— Bishop J. Strickland (@Bishopoftyler) January 31, 2023
The Bishop of Tyler, TX, Joseph Strickland, (my Bishop thanks be to God) is the only one to publicly call out Joe Biden. It is right and just for him to do this.
As should Pope Francis, Archbishop Gregory of Washington D.C., and William Koenig, Bishop of Wilmington, DE. But I won’t hold my breath. I pray I am wrong.
Abortion is the deliberate taking of life. It is a mortal sin. And our Catholic President constantly pushes for it. He wants us to fund it and he wants to make it legal. And most bishops stay silent. Scandalous.
I would love to hear from Pope Francis on this.
Prior to hitting publish, I just saw this from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB):
President of U.S. Bishops Conference on Bishops’ United Position Against the Evil of Abortion | Full Statement by Most Rev. Timothy P. Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, and president of USCCB here: https://t.co/84QipfmBBv
— U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (@USCCB) February 1, 2023
Good for them, but the conference holds no juridical power. We Catholics need to see something from his bishop or the Pope.
+ + +
The USCCB message:
Earlier this week, President Biden responded to a reporter’s question about the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ opposition to taxpayer funding of abortion: REPORTER: “Catholic bishops are demanding that federal tax dollars not fund abortions.” BIDEN: “No they are not all doing that. Nor is the Pope doing that.”
Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, released the following statement:
“As we are taught by Jesus, human life is sacred. God calls us to defend and nurture life from the moment a new human being is conceived. The Catholic Church has been clear and consistent in this teaching. The Catholic bishops of the United States are united in our commitment to life and will continue to work as one body in Christ to make abortion unthinkable. As the Holy Father, Pope Francis, has said, ‘It is not right to ‘do away with’ a human being, however small, in order to solve a problem. It is like hiring a hitman.’ Taxpayer funding of abortion would force people of good conscience to participate in this grave evil against their will. It would contradict our right to live in accord with the tenets of our faith. Our nation is better than that. I pray that we will protect every child no matter his or her age, and open our hearts to respond to mothers in need with love and support rather than the violence of abortion.”
Published in Religion & Philosophy
You can fool some of the papal some of the time….
His Bishop needs to call him in for a talk- but I would not hold my breathe. He is clearly misrepresenting the Popes word and causing scandal ( by the Church’s definition). His only defense is he is becoming mentally incompetent. Bishop Koenig and/or Cardinal Gregory need to act to save his soul.
Biden is just lying. He knows the Church’s stance on abortion. It’s impossible to believe that at his age and his involvement in politics from before Roe v. Wade to not know the Church teaches against abortion and that it is a grave sin to either have an abortion or assist in an abortion. All these Catholic Democrats know the truth.
I wonder Manny. He should know as you point out, but he’s like Obama in that he believes his own BS. He thinks he is a better Catholic than the pope. He has never been held to account.
I respectfully suggest that you underestimate Biden’s sociopathy. Good and evil and conservative and liberal don’t mean anything to him. It’s all power. Thumbing the Catholic beads and voting for abortion are literally the same to him because it advances his power.
I don’t think he is capable of appreciating anything for beauty or goodness.
Seems pretty unequivocal to me.
Also, I think most hitmen would refuse a hit on a baby. They’re more moral than abortionists.
If he doesn’t know he should. There’s just been to many fights on this over the years. Perhaps his dementia has kicked in but I find him pretty lucid on lots of issues. I’m open to thinking he’s delusional but it strikes me as a lie.
I’m not sure if you’re agreeing with me that he’s lying or disagreeing. “Sociopathy” can suggest both delusions or congenital liar.
Oooh, that’s a really good last statement.
According to Bernard Lewis. The original Assassins would never be able to kill babies because Allah absolutely forbid killing innocents.
Even if they’re not muslim?
Recognizing that this is saying a lot, I believe Biden is the most thorough-going corrupt and dishonest man ever to hold the office of President of the United States.
Here is Joe Biden‘s long tortuous bending with the abortion issue, delineated year by year of his political career. I guess he has always supported Roe but he used to have lots of qualifications. He understands the Catholic teaching on it. He had to flip and be completely pro-abortion to get the Dem presidential nomination.
