Want-To-Be Catholic Joe Biden To Lead U.S. Delegation To Vatican
Vice President Joe Biden will lead the delegation from the United States that is traveling to Vatican City for the installation of Pope Francis on Tuesday. As a "self-proclaimed Catholic", the Obama administration probably thought he would be the logical choice. However, this latest news leaves many Catholic leaders scratching their heads - again.
Critics of the Vice President suggest that while he likes to have people believe that he is a Catholic, his words and policies don't follow suit.
Biden’s own bishop has had to correct the pro-abortion politician on his misstating the pro-life teachings of the Catholic Church.
In the interview with the Delaware News Journal, Biden continued to misrepresent the position of the Catholic Church on abortion in a way that has gotten him in trouble.
“But throughout the church’s history, we’ve argued between whether or not it is wrong in every circumstance and the degree of wrong. Catholics have this notion, it’s almost a gradation,” Biden claimed.
Not so, says Rev. W. Francis Malooly, the bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington.
He wrote in a letter to the editor that Biden “presents a seriously erroneous picture of Catholic teaching on abortion.”
“This is simply incorrect,” he says of Biden’s interpretation. “The teaching of the Church is clear and not open to debate. Abortion is a grave sin because it is the wrongful taking of an innocent human.
Biden has also come under fire from the Catholic rank-and-file for his role in Obamacare, a law that forces the church to pay for medical procedures that stand in contrast with their beliefs.
Biden and the U.S. delegation will be in Rome and Vatican City for the installation ceremony which will happen on Tuesday.