Among the steps that the Church needs to take, said Fr. Pavone, are: to “improve the way we hand on the Faith, be willing to exercise the spiritual work of mercy of admonishing the sinner, and to keep politically active so that such people are voted out of office.”
Politicians, Fr. Pavone underscored, are engaged in publicly expressing “their support for keeping abortion legal” while at the same time consistently refusing to admit what abortion is. He added, “if a politician cannot respect the life of a little baby, how is he supposed to respect yours and mine?”
Austin Ruse, the head of the Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute, reacted to the news of Sen. Biden’s selection by saying, “The Democrats are slapping faithful Catholics right in the face. First, they will nominate the most pro-abortion candidate in history. Then they refuse to invite the beloved Archbishop of Denver even to offer a prayer at their convention. And now they nominate a pro-abortion Catholic as vice-president. Only self-hating Catholics could vote for this ticket.”
The president of the national Catholic advocacy group Fidelis, Brian Burch, interpreted the Biden pick as having “re-opened a wound among American Catholics.” He added that, “the American bishops have made clear that Catholic political leaders must defend the dignity of every human person, including the unborn. Sadly, Joe Biden's tenure in the United States Senate has been marked by steadfast support for legal abortion."
Burch also highlighted the fact that, “Biden's own bishop, Bishop Michael Saltarelli of Wilmington, Del., has said that the issues pertaining to the sanctity of human life are the ‘great civil rights issues of this generation’.”
Bishop Saltarelli denounced the notion that politicians can 'personally oppose' abortion, but refuse to pass laws protecting the unborn. In fact, Bishop Saltarelli has made clear that pro-abortion Catholic politicians should refrain from receiving the Eucharist.
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On Monday morning in Denver, where the Democratic National Convention is underway, Archbishop Charles Chaput told the Associated Press that because of support for abortion, Biden should refrain from taking Communion.
During his tenure in the senate, Joe Biden has voted numerous times in support of abortion and has characterized himself as a strong supporter of Roe v. Wade.
Biden also revealed at a Democratic presidential primary debate in Las Vegas last November that his criteria for selecting nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court would include a pro-Roe test.