“Although people have given this president power and authority, he cannot define what it is to be a Catholic and what Catholic moral teaching is,” he continued.
A leading archbishop is calling on President Joe Biden to stop defining himself as a “devout Catholic” because of his endorsement of abortion, The Christian Post reports.
In an interview with The Catholic World Report (CWR) published Saturday, Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann, spoke out on Biden’s pro-choice views, asserting that abortion is “contrary to Catholic moral teaching”.
“The president should stop defining himself as a devout Catholic, and acknowledge that his view on abortion is contrary to Catholic moral teaching,” he contended.
Naumann, who is also the chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, suggested that the President should say that he disagrees with his church over their view on abortion and that he was acting “contrary to Church teaching.”
In response to Biden saying he’s a devout Catholic, “we bishops have the responsibility to correct him,” Naumann argued.
“Although people have given this president power and authority, he cannot define what it is to be a Catholic and what Catholic moral teaching is,” he continued.
Naumann told CWR that Biden is “usurping the role of the bishops and confusing people” because he supports abortion while maintaining that he is a professing Catholic.
“He’s declaring that he’s Catholic, and is going to force people to support abortion through their tax dollars,” Naumann noted. “The bishops need to correct him, as the president is acting contrary to the Catholic faith.”
When asked about his thoughts about a Florida priest who denied Biden communion in 2019, Naumann stressed that the President “has the responsibility not to present himself for Holy Communion.”
“When Catholics receive the Eucharist, they are acknowledging the real presence of Jesus, and also belief in the teachings of the Church,” the archbishop explained.
“President Biden doesn’t believe in the Church’s teachings on the sanctity of human life, and he should not put the priest in the situation where he has to decide whether or not to allow him to receive the Eucharist, Naumann asserted. “He should know that after 78 years as a Catholic.”
Naumann, 71, is the fourth and current Archbishop of Kansas City, Kansas, a position he has held since 2005.
