The uber-Catholics who run CNSNews.com love to demonstrate their supposed moral superiority over President Biden, a fellow Catholic, because he’s not forcing all of America to abide by the right-wing Catholic policies CNS demand. Let’s tally how CNS has tried to use Biden’s Catholicism against him in the past few months.
Managing editor (and uber-Catholic) Michael W. Chapman invoked one of his favorite hardline Catholics in a Feb. 16 article:
Two days after President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris announced that they are committed to codifying Roe v. Wade into law, Catholic Cardinal Raymond Burke, an American, gave a sermon in which he said such a plan is part of the Evil One’s “program of lies and death.”
This is the same Cardinal Burke who said in August that Biden “is not a Catholic in good standing and he should not approach to receive Holy Communion.”
The same day, a column by anti-abortion activist Judie Brown criticized Catholic bishops for supposedly not bashing Biden hard enough on the issue of abortion: “As members of the media press hard for Biden’s abortion agenda—including the repeal of laws that require parents to be notified if their minor child seeks to abort her baby—we find it nearly unbelievable that the bishops really need to clarify the obvious facts about abortion. What is it actually going to take for not only bishops, but Catholics in general, to awaken to the sad reality of our time?”
The next day, CNS’ favorite dishonest Catholic, Bill Donohue, huffed: “President Biden used his first day in office to discuss human rights. However, he did not speak to this issue in a broad manner; rather, he limited his discussion to the rights of homosexuals and transgender persons. This tells us a great deal about his priorities.”
That sort of hostile coverage continued:
- An anonymously written Feb. 21 article carried the headline “Catholic Bishops: Stop Biden-Backed Equality Act That Would ‘Force Girls…to Share…Shower Spaces With Biological Males’.”
- On Feb. 22, Chapman found a bishop to attack Biden as “not a real Catholic … just a fact.” Chapman went on to lecture: “Biden and his supporters in the left-wing media frequently refer to his ‘devout’ Catholicism, but gloss over his support for abortion on demand, gay marriage, gay adoption, and other issues contrary to the moral teachings of the Catholic Church.”
- On march 2, Donohue huffed that “If there is one thing that makes Biden “overtly religious,” it is his habit of carrying a rosary. … What does that have to do with his public policy decisions that are of interest to the Catholic Church?”
- Two days later, Donohue complained: “Not a day goes by without some commentators, usually left-wing Catholics, trying to convince the public that [Biden] is a model Catholic. This is disingenuous. If Biden were a model Catholic, there would be no need to assure us that he is.”
- Chapman spent a March 26 article highlighting another bishop’s attack on Biden, declaring that he “‘should not present himself’ for Holy Communion at Sunday Mass given his decades-long support for abortion and other grievous sins.” Chapman further editorialized: “Biden should not present himself for Communion because he has used his power and vote over the years to ensure that abortion occurs in this country (and abroad) and that Planned Parenthood receives federal funding. Abortion and contraception are contrary to Catholic moral teaching.”
- Chapman called on his favorite Biden-hating bishop again on March 31: “In response to a question about President Joe Biden’s open defiance of the Catholic Church’s moral teaching, particularly on abortion, Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke, an American, said that ‘a person who claims to be a Catholic and yet promotes in such an open, obdurate, and aggressive way a crime like procured abortion is in the state, at least, of apostasy.’ He added that the next step to consider is a church penalty for the ‘crime of apostasy, which would be excommunication.’
- On April 5, editor Terry Jeffrey was the one who scrounged up a Biden-bashing bishop, “stating that President Joe Biden, who supports abortion and same-sex relationships, should not receive Holy Communion.
- Chapman harrumphed on April 14: “Although President Joe Biden is a Catholic — a Catholic who rejects nearly all of the fundamental moral teachings of the church — a recent survey shows there is “little evidence” that his faith is resulting in “high approval ratings from his fellow Catholics.” In fact, his highest job approval rating, 67%, is among people who never attend church.” Chapman went on to tout: “Many Catholic bishops have denounced Biden’s support for abortion and gay “marriage,” and Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke has said Biden could face public excommunication from the church.”
- Jeffrey returned on April 28 to promote yet another Biden-bashing bishop: ““It can create confusion. … How can he say he’s a devout Catholic and he’s doing these things that are contrary to the church’s teaching?”
As usual, CNS refused to give any Catholic Biden supporters a chance to respond to the attacks.