San Francisco, Calif., Jan 20, 2021 / 10:47 am
The Archbishop of San Francisco on Wednesday stated his support for the U.S. bishops' conference (USCCB) president, who had noted areas of collaboration and concern with incoming President Joe Biden.
In a prepared statement that was not released on Wednesday morning as scheduled--but published later in the day after the inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States--USCCB president Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles prayed for Biden. He noted areas of both agreement and disagreement between the bishops and Biden, who is Catholic.
According to sources at the conference, figures within the conference pushed back on language in the prepared statement that had highlighted areas of concern with the incoming Biden administration on abortion, gender, and religious freedom.
In particular, sources at the conference told CNA that Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago opposed the inclusion of language noting abortion as a problem with the incoming Biden administration. Biden has pledged to support taxpayer-funded abortion, among other pro-abortion policies.