Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on a remark made yesterday by President Biden:
On January 30, when President Biden was walking on the White House lawn, he was asked a few questions by reporters. One of them asked about Catholic opposition to publicly funded abortions. “Catholic bishops are demanding that federal tax dollars not fund abortions.”
In an angry reply, Biden pointed his finger and said, “No, they are not all doing that, nor is the Pope doing that.”
Biden’s monumental ignorance of basic Catholic teachings on abortion is startling.
From the day abortion was legalized by the Supreme Court in 1973, right up to today, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has not only opposed abortion, it has resolutely opposed publicly funded abortions. There is not a single bishop that Biden can name who agrees with him on this subject.
Indeed, as recently as January 27, the USCCB’s Pro-Life Committee, chaired by Bishop Michael Burbidge, sent a letter to House and Senate leaders about this issue. Burbidge said that the “government should never fund the destruction of innocent preborn children.”
For Biden to misrepresent Pope Francis is even more appalling.
On September 15, 2021, Pope Francis was unequivocal on this issue. “Abortion is murder.” He rightly observed that Catholic teaching is consistent with science. “Scientifically, it’s a human life. The textbooks teach us that. But is it right to take it out to solve a problem? This is why the Church is so strict on this issue because accepting this is kind of like accepting daily murder.”
On October 10, 2018, Pope Francis posed an interesting set of questions. “How can an action that ends an innocent and defenseless life in its blossoming stage be therapeutic, civilized or simply human? I ask you: Is it right to do away with a human life in order to solve a problem? Is it right to hire a hitman in order to solve a problem? One cannot. 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.”
Biden is either profoundly ignorant of Catholicism, or he is lying through his teeth. Either way, for a man who loves to wear his Catholicism on his sleeve, he is a public embarrassment to Catholics the world over. Never has there been a White House occupant who more consistently seeks to sabotage Roman Catholicism than Joe Biden.
Contact White House Secretary: karine.jean-pierre@who.eop.gov
