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Sunday, November 8, 2020

CAN PRESIDENT ELECT BIDEN HEAL THE CATHOLIC CHURCH? NO, HE’S NOT GOD OR THE POPE OR A BISHOP OR A LAY LEADER IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH OR IS HE?

 

Can Joe Biden heal a divided nation — and his own Catholic Church?

 
This article appears in the Election 2020 feature series. View the full series.

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Supporters of President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden shout at one another in Philadelphia during the vote count Nov. 5. (CNS/Reuters/Eduardo Munoz)
Supporters of President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden shout at one another in Philadelphia during the vote count Nov. 5. (CNS/Reuters/Eduardo Munoz) 

During the final week of his presidential campaign, Joe Biden said, "Pope Francis has asked questions that anyone who seeks to lead this great nation should answer." Now, as Biden is set to become the second Catholic president in the history of the United States, some Catholics are wondering if the candidate who regularly talks about his own faith and ran on a platform of bringing together the nation can also manage to help heal his own deeply divided church?

But I will say this, if a Catholic President Biden repents of his mortal sins of enabling abortion, euthanasia, infanticide and gender ideology and fake marriage, he can help heal other Catholics who are in a state of mortal sin embracing ideologies anathema to the Catholic Faith.

"The Catholic Church in the United States is as divided as the country's politics, and often because of politics," said David Gibson, director of Fordham University's Center on Religion and Culture.

Throughout the campaign, Biden — whose support for legal abortion puts him at odds with church teaching — was subject to criticism about his faith, with some church figures suggesting he is not a real Catholic. Yet some church observers are warning that such hostility could backfire and further alienate Catholics who support the president-elect.

READ THE REST AT THE NATIONAL CHISMATIC REPORTER HERE

MY COMMENTS:


I think President Elect Biden will reach across the aisle, won’t tweet inflammatory statements and will be perceived to be more honest in his statements than President Trump. Yes, I believe that a President Biden will help heal that aspect of division in our country. However, there will always be political differences, but with a President Biden, I think those divisions will be toned down. 

But the Catholic Church, can Biden heal it? At his President Elect speech on Saturday night Biden spoke briefly about his faith without mentioning “Catholic” in it. 

One thing he said and has said before and it is indeed a cliche, but a nice one, is: “When I leave home my dad would say to ‘Keep the Faith” and my mom would say “no Joey, spread it around.” Okay, a nice cliche. 

But then, and this is the divisive kicker, he said one song of his faith has meant so much to him and that song you ask? ON EAGLE’S WINGS!

Yes, this song represent the great liturgical divide of the 1970’s types who think “On Eagle’s Wings” is the cat’s meow! Just too cool and really, really groovy! “It’s bad!” But in the 1970’s sense, that’s good. 

I call it the “You Who” song. And every person my age and older demands that it be sung at their funeral or funerals they plan. 

No a Catholic President Biden, as long as he touts “On Eagle’s Wings” the Catholic song of the ages, cannot  heal the Catholic Church.

Only the Holy Spirit can heal the Catholic Church as His powerful winds and “eagle like wings” that of a Dove chases any eagles away!

But I will say this, if a Catholic President Biden repents of his mortal sins of enabling abortion, euthanasia, infanticide and gender ideology and fake marriage, he can help heal other Catholics who are in a state of mortal sin embracing ideologies anathema to the Catholic Faith.

43 comments:

Anonymous said...

Correct on all counts Father......especially that "Eagles Wings". If I hear that song one more time I think I will hurl.........

Anonymous said...

"You who" may choose not to be healed won't be.

"When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth." - Matthew 19:22

Anonymous said...

Healed from what? Just curious. Hatred of Abortion? If that is the case I will CHOOSE NOT to be healed.

Anonymous said...

