Joe Biden’s Diagnosis: A Call to Prayer and a Reckoning With Eternal Truth

On May 18, 2025, the news broke that Joseph Robinette Biden Jr., the 46th president of the United States and one of the most recognizable Catholic figures in modern American political life, was diagnosed with advanced, metastatic prostate cancer. The cancer, classified with a Gleason score of 9—aggressive and spreading to his bones—is no trivial diagnosis. Though still hormone-sensitive and medically manageable to a degree, for a man of his age and medical history, it is virtually a death sentence. It is the kind of diagnosis that forces even the most secular of societies to confront the fragility of life. And for those who live in the household of faith, it demands reflection not only on mortality but on the state of the soul.

The coincidence of Biden’s diagnosis being announced publicly the very same week that CNN anchor Jake Tapper’s book about Joe Biden is released is striking, to say the least. Some are going to be dismissive about the two events, but I tend to lean on the side of this being more than mere happenstance. I believe any discerning reader and listener is going to ask deeper questions.

For one thing, prostate cancer, even in its most aggressive forms, doesn’t spring up in advanced stages overnight. Biden’s diagnosis apparently carries a Gleason score of 9 with bone metastasis. The implication is that this is a slow-developing, malignant form of the disease and would have easily taken months, if not a few years, to get to this point. It is nigh unbelievable to posit that this wasn’t caught in his annual health screening or whatever rigorous health protocols come with the office of the presidency. To try to present the narrative that this was just recently discovered and is now being disclosed to the American people and the world is simply untenable. 

In no way do I want to suggest conspiracy here. Rather, I do posit a lack of clarity in the presentation of the narrative. The political optics and media timing of this announcement seem to be part of a carefully woven fabric of messaging. Despite this, the haunting and sobering truth still stands: no matter how well-scripted the press release, terminal illness cannot be spin-managed—and neither can the reality that all of us will face the judgment seat of Christ.

While responses from across the political spectrum have varied in tone and content, what has been most striking is the rare, uplifting, unified outpouring of prayer and compassion from both allies and rivals. President Donald Trump, Kamala Harris, and commentators like Meghan McCain have all issued prayers and well-wishes. These reactions remind us of a simple but powerful truth: before we are presidents or partisans, we are men and women made in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:27). The reality of suffering levels all ranks. It silences the crowd, drowns out the narrative, and draws our eyes upward in prayer.

The issue here is that this moment isn’t merely about the health of Joe Biden. It is about the soul of a man who has often worn the badge of Catholicism publicly while willfully advancing policies and ideologies that are in direct contradiction with the teachings of the Church he claims to love. It is also about a national and global culture that has embraced a destructive blurring of religious and moral lines in the name of secular ideologies. Regardless of public persona or private sanctity, it is about the moment each one of us will face when we must stand before Christ not as a senator or a president or a voter but as a human person.

A Famous Catholic…in Name?

Joe Biden once described himself, in the 2012 vice-presidential debate, as someone for whom religion is “what [he] grew up with.” He asserted, “My religion defines who I am. I’ve been a practicing Catholic my whole life” (Vice Presidential Debate, October 11, 2012). One can confess that on a purely human level there is something truly admirable about a man publicly acknowledging that faith plays a foundational role in his life. However, in the case of President Biden, what his lips have professed and what his hands have done seem to be worlds apart.

In 2022, Biden said plainly, “I’m not big on abortion,” citing his Catholic upbringing as a reason. Yet, in the same breath, he defended the full framework of Roe v. Wade, stating: “I believe Roe got it right” (ABC News Interview, May 2022). He has repeatedly pushed for codifying abortion rights into federal law, directly contradicting the Church’s unambiguous teaching that abortion is a moral evil and that every human life is sacred from the moment of conception to natural death (CCC 2271).

In that same vein, he has blatantly and vocally been in support of both transgender ideology and homosexual unions, even falsely calling the latter “marriages.” Both of these moral issues stand in grave contradiction to the natural and divinely revealed reality of human existence and marriage and sexuality. 

The then Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, in 2003, affirmed, “respect for homosexual persons cannot lead in any way to approval of homosexual behavior or to legal recognition of homosexual unions” (Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions Between Homosexual Persons, 2003). Biden, in his public service, declared homosexual “marriages” to be a “great civil rights achievement,” even going so far as to perform homosexual “wedding” ceremonies himself while serving as vice president (Washington Post, “Biden Officiates Same-Sex Wedding,” August 2, 2016). The public scandal of this act from a self-professed Catholic goes without saying.

Hence, it is crucial for us to acknowledge that this is not merely a matter of political prudence or pragmatic compromise. Joe Biden has been the proponent for the public advancement of policies that place one at odds with the immutable, divinely revealed, natural moral law. Thereby, through his actions, he has been demonstrably oppositional to the perennial moral teachings of the Catholic Church. Biden may invoke the name of the Church, but a public record of statements, policies, and actions, is also a confession. “You shall know them by their fruits,” our Lord said (Matthew 7:16). And in this moment of his crisis of health, faced with the fragility of life, his fruits deserve sober examination.

The Fleeting Seduction of Earthly Power

Because of all of this, there is something oddly poetic and prophetic about Biden’s diagnosis. Coming on the heels of the recent passing of Pope Francis, the world is now confronted with the reality of mortality yet again. As all eyes looked to Rome upon Francis’ passing, all eyes now watch the United States, beholding the suffering and eventual demise of Joe Biden. One can’t help but hear the echo of the ancient biblical warning from Ecclesiastes: “Vanity of vanities…all is vanity” (Ecclesiastes 1:2). 

