As Townhall has covered, President Joe Biden and Speaker Nancy Pelosi pretending to be devout Catholics while publicly advocating for abortion has created something of a situation for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).
Next week, the Catholic bishops will meet virtually for their twice-annual gathering to discuss a number of action items, though the one gaining the most attention has to do with clarifying the Church's stance on abortion.
Pray for me and every one of my brother bishops, that the Holy Spirit will guide us next week. https://t.co/gBg1b30uIP
— Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone (@ArchCordileone) June 11, 2021
As Michael J. O'Loughlin with America Magazine reported:
Earlier this year, Bishop Kevin Rhoades, the chair of the doctrine committee of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, took the first steps in a process that could result in the bishops adopting a formal statement pertaining to “Eucharistic consistency.” According to a draft of the proposal, which was distributed to U.S. bishops along with a memo from the conference’s president, Archbishop José Gomez, on May 22, the proposed statement is a response to both a strategic plan that focuses on catechism about Communion as well as recommendations from a working group Archbishop Gomez created following President Joe Biden’s election last November. Mr. Biden, the nation’s second Catholic president, supports access to abortion, which the church condemns.
“The statement will be addressed to all Catholics,” the proposal reads, though it notes it would also “include the theological foundation for the Church’s discipline concerning the reception of Holy Communion and a special call for those Catholics who are cultural, political, or parochial leaders to witness the faith.”
Such a statement will not mention President Biden or Speaker Pelosi or any other figure by name. A pastoral letter from Nancy Pelosi's hometown archbishop, Salvatore Cordileone, as Townhall reported, stressed the importance of a pro-life stance for public figures, without referring to the speaker by name. Such a public rebuke would not be appropriate.
The statement will not merely apply to Biden or Pelosi, but to all Catholics. One could argue that by making themselves such high-profile Catholics while still actively advocating for pro-abortion policies, Biden and Pelosi are the ones making it about themselves.
Missing from Biden's $6 trillion budget proposal is Hyde Amendment language, which protects Americans from having to fund elective abortions with their taxpayer dollars. The Hyde Amendment has passed every year since 1976 with bipartisan support, including under the Obama Administration when Biden was vice president.
O'Loughlin also reported:
Nearly 70 bishops signed a letter dated May 13 asking Archbishop Gomez to delay the discussion about the document until bishops are able to meet in person.
“The serious nature of these issues—especially the imperative to forge substantive unity—makes it impossible to address them productively in the fractured and isolated setting of a distance meeting,” reads the one-page letter urging a delay on the vote, which was signed initially by four U.S. cardinals, including Washington, D.C., Cardinal Wilton Gregory.
But on May 22, Archbishop Gomez distributed a memo to all U.S. bishops informing them that the vote would take place in June. His memo noted that the proposal followed established protocols, which have been in place for decades.
This is the part that has received considerable attention, specifically from those who claim it is the Catholic bishops who are weaponizing the faith.
As Olafimihan Oshin recently reported for The Hill, "21,000 sign petition protesting US Catholic bishops vote on Biden, abortion," which focused on letters organized by Faithful America calling out the Catholic bishops.
That same group had issued yet another campaign against Archbishop Joseph Naumann, the Chairman of the USCCB's Committee on Pro-Life Activities, a position he was elected to by his fellow bishops. The campaign was in reaction to an interview Naumann gave to The Atlantic in March where he said Biden should not call himself "devout" and should not present himself for communion because of his pro-abortion stance.
As the Cardinal of Washington, D.C., Wilton Gregory is Biden's bishop when the president is in the district. Cardinal Gregory has signaled he will not deny Joe Biden communion over his stance on abortion and also took part in aspects of Biden's inaugural events. Speaker Pelosi has also done readings at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle, which is in Washington, D.C.
What really matters to the conversation, including and especially what the Vatican wants, is that the bishops take their time and have a sense of unity and consensus.
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