In truth, Biden is a Lapsed Catholic who no longer believes what the Church teaches on key moral issues. Yet, Biden loves to remind everyone how “Catholic” he is, AND he also likes to remind everyone how pro-choice (ie pro-abortion) he is; and he likes to SHOW everyone how pro-homosexuality he is. As he does this, and he will, the question will naturally arise in the minds of most Americans (Catholic and non-Catholic) : has the Catholic Church changed its teaching on abortion and homosexuality?

Of course, we know the Catholic Church has not changed its teaching on abortion and homosexuality; but Americans will think: if Catholic teaching has not changed, and Joe Biden opposes Catholic teaching openly and the US bishops neither say nor do anything about it, then obviously, those teachings must NOT be very important.
How many bishops will speak out against the heresy of Biden’s public positions and speak out against the sacrilege of him receiving communion every time he goes to Mass? If the vast majority of US bishops refuse to say a word, which is quite likely, then most Americans, Catholic and non-Catholic, will conclude that what the Catholic Church teaches on abortion and homosexuality are not very important to the very people charged with teaching them.

In general, episcopal authority will be regarded as a joke in the USA; at least, that is how Americans will see it. They’ll largely believe that Catholicism just can’t be taken seriously anymore, at least in the USA. For the Catholic-in-Chief Biden will have demonstrated himself, with his own actions, that the US Catholic bishops are nothing but paper tigers. Thus, there is no need to listen to them anymore - about anything really.......

......the US Catholic bishops will finally have a president of their own making, and a product of their “pastoral accompaniment”, which they completely deserve.

(The above is a brief summary of an article - “the US Catholic Church under a Biden presidency” -from the blog/website “Complete Christianity” by Shane Schaetzel.....which I can highly recommend.)

AJP.

Dan Z. said...

During President Trump's first term (and I believe he will do what Grover Cleveland did) we regularly had letters and statements from bishops and even the pope criticizing and even condemning President Trump on refugees/immigration, alleged racism, and overall demeanor. It seems like every few months a bishop's letter opposing President Trump in some way or form would be reproduced in our weekly bulletin. What I want to see is if these same bishops and even the pope, will put the same pressure on "President" Biden. Will we see regular letters and statements criticizing and even condemning "President" Biden on abortion, euthanasia, rioting and looting, same sex marriage? Will we see Pope Francis' under-reported comment that a politician who supports abortion is as evil as a mafia hitman used to attack Biden just as his "someone who builds walls cannot be called Christian" comment was used to attack President Trump? As Biden says he is Catholic, will the bishops threaten excommunication of him unless he publicly repents of his public actions opposing Catholic teachings? My guess is "no", the USCBB and the pope will not say a single word against Biden. And that would be a real scandal and real corruption regarding the American Bishops, weakening their moral authority and credibility among the faithful to an all time low.

Anonymous said...

In his homily this morning our celebrant was citing the gospel parable of the ten virgins, five prepared and five not prepared. He then spoke about the huge division in our country and in our Church. He made an interesting point that I hadn’t considered: He said God would rather there be division if it involved those who love and support His Holy Will and Truth versus those who do not. If all were united with each other against God’s Truth, and ignoring His Will, our lives would be misspent and all of us unprepared for our Bridegroom. He then made the point that there will be a reckoning either in this life or the next. Who will be ready...

Anonymous said...

Your celebrant is very wise........wish I had been there......

Anonymous said...

1) There are restrictions to using the word Catholic. EWTN picked its name because they were not permitted legally to use the word Catholic. Should President Biden be allowed to publicly call himself Catholic? That is not saying excommunicated. It is saying that as the head of a large public organization, he legally should not be permitted to publicly declare himself Catholic.Opinion of course. While legalizing policies that are in direct conflict with the Catholic Church, I wonder if he should be permitted to receive holy communion. When he does receive, he is both receiving as an individual and as the head of a large public organization that advances ideals contrary to the Catholic Church. Opinion of course. I wonder if leaders of the Catholic Church should be publicly associate with him, Catholic Church leaders should not place themselves in scandalous situations. When in church meeting his Sunday obligation, should he be granted a seat of prominence? Perhaps Church leaders should demand that his seat be limited to the crying room so that he has first hand witness to what his legacy has destroyed.