Edit: Check this one out:
Second Edit:
LOL, typical crazy Joe.
I think he’s passively corrupt and casually dishonest. Where he really excels is his vacuity. I think he’s the emptiest man I’ve ever seen hold the office.
I don’t see how, for example, lying about the death of his first wife, falsely blaming a truck driver for years, could be considered just “casually” dishonest.
But regardless, seems to me that Delaware has a lot to apologize for, for elevating him to any position of power to start with. It might actually be unforgivable.
Even after the man´s family asked him to stop repeatedly. Here´s the NR story on Mr. Dunn and gropin´Joe the slanderer of the dead: https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/joe-biden-most-disturbing-thing/
It shouldn’t even be necessary to ask someone to stop lying about someone having killed their wife, let alone ask repeatedly.
There wasn’t anything casual about his shouting back at the EWTN reporter and his lie that the pope supports taxpayer funding of abortion. That was a deliberate lie. His comment that “not all” the bishops demand federal tax dollars be used to fund abortion was because he knows that certain cardinals (Gregory, McElroy, Cupich, Tobin) and bishops (Koenig) have his back and won’t call him out on this – that is active corruption.
I’ll agree with you that he is a vacuous empty suit.
He has gotten away with this garbage for years because of the “oh that’s just crazy old Scranton Joe”.
No. He is a political chameleon, changing what he “believes” to acquire power. Miraculously, he got elected POTUS. He and his cardinal/bishop buddies that let him get away with his lies and deceit will one day get their just reward.
That ranks with his opposing Bork b/c he didn’t believe in natural law and than opposing Thomas b/c he did…..altho it is clear Biden didn’t understand the questions his staff wrote for him to ask the judges…
I interpreted James’ reference to “casually dishonest” as meaning that to Pres. Biden there is no moral difference between honesty and dishonesty, and so he can speak dishonesty with no qualms, no conscience. Telling a lie and telling the truth are not different in his mind.
The Left doesn’t believe that the truth exists….
Which is a sign of sociopathy.
He reminds me of the Churchill quote: “Occasionally he stumbled over the truth, but hastily picked himself up and hurried on as if nothing had happened.”
That is spot on.
Why do I keep reading the OP title as, “A PayPal Moment?”
The Catholic Church is not the “Book of the Month Club”, nor is it the Elks Club, a fraternity, sorority, or some city council. It is not a Sunday Brunch, where one can choose from any number of tasty and appealing foods.
From the Catholic Catechism:
Joe Biden has excommunicated himself from the Church with his relentless promotion of abortion, and his endless seeking of making US taxpayers complicit in an intrinsic evil by forcing them to pay for abortions. He also supports forcing Catholic hospitals and their doctors and nurses to violate their conscience by performing abortions and transgender medical procedures.
I don’t need a bishop to excommunicate Joe Biden. Joe Biden has already excommunicated himself.
It’s starting to look a lot like nihilism!
Sung to the tune of, “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!”
Or as Dr Zogg MD does in a couple of his family home videos, “It’s beginning to look a lot like sepsis!”
This reminded me of when Obama overruled the Pope on the Little Sisters insurance lawsuit. I thought that was one of the most amazingly arrogant moments. Looks like the arrogance rubbed off.
I suspect he’s been lying so regularly and for so long, he doesn’t know the difference anymore. If you wanted to give an exemplar of “if his lips are moving, he’s lying” or “lost soul” you couldn’t do much better than Joe Biden. He’s given in to the Father of Lies.
If he has even a seed of a conscience left, I suspect he justifies his use of lies to gain and hold power (nod to Henry) by his “good” intentions. If you talk seriously with lefties, this is their focus. They mean well.
This is the personal and social benefit of “Catholic guilt.” “Through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault.” To believe your good intentions count more than the good you do through your behaviors (“you will know them by their fruits”) is a mortal hazard. It doesn’t matter if you mean well if the fruits of your behavior are rotten.
His bishops are criminally (canonically) negligent in not calling him out. It isn’t just the scandal this creates, it’s their lack of care for his immortal soul!