The Vatican stepped in on Wednesday to halt the publication of a statement from the U.S. bishops that strongly criticized Joe Biden’s policies that are directly in conflict with church teachings.
The January 20 statement was signed by Archbishop José Gomez, president of the U.S. Bishops’ Conference (USCCB), and noted 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.”
“Of deep concern is the liberty of the Church and the freedom of believers to live according to their consciences,” the statement read.
Prominent among the concerns is Biden’s support for abortion, despite being a Catholic. “For the nation’s bishops, the continued injustice of abortion remains the ‘preeminent priority’,” Gomez said, adding that “preeminent does not mean ‘only’,” and there are a wide variety of challenges and threats to human dignity facing the country today.”
The archbishop added: “Abortion is a direct attack on life that also wounds the woman and undermines the family. It is not only a private matter, it raises troubling and fundamental questions of fraternity, solidarity, and inclusion in the human community. It is also a matter of social justice. We cannot ignore the reality that abortion rates are much higher among the poor and minorities, and that the procedure is regularly used to eliminate children who would be born with disabilities.”
“We have deep concerns about many threats to human life and dignity in our society,” the archbishop notes. “But as Pope Francis teaches, we cannot stay silent when nearly a million unborn lives are being cast aside in our country year after year through abortion.”
According to The Pillar, a Catholic news outlet, the Vatican’s Secretariat of State had taken the unusual step of nixing the bishops’ statement to prevent or at least delay its release.
The statement had reportedly fueled controversy within the U.S. bishops on Tuesday, with objections coming from Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark and Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago, among others.
Joe Biden’s Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC) partnered with abortion giant Planned Parenthood so that donors to Biden’s Field of Flags, set up at the National Mall for the inauguration ceremony, are automatically added to the Planned Parenthood e-mail list.
Also Biden appeared in a Planned Parenthood advertisement last June, promising his presidency’s full support for abortion. In the ad, the former vice president said he would expand access to abortion at home and abroad. “Together we’re going to reverse the global gag order, the domestic gag order, restoring the Title X program,” Biden continued, in reference to Ronald Reagan’s Mexico City policy and to the Hyde Amendment, which restrict the use of federal money to support abortion providers.
Pope Francis has repeatedly shown himself to be a highly political pontiff. Although the Catholic Church adheres to the biblical stance of marriage as between man and woman, the pope came out in support of same-sex civil unions last year. “Homosexuals have a right to be part of the family,” Francis declared in a documentary. “They are children of God and have a right to a family. Nobody should be thrown out or be made miserable over it.”
On other occasions, the Catholic leader has been a vocal supporter of open borders and climate-change policy while strongly condemning capitalism.
In recent months, the pope has taken aim at those who protest against coronavirus restrictions. On Thanksgiving, in fact, he dismissed the “personal freedom” concern for which many have objected to draconian COVID-19 lockdowns. “Yet some groups protested, refusing to keep their distance, marching against travel restrictions — as if measures that governments must impose for the good of their people constitute some kind of political assault on autonomy or personal freedom!” Francis wrote in an op-ed. “Looking to the common good is much more than the sum of what is good for individuals. It means having a regard for all citizens and seeking to respond effectively to the needs of the least fortunate.”
Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, formerly apostolic nuncio to the United States, has frequently spoken out against Pope Francis, claiming that he is part of the “Deep Church,” which works in concert with the Deep State to promise socialism and globalism and cover up the abuse of children.