2) One thing about Donald Trumps is that THEY WERE HONEST !!! He didn't mince words or use double talk. I watched one of Biden's speeches he gave today. I wondered, why is he screaming? He has a microphone right in front of , he sounds like Stalin! What kind of person screams telling people what to do? It was ironic.

Anonymous said...

"One thing about Donald Trumps is that THEY WERE HONEST !!!"

Come, now...

"Donald Trump has made 20,000 false or misleading claims while in office, according to the Washington Post, which identified a “tsunami of untruths” emanating from the Oval Office."

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jul/13/donald-trump-20000-false-or-misleading-claims

Anonymous said...

Which Church? The post-conciliar ape of a church that is not even the same religion? Or THE One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church? A blaspheming heretic will NEVER be able to heal the one true Church. Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart will Triumph.

Anonymous said...

Someone asked if there were any Catholics who were followers of Q-Anon.

I told them to read the comments on this blog.

Anonymous said...

So Joe Biden has enabled "fake marriage"? How? It wasn't Congress that approved same-sex marriage; it was the U.S. Supreme Court. It was a regretful decision of course, but unlikely to be reversed, so not much point in wailing about it.

Fr. Allan J. McDonald said...

As soon as it was legalized and as VP, he presided at the nuptials of two men. That’s enablement.

rcg said...

Fr McDonald, you give Yoo-Hoo! A bad name.

Paul McCarthy said...

Father are you saying the exorcism prayer to save this once great nation that feared God but now mocks him. I doubt it.

The truth will be known or we will reap the whirlwind.

Anonymous said...

"PRESIDENT-ELECT BIDEN".

That's funny.

Get real Father. You're either part of the solution, or you're part of the problem.

Anonymous said...

When you publicly oppose Church on fundamental issues you are not a good Catholic and if you are in public office you give scandal.
As flawed as Trump was as an individual,at least he was not a Catholic giving bad example.

Anonymous said...

Anon@6.15,

Do you even know what QAnon is? And what it is QAnon people are obsessed with? It is really quite a different subject matter compared to what 99% of the time is discussed here.

Can I have a guess at what motivated your bizarre comment?
Do you feel uncomfortable and even confused that sane and intelligent people here can at times present both views and beliefs, you oppose, in a logical and intelligent way?
And you cope with your confusion and or discomfort by claiming a lot of people who contribute here are crazy conspiracy theorists?

Your claim is really quite weird. I don't recall "Q" and what QAnon people believe "Q" is up to ever referred to on this blog once.

Dear Anon@6.15,
Why not try to present some arguments as well as Fr K and Anonymous 2 are capable of when they want to disagree with the views of the majority who contribute here?
Give it a try; we could do with a laugh.

Anonymous said...

Hearing Virginia Democrat Abigail Spanberger lashing out at colleagues cheered me up yesterday: she said:

“We need to be pretty clear about the fact that Tuesday, from a congressional standpoint, was a failure.......we lost members we should not have lost.”.
And why did they lose?
Ms Spanberger again : “The number one concern and thing that people bought to me in my district, that I barely re-won, was defunding police”.
She went on to say the Democrats should NOT ever again use the words socialist and socialism “because while some Democrats think it doesn’t matter, it does matter. And we lost good members because of that.”
She closed with a prediction: “.....if we run this way again in 2022 we will get torn apart!”

This cheered me up because firstly I think it unlikely the Democrats will follow Ms Spanberger’s advice in 2022 and 2024. I believe they can’t help themselves. For example, ignoring or neglecting the white fly-over working class who propelled Trump to power in the first place.
Also, I liked having a Demonicrat explain why Biden will very likely be a legislatively crippled Commander in Chief, so hobbled by a Republican Senate that leaves him - as Stephen L Miller put it - perhaps the weakest Democratic president since 1884.