Biden might have ascended to the heights of political and executive power, but in this moment, none of it matters. As is the case with the least and the greatest of all of us, Joe Biden’s gaze is unwittingly locked, staring down the path that leads but to one place: the judgment seat of Christ. No campaign can prepare for it; no election can delay it; and no media spin can avoid it. Joe Biden will be judged by Christ.

The Gospel boldly presents us this haunting question: “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:36). These are not merely words etched on parchment—they are divine indictment. They are fire in the souls of all who hear them. All the accolades, the honorifics, the offices, the titles, and even the cloud of protection of the Secret Service cannot follow a man into the grave. His body descends there for a time. His soul goes to his eternal judgment before Christ. The Gospel boldly presents us this haunting question: “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:36). Tweet This

This, the twilight of Joe Biden’s life, will no longer present him as actor upon the political stage. He is, like all those in their advanced years, but a human person suspended in time, glancing through the veil to eternity. All power of office holds no influence now. Every public act, every vote, every bill, every policy he signed into law—these will all serve as questions presented by the great tribunal of the Son. He will be judged for how he stewarded his power, how he honored or disregarded life, how he honored Christ or Caesar, and how he shepherded those in his care. 

A Nation’s Call to Prayer

Our global culture is increasingly polarized and indifferent to the sacred. Therefore, it is no small thing that calls for prayer are echoing from the mouths of both conservative and progressive commentators. Catholics, Protestants, Jews, and even the irreligious are pausing. It’s as though—even if only for a fleeting moment—the world that has forgotten God is remembering that man is dust and to dust he must return (Genesis 3:19) and that only grace can elevate him from his impending mortality.

We must be vigilant here. We are not merely praying for Biden’s healing, though even if that were miraculously granted, it would be a fleeting reprieve for him. More urgently, we pray for deep and abiding contrition and conversion. Not the kind one finds in partisan politicians who reiterate empty poetic prose with rhetorical flourish, but rather, the deep and sincere conversion Paul describes in 2 Corinthians 5:17—the kind where grace compels the old self to die and the new creation is reborn in Christ. This cannot be achieved by political policy, executive action, or media narration. This is only achieved by the soul willingly receiving the gift of grace and choosing to repent. Our mission is clear: intercede for Joe Biden before his final breath; pray that he turns and runs to the Father with the renewed heart of the prodigal. 

St. Augustine once declared, “He who created us without our help will not save us without our consent” (Sermons, 169, 13). The call to conversion is real. It is a central part of the Gospel. It is deeply and intimately personal. And for someone like Joe Biden, who has received so much and has been the steward of so high a public office, who swore a covenant oath for all the offices of service he has held while confessing Catholicism, the responsibility is weighty. As Jesus said, “To whom much is given, much will be required” (Luke 12:48).

The Hour Is Late—But Not Too Late

The Church has never and will never rejoice in the eternal damnation of a soul in sin. The Church cries for his return: “God wills that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4). It still isn’t too late for Joe Biden. While breath remains, grace beckons. While life remains, grace may yet work. This must be the hope of all who consider Biden’s life as it is. 

Imagine the sheer power of the witness of Joe Biden’s public repentance, wherein the world will behold the man who once wielded the power of the presidential office bending his knee in sincere repentance before the God-man who wields the power of life and death. Picture the indescribable global value of that witness if Joe Biden renounces his immoral stances and policies, embracing fully the Gospel of Christ in all its revelation in the Catholic Faith.

In 2005, during the funeral of Pope John Paul II, millions were struck by the dignity of a man who had suffered intensely yet radiated holiness until his last breath. In his final words, the Polish pontiff said, “Let me go to the house of the Father.” One can’t help but wonder what Joe Biden’s final words will be. May they not be rooted in temporal regret but in eternal hope.

The Response of the Church

Our baptism compels us with the sacred duty to not condemn this man, our covenant brother, who has been publicly unfaithful. We must pray for his soul. We owe it not to the merit of Joe Biden but to the benevolence of Christ. Hence, we are called to reject reflexive hatred but also shallow sentimentality. Christ will judge Biden with clarity, truth, and justice. Until that time, we must pursue his soul in love and prayers and with the tenacity with which Christ pursues our souls. 

It is a deeply Catholic thing to pray for the dying, especially those in leadership. “It is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead,” says 2 Maccabees 12:46, “that they may be loosed from sins.” The Church, in the riches of her received revelation, recognizes that no soul is beyond redemption—so long as the soul is willing to repent. But we must not presume salvation where there is no evidence of repentance. In fact, we should never presume Heaven for a soul ever, save for the declaration of the Church in canonization. The Catechism is sober: “To die in mortal sin without repenting…brings eternal death” (CCC 1035).

We ought to contend for Biden’s soul the way Monica contended for the hardened heart of her wayward son. Her intercession and the intrusion of grace gifted the world with one of its greatest heralds of truth and teachers of grace: St. Augustine of Hippo. Divine grace may yet obliterate any hardness to be found in Biden’s heart. 

Mercy and Truth Have Met

In Psalm 85:10, the psalmist writes, “Mercy and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed.” This verse must guide our posture and thoughts of Joe Biden in this final chapter of his life. We must be merciful, and we must be truthful. To love someone is to desire their salvation. To speak truth is to refuse the lie that public service and misshapen charity excuses moral compromise.

The world watches and waits, but Heaven does this more so. When Biden breathes his last, no congress or electorate will vouch for or consider his stances. He will be weighed and measured before the judgment seat of Christ, the righteous and just judge of all mankind (2 Corinthians 5:10). May we, covenant children of the Father, behold this moment and not be condemnatory. We must be sober. We must recall that we, too, shall pass. Our own hour will come. With our every breath, we receive life from God and grow an inch closer to our death. May this realization compel us all, with deep humility, to intercede for Joe Biden’s wholehearted and, hopefully, public repentance and return to the Lord Jesus Christ, who alone is the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25).