Is Biden really a ‘good Catholic’?

OPINION:

“He doesn’t understand the Catholic faith.” 

That’s what a Catholic bishop recently said about President Biden, a rosary-carrying, self-professed “good Catholic” who has spent the bulk of his presidency advancing issues and causes that explicitly violate Vatican teachings. 

Bishop Robert Gruss of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saginaw in Michigan wasn’t done there, going on to express other eyebrow-raising sentiments. 

“I’m not angry at him,” the bishop added, at one point calling the president “stupid” in a recent talk on forgiveness. “I feel sorry for him. That’s different.” 

It should come as no surprise that the bishop’s head-turning commentary about Mr. Biden being “stupid” made a media splash, even though he said he didn’t mean it in a “derogatory way.” 

At another point, Mr. Gruss said something else worth noting — that Mr. Biden is “not living the life Jesus wants for him.” 

The media furor was, of course, swift, with Mr. Gruss putting out a subsequent April 20 statement presumably attempting to temper the storm. In it, he apologized and attempted to offer an explanation of words he said were “taken out [of] context.”

“I used the word ‘stupid’ in reference to President Biden, recognizing that it was poor judgment in my choice of words,” Mr. Gruss wrote. “It was not meant to be disparaging, and I apologize.”

Use of the word “stupid” aside, this kerfuffle forces to the surface an uncomfortable question many have pondered over the years: Is Mr. Biden really a “good Catholic”? Furthermore, does he understand what Catholics believe about the issues of the day?

And if he does comprehend it all, why has he chosen to advance some of the most progressive social policies imaginable, those that go directly against the teachings of the Catholic Church? These are important curiosities we must answer, particularly when both major party candidates are courting religious people.

Mr. Biden, who attends Mass regularly, has consistently and repeatedly called himself a “practicing Catholic.” The media have often helped further this narrative, with NPR delivering a flowery piece in 2020 about how the then-presidential candidate leans heavily on his faith.

“When Joe Biden seeks to inspire or comfort, he turns to his faith,” the lede read. “His speeches are woven with references to God, biblical language or the pope.”

The article asserted that those who most know Mr. Biden believe “his Catholic faith is central to how he sees the world.” 

And John McCarthy, who has long served on Biden’s team, said Mr. Biden’s campaign wasn’t “just talking about faith to faith voters,” but was “being who he authentically is — which is a person of faith.”

But if Mr. Biden is so inspired by his religion — if Catholicism is so central to his being — why do some of his policies fervently fly in the face of all that is good and holy? It becomes increasingly apparent that there’s a profound disconnect when Mr. Gruss and other prominent Catholic leaders find themselves in a near-constant battle to halt or turn back from slips of the tongue revealing what they truly think about Mr. Biden’s Catholic identity.

The reality is any of us can claim an allegiance, ideology or belief system. But our words can carry us only so far. In the end, actions provide corroboration for what we claim to believe in our hearts. And when you’re the most powerful person in the free world enacting policies that directly contradict your stated values, something seems amiss.

I don’t purport to know what’s in Mr. Biden’s heart, though I can very clearly see what he’s advocating. On the abortion front, Mr. Biden has railed against laws protecting the unborn and has fervently campaigned on abortion rights, rhetorically jabbing his beloved Catholic Church in the eyes again and again. 

His actions have led some bishops to conclude he shouldn’t be eligible to receive Communion. But Mr. Biden said after a meeting with Pope Francis in 2021 that all was well on that front and that the pontiff believes he’s a “good Catholic.”

“We just talked about the fact that he was happy I was a good Catholic and keep receiving Communion,” Mr. Biden said, offering an alleged summary of the meeting. 

Since that time, the president has amped up his abortion rhetoric. On Tuesday, he made the sign of the cross at an abortion rally in Florida, sparking furor among those who saw it as a sign he was insulting Catholicism. 

Mr. Biden’s administration has also heralded gender ideology, further infusing it into culture, encouraging educators to foist it upon children, and overhauling Title IX to include “gender identity.” This dynamic is particularly fascinating as the Vatican recently released a declaration rejecting the notion that a person’s gender can be changed. 

“It follows that any sex-change intervention, as a rule, risks threatening the unique dignity the person has received from the moment of conception,” the Catholic Church’s “Infinite Dignity” read.

Yet Mr. Biden, despite his claims of being a “good Catholic,” seems to have missed that memo. In 2022, he released a video telling parents of trans-identifying kids the best way to keep them “safe and healthy” is to affirm their “identity.” He also heralded what he called the “brave” nature of “transgender, nonbinary and gender-nonconforming people.”

Despite Mr. Biden talking about his faith, very few Americans see him with an elevated religiosity. According to the Pew Research Center, just 13% of U.S. adults believe Mr. Biden is “very” religious, though 41% said he’s “somewhat” faithful. An additional 44% see him as either “not too” or “not at all” religious.

At the end of the day, if it doesn’t walk like a duck or quack like one — it’s very likely not one, regardless of how it identifies. Mr. Biden’s policies and priorities are outside the Catholic norm, and any claim to the contrary is a denial of reality. 

• Billy Hallowell is a digital TV host and interviewer for Faithwire and CBN News and the co-host of CBN’s “Quick Start Podcast.” He is the author of four books.