As well, hopefully the Republicans will build on support gained by Trump across several demographics; eg married women; the significantly increased Black and Hispanic turnout for Republicans.......also, the Islamic vote for Trump came in at 35%; and the number of gay Trump voters doubled between 2016 and 2020......quite a diverse coalition!

If the Democrats continue their obsession with various culture issues (for example, the agenda of “trans” activists) of the coastal urban elites and neglecting the economic plight of tens of millions and not worrying enough about improving their way of life that has been declining for years......and talking on and on of implementing a trillion dollar Green New Deal....then after November 2022 the Biden administration will be even more dead in the water......

And, as I pray will happen, Biden or Harris could lose in a landslide in 2024.

Anonymous said...

Don’t put that responsibility on Joe. He’s got enough on his plate. Let him fix Trump’s mess, and let the Pope & bishops & Catholics of good will heal the Church.

Anonymous said...

Father Allan at 6:31PM

Why wasn't Biden called out for that by his Bishop? Why wasn't he Denied Communion? It would seem to me that Biden excommunicated himself by presiding over a gay wedding.....

Anonymous said...

As Father noted, the same-sex marriage was legal, but of course against church teachings. Same situation as Catholic Clarence Thomas presiding over Rush Limbaugh’s third/fourth/fifth wedding, whatever the case may be. Has he excommunicated himself?

Fr. Allan J. McDonald said...

A@6:05 of course you are correct. But the NCR crowd thinks a corrupt politician can fix the Church, I guess because corrupt bishops haven’t.

In terms of the nuptials the Vice President officiated, I don’t know if that merits excommunication. Catholics may be “justices of the peace” who frequently preside over civil marriages as part of their legal responsibilities.

Anonymous said...

Father, please tell us why you call Biden “corrupt,” and please cite substantiated evidence, not hurt feelings or policy stands you disagree with. In addition to despair and glaring, shouldn’t we also abstain from bearing false witness against our neighbors?

Anonymous said...

Father, if Catholics may preside as justices of the peace, then why bring up the Biden example and then weasel out of it when I mentioned the Clarence Thomas counter-example? Obviously, you knew that before you made the first comment but wanted to spin it to smear Biden. Your arguments here are very biased & disingenuous.

Anonymous said...

It is good to read widely and follow a number of blogs; and read a variety of journals, from time to time.

Today I read that in Oklahoma a “non binary” Muslim woman, Mauree Turner has been elected to the State House. I wonder how it would work out for Mauree Turner should she fly to Saudi Arabia or Pakistan etc and try to assert her identity there? Many there take the Qur’an quite seriously; including Qur’an 49:13 “Allah created you male and female”.
Are not female Muslim politicians in the West, including Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib and now Mauree Turner and others, aware that the different things they do and say and support here in the West could get them stoned to death in a number of Muslim majority nations?
I am searching for the right words now to describe this situation; a sort of irony, a kind of hypocrisy.......? Or living near constantly in a quasi delusional state of mind?

.......( I am sorry to go off topic here, but I can’t resist, as John Nolan and 1 or 2 others may read this; but this same journal informed me that 3 Palestinian NGOs have hired lawyers to sue Great Britain for the 1917 Balfour Declaration, which say the plaintiffs, has been the cause of the subsequent misery the Palestinian people have suffered to this day...Seriously ! .... By the way,....like John Nolan, myself and most of my large extended family have both English and Irish ancestry; we need someone to advise us whether our family lawyer would have more luck to sue Great Britain for the Corn Laws or for the deeds of Oliver Cromwell? )

John Nolan said...

Although Donald Trump, echoing Dylan Thomas, will not 'go gentle into that good night', Biden will be sworn in as President in January next year. From a UK perspective whether or not he is a good Catholic is irrelevant. The crucial issues are a) the military and strategic response to the rise of China as a malevolent Power and b) future trading relations post-Brexit.

There is also the question of Biden's age. Should he have to resign due to ill-health Harris would have the White House. Come back Hillary, all is forgiven!

