There are many things about Joe Biden that are controversial, but the most controversial amongst them is the use of the word ‘Catholic’ to describe the incoming President of the United States.
Pro abortion, pro war and even once suing nuns to force them to pay for contraception, it is impossible to separate his behaviour in the past twenty years from these claims of piousness. He does regularly attend Mass and tells people that he is a Catholic. In other countries, it is easily accepted that such a politician is not only Catholic in name only, but in all likelihood automatically excommunicated. However, in the superficiality of American politics, it is a contentious claim to point this out about Joe Biden. Simultaneously, in other places like Ireland, simplistic sentimentality for the days of John F. Kennedy stifles debate on the topic.
Perhaps this is because Biden has, for a long time, surrounded himself with priests and even Cardinals who tell him what he wants to hear and who refrain from critcising these problematic issues arise. Some, like the now disgraced Cardinal McCarrick were even brought into the inner circle of the Obama administration, engaging in talks with Cuban government and the Chinese Communist Party on behalf of both the Vatican and the United States. It is incredibly worrying that such a compromised individual was allowed to climb so high and allowed to influence the despised Sino-Vatican deal. McCarrick and Biden were personally close, often appearing friendly with one another in public.
Another figure who has been close to Biden is former Georgetown University President Fr. Leo O’Donovan. O’Donovan presided over the funeral of Biden’s son Beau in 2015. O’Donovan studied under Karl Rahner as a young priest, before taking his role at Georgetown. While he was president, O’Donovan allowed a pro abortion group to be funded on campus, something that contravened Canon Law, leading to a Vatican court demanding that they stop it. O’Donovan also drew criticism for allowing Larry Flynt on campus, the notorious pornographer who disowned his own daughter after she became an anti pornography Christian. She later accused Flynt of having sexually abused her when she was a child. O’Donovan also allowed fetal tissue research to be performed on the campus. O’Donovan has also drawn criticism in recent years for appearing at public events with Harvey Weinstein. He also was awarded Jewish National Fund Tree of Life award, by a group who state:
Jewish National Fund-USA’s strategic vision has been and always will be, to ensure a strong, secure, and prosperous future for the land and people of Israel. Everything we do -- every project, initiative, and campaign we take on – is integral to our vision of building and connecting to our land.
As with many American Jesuits, O’Donovan has been a vocal critic of President Donald Trump with particular reference to his policies on migration from Hispanic countries and Muslim countries. This is where American Catholics, especially Democrat voters, need to remove their shades for a moment. Biden helped to bring about the Iraq War and was directly responsible for the interventions in Syria and Libya that created the so called ‘migrant crisis’ of 2016, with it came terrorism problems from those who understandably were outraged at the destruction of their homelands. It is simply dishonest for people like O’Donovan and Fr. James Martin SJ to cavort with Biden while he enables these wars while then criticising people’s reactions to the fallout from them. To be clear, their calls for respect for migrants are correct, but to stay silent in the first place while they are forced out of their homelands by unnecessary and unjust wars is why people react so antagonistically towards them.
As we spoke of this week, it is no longer Islamic countries standing in the way of the Globalist ideology, it is Catholic countries such as Poland and Hungary. We must all pray that the current rhetoric against those countries coming from the Biden administration simmers down, but it is hard to feel optimistic. Individuals such as Samantha Power are avowed warmongers and they now have the President’s ear again.
Let’s pray that Fr. O’Donovan has the courage to remind Joe Biden of the Catholic faith when the calls for US intervention in those areas grow more heated in the coming months.
In the meantime, pray hard.