A Catechism to Save Biden’s Soul

In the span of a few brief centuries, what was once an uncharted wilderness has risen to become the single most powerful nation on earth: the United States of America. 

This great nation is currently governed by a President who claims to be Roman Catholic: a tenure of Church–State relations that should have been cause for universal rejoicing and incredible victories for the salvation of souls, the exaltation of Holy Mother Church, and the social reign of Christ the King.

Instead, President Joe Biden has done the opposite.

Continuing a long train of lamentably anti-Catholic acts of governance, Biden’s recent State of the Union Address engaged an audience of millions—indeed, of billions around the world—to advocate for “reproductive freedom,” promising to “restore Roe v. Wade as the law of the land,” so that women in our fine country might kill their own children at will, and with government underwriting to boot.

Lambasting those who have spent decades advocating for the unborn, Biden went so far as to take God’s name in vain in the House Chamber: “Many of you in this Chamber and my predecessor are promising to pass a national ban on reproductive freedom. My God, what freedoms will you take away next?”

One is left wondering precisely which god Joe Biden does serve, since this deity apparently demands the murder of innocents. Huitzilopochtli, perhaps? In any event, it cannot be Jesus Christ. One is left wondering precisely which god Joe Biden does serve, since this deity apparently demands the murder of innocents. Huitzilopochtli, perhaps? In any event, it cannot be Jesus Christ.Tweet This

Now, for any who may need a catechism refresher, Biden’s statements on the House floor would qualify as grave external violations of the First and Fifth Commandments. They contain irreverence, scandal, and moral cooperation in murder—or rather, hundreds of thousands of murders. The president’s eternal salvation is in the gravest danger.

It is perhaps even more lamentable to see how American Catholics no longer expect any public correction of him from their bishops; and certainly none from Rome. 

Indeed, the situation seems quite the contrary: Pope Francis reportedly hails Joe Biden as a “good Catholic” who should receive Holy Communion, publicly maintaining that the little “incoherence” of Biden’s stance on abortion is a matter of the President’s personal conscience. Besides having already proven a dismal failure for decades (one thinks of the Ostpolitik of Pope Paul VI), it is hard to see how such a “dialogue” approach in this context could constitute anything other than the gravest omission. When the shepherd refuses to call the sheep from the cliff’s edge, he can hardly be called “pastoral.”

Fortunately, God is not entirely without witness in the hierarchy.

At this historic juncture, the faithful need an enduring public record, an artifact, a monument—a Catholic catechism that pulls no punches. Ideally, such a text should engage issues like the grave evil of abortion and the public scandal of officials advocating for it, and at least suggest some remedy.

While the Catechism of the Catholic Church (2018) laudably condemns abortion and has an excellent subsection on the sin of scandal, it says nothing practical on the score. The US Bishops’ Catholic Catechism for Adults (2006) likewise stops short of application, content with posing a discussion question: “How can individuals and families promote respect for life and the value of life in the world today?”

In point of fact, there has not been a comprehensive guide to the Catholic religion written in sixty years that spells out what must be done—per the Church’s constant moral doctrine and current Code of Canon Law—with the kind of grave public scandal just given by the President of the United States before the eyes of the world.

Happily, that recently changed. 

In Credo: Compendium of the Catholic Faith by Bishop Athanasius Schneider, one finds precisely the kind of intellectual and spiritual remedy and call to conversion that Joe Biden—and not a few of his pastors in the Church—desperately need today.

In this clear and simple summary of Catholic faith and morals, one finds these bracing statements:

745. What of Catholics in public office who act contrary to Church teaching? 
This is at least a sin of negligence and scandal, for which they should be corrected by their pastors with a view to repentance and redressing the scandal caused. If they continue such acts, they must be publicly admonished for the sake of the salvation of their souls, and if still unrepentant and obstinate, be excluded from the reception of the sacraments. The words of St. Ambrose apply to Catholics in any rank of public office: “The emperor is within the Church, not over the Church; a good emperor seeks the aid of the Church, he does not reject it.” (Credo, p. 104)

497. What of politicians who advocate for any form of legalized murder?
They are complicit in grave sin, and may be publicly opposed. If they profess to be Catholic, they should be admonished by the Church’s pastors, suitably punished in canon law if obstinate and unrepentant, and not admitted to Holy Communion until they have repented and repaired the scandal. (Credo, p. 188)

540. What of Catholics who are publicly known to commit such sins?
Catholics engaged in [public sin]... must be regarded as public sinners, and until they have repented and been reconciled to the Church, they must be denied Holy Communion by any minister of the sacrament (see Mt 18:17). (Credo, p. 194)

541. Isn’t this discipline overly harsh toward sinners, whom Our Lord invites us to love?
No. Authentic love is inseparable from truth, and the Church is obliged to honor Our Lord in the Eucharist and save the public sinner from eating and drinking judgment unto himself (see 1 Cor 11:29). (Credo, p. 194)

Here, Credo prescribes the same clear, charitable, decidedly Catholic approach that has always characterized true pastors of souls. Anything less, as Credo explains, “would be a failure in charity and justice, and cause serious scandal” in itself. “‘Woe to those that call evil good’ (Is 5:20), for, ‘if you do not warn him… the wicked man will die in his iniquity, and I will hold you responsible for his blood’ (Ez 3:18*)” (Credo, p. 307).

With a guide like Credo, Catholics can at least find the Church’s timeless faith and moral praxis in plain black and white—even when many of her current officeholders fail to proclaim it or carry it out. 

Let us pray that civil and ecclesiastical leaders around the world may take to heart the fact the Catholic name alone is not sufficient for salvation, as even the Second Vatican Council recalled: 

All the Church’s children should remember…. if they fail to respond to grace in thought, word, and deed, not only shall they not be saved, but they will be more severely judged. (Lumen Gentium, n. 14)

Briefly: In hell, Catholics burn the hottest. We do well to recall this in Lent.