Fr. Allan J. McDonald said...

Wasn’t it the Kentucky JP who went to jail for refusing to break natural law as it concerns unnatural “marriage” and perhaps Catholics should be barred from performing and attending invalid and/or unnatural nuptials. I think there may be a canon law forbidding Catholics from participating in invalid marriages as well as abortions. So yes, Justice Thomas and PE Biden need to repent.

Barisma and Hunter Biden and his vp dad— no corruption there? I have a bridge in the Ukrainie to sell you and one in China.

Anonymous said...

"Wasn’t it the Kentucky JP who went to jail for refusing to break natural law...

Nope. Civil penalties don't apply to violations of Natural Law.

She went to jail for violating civil law - as she should have.

Anonymous said...


"Barisma and Hunter Biden and his vp dad" -- you are just parroting catchphrases you saw online or on Fox. They're not evidence. You don't know any, do you?

Coach K said...

Father, a judge ordered Donald Trump to pay $25 million in a fraud settlement to people who paid thousands to his "Trump University." He paid fines because his New York rental company wouldn't rent to minorities. He used money from his charitable foundation to pay legal expenses for his corporation. He used money from his charitable foundation to buy a portrait of himself? He paid a fine for lying to the SEC about stocks that he owned. He's paid settlements to dozens of contractors who say he tried to stiff them for work. He's paid settlements to former mistresses who claim he paid for abortions. He paid a quarter-milion settlement to the NJ Gaming Commission because his casino made gifts to a mob boss, a John Gotti associate. Last year, he agreed to pay a 2 million fine (payable to eight charities) because he was using Trump foundation money for campaign expenses. He taken millions from taxpayers by requiring government agencies to use his golf clubs and hotels and pressured foreign governments to do the same.
All of these are on the public record, not accusations, as you like to claim.
You may be unaware of them because they haven't been reported on Fox News or Breitbart.
So you still haven't told us why you believe Joe Biden is "corrupt.
But I don't believe that over the past four years you've ever called Trump a corrupt president.
Why is that?

Anonymous said...

John,
Apparently, many moderate Democrats, and others, will be relieved that Ms Harris may no longer be eager to shove Biden aside and take over as a legislatively crippled Commander in Chief.

Anonymous said...



This week, foreign ministers from the US, Australia, Japan and India- colloquially known as the quad -met in Tokyo for talks on how to meet the China challenge. China has interpreted what Mike Pompeo and Marise Payne have said, for example: wanting the region, ( especially the disputed islands of the South China Sea - one of the world’s most important trade routes - which China is claiming and militarising) to be governed by rules not power, as in effect Cold War-style containment....

...but in Cold War 2.0 China is a more powerful adversary than the Soviet Union. It is possible that a resurgent China and a weakened America is moving us all closer to a moment of reckoning. China is on track to become the biggest economy in the world. Lowy Institute China specialists point out this could occur as early as 2028. Experts predict China’s economy to grow at 8% in 2021. By contrast, the USA is devastated by COVID-19 with a lot of its economy still locked down. To Xu Jinping, this moment is not just political or economic - it is ideological: he really believes the China model is superior and that his country’s moment has come.

Foreign policy is not Kamala Harris’s strong point.
It is foolish to think China can be simply contained. Diplomacy and alliance strengthening are going to be critical and a strong, decisive US is essential. The stakes are high and demand more than point scoring.....Australia is updating its defence strategy, increasing spending and investing in new weaponry to be prepared for what Scott Morrison has called “a poorer, more disordered and more dangerous world”.
Harris has pointed out that Pew Research indicates America’s allies had a dimmer view of Trump than Xi Jinping ...is that really something to be pleased about?......
conflict in the Indo-Pacific is no longer unthinkable. China and India have clashed on their disputed border this year....

The rise of an authoritarian superpower such as China will dramatically alter the balance of power......and it IS quite worrying that with Biden’s age AND to put it politely at least some significant mental decline, this GIANT problem may soon be on her desk.

