A coalition of several dozen pro-life leaders and scholars have sent an open letter to the bishops of the United States asking them to speak out on Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s pro-abortion stance that is contrary to Catholic teaching.
“In the weeks leading to the November election we respectfully and prayerfully ask that you will issue a formal statement to your flock clarifying that Biden’s support for a law that has sent over 60 million human beings to their deaths directly violates Catholic teaching,” the open letter states.
The letter was sent to every diocesan bishop in the nation via certified mail. The open letter appeared as an ad in the print edition of the Washington Examiner today. Similar ads are also released on Facebook as well as in a few days on the website of the Washington Examiner, and the print edition of the National Catholic Register, which is owned by EWTN.
A video version of the letter has been published on YouTube.
Among the signers of the open letter are Dr. Monica Migliorino Miller, whose group Citizens for a Pro-Life Society sponsored the ad, Mark Harrington of Created Equal, and Judie Brown of the American Life League.
Apart from other pro-life leaders like LifeSite’s John-Henry Westen and Fr. Frank Pavone of Priests for Life, some of the signers are intellectuals and scholars. Robert George of Princeton University and Peter Kreeft of Boston College are among them.
“Sadly, the Democratic candidate running for president, Joseph Biden, who claims to be a practicing Catholic, supports abortion on demand for the full nine months of pregnancy and has promised, should he win office, to ‘codify Roe v. Wade.’ In addition Biden will require that the American taxpayer fund abortion procedures,” they wrote.
“Biden’s support for the legalized killing of the unborn is a grave scandal to those within the Church – and to those outside the Church as well!”
In the open letter, the coalition of pro-life leaders and scholars quoted from the document “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship,” which was published by the bishops before the 2016 election. “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship” stresses the importance of abortion in several passages….
Given the general principles laid out by the bishops in those two documents, the signers of the open letter ask them to call out Biden for directly violating these teachings. Biden is a baptized Catholic and has released ads saying he goes to Mass and prays the rosary.
The above comes from a Sept. 22 story on LifeSiteNews.
Don’t hold your breath. Instead of speaking up, the Bishop of San Bernardino, Gerald Barnes, has issued a letter to all priests, deacons and other diocesan staff to keep their mouths shut and not speak so much as one single word on Catholic teaching regarding political matters and politicians. Mum is the word. See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.
If that’s true, the devil is ensconced in high places in that diocese
The bishops need to show some leadership (for a change) and speak out in strongest terms against the evil of abortion and the politicians who support the killing in their mothers’ wombs, which should be the safest place in the world for them.
The argument based on faith isn’t even necessary. With Democrats aligning themselves with anarchists and terrorists, if you don’t vote for Trump you are a traitor to America. It’s that stark and that simple.
Trump is going to win in a landslide. Many blue states will turn red because people aren’t dumb: they know a vote for the Democrats will jeopardize their safety and their livelihoods, as Dems have shown sympathy for riots, arson, looting, police assassinations, and general mayhem.
Biden says he prays the rosary and receives Holy Eucharist. Since he is so sinful in his support of abortion and complicit in his family criminal activity could it be that no one is answering him? Has he been shut off from the grace of God? He is having trouble cognitively and maybe he is not responsible at this time. Has his Bishop or priest guided him and his wife during this train wreck? Maybe the same thing is happening to Bishops who refuse to lead their flocks on this issue. Maybe the Holy Spirit has left them since they depend so much on the secular world. What train wreck is coming to the Church. What is supposed to shake our faith and the Church like never before.
I am a practicing Catholic laywoman (retired Nurse of 40 years) and I will not remain silent as my Bishop in The Diocese of San Bernardino has been. I am unafraid to speak the truth of the atrocity and horror of abortion having worked as a medical professional at the county hospital. “Be not afraid.”
You make me proud.
In accordance with Catholic Church canon law Mr. Biden has already self excommunicated himself from the church what needs to be said is just that Biden is not a Catholic
On point.
I have written our Archbishop of Detroit (Vigneron) more than once, and again today as I pray and fast, that they will not get a dime of my tithe until they start acting like bishops and not wards of the state. They have become as corrupt as Francis. Very disheartening. God will judge in the end, but in the mean time, we get to. We need new and more righteous leaders, not political hacks.
