Bishops’ disparate treatment of Biden and Vance betrays bias

By Michael Sean Winters, 4 February 2025
Image: Daniel Dror/ Shutterstock

 

The U.S. bishops’ conference always reminds us that they are not partisan, but it is becoming harder and harder to believe the assertion.

Four years ago, the U.S. bishops’ took great umbrage at the prospect of a Catholic president who did not support the church’s opposition to legal abortion. They formed a working group to study whether or not President Joe Biden should be denied Communion. The president of the conference at the time, Archbishop José Gomez, issued a churlish statement on the day of Biden’s inauguration.

“I must point out that our new President has pledged to pursue certain policies that would advance moral evils and threaten human life and dignity, most seriously in the areas of abortion, contraception, marriage, and gender,” Gomez said. “Of deep concern is the liberty of the church and the freedom of believers to live according to their consciences.”

The statement was issued without the usual consultation of other bishops, and was so poorly done, Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago took the rare step of publicly distancing himself from it, and labeling it “ill-considered.”

Now, the president of the U.S. bishops’ conference, Archbishop Timothy Broglio, issued a tepid statement questioning President Donald Trump’s executive orders as they pertain to a host of issues. He said some of the executive orders “are deeply troubling and will have negative consequences, many of which will harm the most vulnerable among us.” Nothing there as churlish as what Gomez had said about Biden.

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With thanks to the National Catholic Reporter (NCR) and Michael Sean Winters, where this article originally appeared. 

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