Anonymous said...

Coach K,

The sources of the Kennedy fortune were quite “colourful” to say the least; LBJ was totally unscrupulous in many ways; also, is everything claimed against the Clintons all mere accusations, and likely to be 100% false? For over 100 years, most US presidents have taken big risks with the constitution. Politics, achieving wealth and power etc is a dirty game for almost all who play it. For over 100 years, Carter and maybe Ford are exceptions; most major players in US politics for a long time have been in their owns ways as sleazy as Trump....

Would you find it hard to admit Trump might have achieved anything good? Like not involving the USA in any wars for 4 years. I read today Trump was the first president since Carter to achieve that.

Anonymous said...


Carter was also a one-term president, as you recall, because he wasn't good at much else. He's 90-something and conservatives hate him to this day.

John Nolan said...

I don't want to get involved in US domestic politics, and Trump, for all his faults, is a better friend to my country than is Biden. US/UK co-operation in defence matters is at an all-time high as the RN moves towards a power projection based on carrier strike forces.

Reagan was widely seen to be pro-British but when Argentina invaded the Falklands in 1982 he initially sat on the fence and his Secretary of State Al Haig actively supported the Argentinians, although this did not come to light until 2012. It was the Secretary of Defense Cap Weinberger who stepped up to the plate and was afterwards rewarded with a knighthood.

Biden's cabinet appointments are therefore crucial.

Anonymous said...

To me, more than whether Biden is corrupt or not, is the issue of his differences with fundamental Church teaching. His support of abortion funding, research using fetal stem cells, and same-sex marriage being foremost among these differences. Unlike an issue such as immigration, these can never be considered or decided with prudential judgement.

Mr. Biden,as a Catholic, should never have officiated at a "same-sex" wedding. As far as Mr Limbaugh, since he is a non- Catholic, annulment is not something he could have availed himself of, and by marrying someone of the opposite sex, he did not violate natural law.



Anonymous at 8:13:

The Kentucky JP went to jail because she put God's law above civil law.

I pray that Mr. Biden will become a good Catholic, faithful to all Church laws and teachings.

Anonymous said...

"As far as Mr Limbaugh, since he is a non- Catholic, annulment is not something he could have availed himself of, and by marrying someone of the opposite sex, he did not violate natural law."

This false notion - that non-Catholics are free to do what they want since they don't have to follow Catholic marriage rules - is nonsense.

There WERE no Catholics when: "Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart, he wrote you this commandment Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for unlawful marriage, and marries another woman commits adultery And in the house, the disciples began to question him about this again And he said to them. “Whoever divorces his wife, and marries another woman commits adultery against her, and if she herself divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery.”

This applies to ALL people, including the four-times married, adulterous Flush Limbaugh. God has been wise to give no children Mr. Limbaugh

Anonymous said...

"The Kentucky JP went to jail because she put God's law above civil law."

Baloney.

If this is so, show me the portion of the Kentucky penal code that makes putting God's law above civil law a crime. This section will, of course, determine WHICH God's law is in question and spell out the punishments for violators.

She went to jail for breaking civil law.

Anonymous said...

And she was NOT a HERO as I have heard some of my Catholic Community say. If she wanted to do something heroic she could have resigned her position rather than break the law.......then taken steps to make her case.

Anonymous said...

She put God's law above civil law and paid the price. Yes, it would have been better had she resigned her position but either way she would have put God's law above man's.

What Jesus said applies to all people but not in the same way. A Catholic divorcing and remarrying without getting an annulment beforehand is a whole different situation than someone such as Mr. Limbaugh. You conveniently forget about the Samaritan woman at the well.

Anonymous said...

Often after any election I remember an old G K Chesterton quote:

"We do not so much need to get good laws to restrain bad people as we need to get good people to restrain us from bad laws."

Anonymous said...

Often after any election I remember an old G K Chesterton quote:

"We do not so much need to get good laws to restrain bad people as we need to get good people to restrain us from bad laws."