I get that the subject of abortion is volatile at best. I also know that, given a chance, just about every Christian based denomination, including the Catholic Church, would rather that America is all one religious view (the so called, “E pluribus unum multis licet unus religionis”, From the many, one, but under one religion” axiom). Religions seeking such a country or world believe wholeheartedly that their Holy Writ not only gives the reasoning but the mandate to force that idiom in a country where diversity of thought is considered a value overall. I’m not here to argue if Joe Biden is or is not a “good” Catholic. He was raised a Catholic but is in politics, and therefore as a representative of differing groups cannot simply replace dialogue that represents the many, especially the minority groups, with a dogma that only represents a given population. To be sure, there are more than a few Catholics who are using birth control quietly in an effort to have some say over the size of their families. Some bishops recognize that an outright condemnation of any politician, especially if in favor of another, is tantamount to endorsement, and that, despite the good Father Provone’s claims that he acts as a private citizen, could lead to the church losing its tax exempt status. If one is for or against a given candidate is their business and their vote, but from the pulpit, declaring one candidate as THE candidate because of one issue will have consequences. I get that the dogmatic faithful want a conservative SCOTUS, but be careful of what you wish for, as the courts have made rulings that ALSO go against church values. I’m concerned that the Church will have to make some dogmatic decisions down the road: women as priests, priests able to marry, etc., to overcome the growing shortage of priests in the parishes, birth control. Personally,if the Church said no to abortion but birth control was allowable, one might find a plethora of former Catholics coming back. instead, the dogmatic minority decries those who do either as bad Catholics, driving them away to other denominations or even out of church altogether. Otherwise, the church will lose congregants over time, fading into an even more obscure group, or perhaps force another schism, leaving an American Catholic Church and a Roman Catholic Church model. I suppose we will all pray over this…
The people who comment here tend to be those who have not compromised their faith.
Michael, much as you might like a big Kumbaya moment where all faiths and political parties hold hands, it’s not going to happen. The Catholic Church cannot acquiesce her moral authority based on the fleeting issues of the day. As Catholics, we are in it for eternity, our hope is heaven, and no desire for a momentary respite from the battle will help us attain that goal. The devil never sleeps and his minions work tirelessly, so too must we, in opposing the evils they seek to inflict upon us and the world.
You can’t sit on the fence and wish for green grass on both sides. It’s heaven or hell, and as Catholics, we know that outside the Church there is no salvation. “Extra ecclesiam nulla salus”. Pray on that.
Ah, but some who are within the visible structure of the Church are in the City of Man, and some who are outside the visible structure of the Church are in the City of God. It’s not so simple, as you would have it. The Latin you like to quote doesn’t mean someone has to be a practicing Catholic to be saved. Pray on that.
Take it up with a higher authority. The infallible teaching of the Catholic Church is that there is no salvation apart from Christ and His One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. God has mercy for the “invincibly” ignorant, but a non-practicing Catholic is not ignorant, just beholden to sin. Read all about it in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which happily for you is published in English. Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum!
Let the Church stand firm in all her beliefs and teachings; if it means reduction in numbers so be it.
Michael , interesting post , I may comment on it further but for now : how did you get such a long post published ? seriously , do you know someone ?,back in the day I think I had one like that, but not in the past two years. Good for you.
Kristin:
have you ever been called “judgemental?”
i suppose that’s about the worst thing anyone
can be called these days
i, for one, thank you for your comments here and elsewhere
on this site. they are rock solid as you said, Kumbaya comes later
Some people think they are being charitably blunt, when all they are is judgmental. There is such a thing as being judgmental; that’s why the word exists.
Helen, yes, and oh well! Years ago I was at the West Coast Walk for Life in San Francisco sitting in the shade when an angry young woman paraded by, hurling questions and insults at “the Christian bigots” in a most obscene way. I dropped my head and hoped she wouldn’t target me. She didn’t, but I was ashamed for trying to escape the battle. It was a turning point, and since then have embraced the confirmation grace of being a soldier of Christ. Some don’t like it, again, oh well.
Thanks for the encouragement!
I would not have been so gracious , be a happy warrior , be careful , be safe, your in our prayers , ask for them without shame from us when needed, God bless you.
If you think you have to be a “happy warrior” or “soldier” to speak to that protester (as if you’re out there to ‘slay’ people like her, see my point?) then you’ll never get anywhere. However, only if you have Christian love for that protester, then you will know how or what to say. Only then will God be with you. You are a soldier against sin and the devil, not against that protester.
“Happy Warrior” was someone else’s term, and “slay” is yours. If you are a confirmed Catholic we are on the same team.
My (edited) comment also suggested that perhaps jon was being holier than thou in his contrarianism. Peace Out.
by the way, Xavier – great advice: “don’t hold your breath.”
you may well pass out & hit your head waiting for the hierarchy.
Aren’t people who call others “judgmental” being “judgmental” themselves? Just asking.
James, your logic is unassailable.
A true philosopher.