An official of the Catholic church has spoken strongly against President Joseph Biden, Jr. telling him to stop calling himself a "devout Catholic" considering he acts contrary to it, a report said.
Daily Wire on Monday said that United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Pro-Life Activities Chairman Archbishop Joseph Naumann expressed that Biden's open support for legalized abortion should put an end of his and his press secretary's repeated use of the label "devout Catholic" to refer to himself.
In an interview with Catholic World Report last Saturday, Naumann concretely identified why the president should stop the use of the said label since it is contrary to the teachings and beliefs of the Catholic Church.
Naumann, who is also the prelate of Kansas City, Kansas, was asked by Catholic World Report how American bishops should respond to Biden professing to be devout Catholic yet "is 100% pro-choice on abortion."
"I can tell you how this bishop is responding. The president should stop defining himself as a devout Catholic, and acknowledge that his view on abortion is contrary to Catholic moral teaching," Naumann said matter-of-factly.
"It would be a more honest approach from him to say he disagreed with his Church on this important issue and that he was acting contrary to Church teaching," he added. "When he says he is a devout Catholic, we bishops have the responsibility to correct him. Although people have given this president power and authority, he cannot define what it is to be a Catholic and what Catholic moral teaching is."
"What he is doing now is usurping the role of the bishops and confusing people. He's declaring that he's Catholic, and is going to force people to support abortion through their tax dollars. The bishops need to correct him, as the president is acting contrary to the Catholic faith," he stressed.
During the interview, Catholic World Report also asked the archbishop if he would give Biden Holy Communion after citing an incident back when the latter was still a Vice President and was denied it by a priest.
"I don't think I'll ever be in that situation; I don't anticipate him coming to Mass in Kansas and coming up to me to receive Communion," Neumann remarked, "I do believe that his bishop has a responsibility to dialogue with him about this issue. What he is supporting is a serious evil. I don't know the disposition of his mind and heart, but his act of supporting legal abortion is wrong."
The archbishop also expressed his belief that "the president has the responsibility not to present himself for Holy Communion" because by doing so, he is professing his belief that the Holy Eucharist is the "Real Presence of Jesus" and, thus, believes "in the teachings of the Church," which in reality he isn't considering he "doesn't believe in the Church's teachings on the Sanctity of Human Life." He pointed out that Biden "should know that after 78 years as a Catholic."
The Daily Wire cited the Catechism of the Catholic Church which states that "abortion is a grave moral evil that cannot be approve or tolerated in any circumstance." Notwithstanding, Biden's bishop, Washington Cardinal Wilton Gregory, has already announced that he is willing to give Biden Holy Communion if he presented himself for it.
