Catholics across the country bristle when President Biden claims to belong to the church. And pro-life leaders say he didn't help matters when he gave a less-than-inspiring speech at Thursday's National Prayer Breakfast. Included in his message was a call for unity and a condemnation of the “political extremism” apparent at the Capitol Hill riots on January 6.
Brian Burch, the president of the national faith-based advocacy organization CatholicVote, called Biden's remarks "unremarkable" because he didn't address the issues most important to people of faith.
"President Biden's brief unremarkable address at the National Prayer Breakfast this morning ignored the aggressive and hostile steps already taken by his administration against people of faith, including the anti-science transgender mandate and the deeply unpopular decision to fund abortion around the world," Burch said in a statement.
"It’s important to also remember that President Biden does not speak for Catholics or the Church. In fact he explicitly departs from many of the Church's non-negotiable beliefs and teachings. For this reason, the Catholic Bishops of the United States have rightly pointed to deep concerns about Biden policies that would 'advance moral evils' on issues such as marriage, family, religious liberty, and the defense of vulnerable children in the womb.
"Our country is desperately in need of healing and unity. Throughout our history, our leaders have called the country to prayer and obedience to the truths of our Judeo-Christian heritage. President Biden’s words this morning were both underwhelming and disappointing.”
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On the campaign trail, Biden flip-flopped on the Hyde Amendment, the measure that bans federal funding of abortion, several times. And one of Biden's first executive actions was to revoke the Mexico City Policy, which will allow federal funds to go to overseas abortions.
Biden's Press Secretary Jen Psaki: the Biden administration is working to force taxpayer dollars to abortion providershttps://t.co/SqvMFdYXIh pic.twitter.com/7KFAtHzCGM
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) February 4, 2021
So you can see why his message at today's breakfast fell on deaf ears.
Progressive groups urged Biden not to attend the breakfast, but every president since Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953 has made an appearance.
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