Two days ago US President Joe Biden had an unusually long 75 min meeting with Pope Francis in the Vatican during Biden’s visit to Rome. Biden has said that the pope told him he is a good Catholic and should continue to take Communion.

This deepens a divide between the pope and pro-life US Catholic Bishops. In June, the majority of US Catholic Bishops, voted to issue a statement clarifying the position of the Catholic Church on matters concerning the taking of Communion. The Church has been rifted by a lack of consistent messages on the point. Laymen are complaining that Church policies are inconsistent and confusing with notable public exceptions to Church teachings. It appears to many that anyone who is not in a state of grace may still take Communion, that people in power are exempt from moral teachings.

The Catholic Church has stood strongly against abortion, and Pope Francis even said in September that “abortion is murder.” Persons who are willfully sinful without remorse are not supposed to receive Communion. However, the pope has also said that “Communion is not a prize for the perfect, but a gift…” This contradicts longstanding teachings of the Church, and therefore provides a way for the most recalcitrant sinner who is guilty of the most heinous crimes without remorse and with the intent to continue to repeat those acts to be labeled a “good Catholic who should continue to take Communion.”

One can understand how these events have not only confused many lay Catholics, but there were a significant (minority) number of US Catholic Bishops who voted not to clarify Church teachings that persons in a state of sinfulness should be remorseful, should seek absolution, and should prayerfully seek Divine help to remain free of that lapse (even without mentioning the issue of abortion or any person or political office). Is it any wonder that many lay Catholics are confused, and for that matter, that they no longer trust Church leadership?

The matter is only made worse by Biden’s actions to facilitate abortion, both internationally and at home, by overturning pro-life actions taken by President Trump. More recently he has pushed for an expansion of abortion in the US by eliminating the Hyde Amendment from the proposed federal budget. The Hyde Amendment has previously forbidden the use of US taxpayer dollars to pay for abortion. And, Biden has pledged the “whole of [federal] government” to maintain unrestricted access to abortion in Texas. The Texas Fetal Heartbeat Law is discussed in previous posts.

In the meantime, on October 7, the US Catholic Bishops’ pro-life chairman expressed “disappointment” in Biden for reversing the “Protect Life Rule” imposed by the Trump administration. He added that the Biden administration is “in the control of abortion extremists,” and then challenged Biden, who calls himself a devout Catholic, to “act like a devout Catholic” and “defend and cherish human life.”