Vice-president elect Joe Biden
Posted on 11/22/2008 3:51:20 PM PST by NYer
.- Following the Fall meeting of the U.S. Catholic bishops in Baltimore, where they pledged not to yield ground to the incoming Obama administration on the issue of abortion, Bishop Samuel Aquila has revealed that vice president-elect Joe Biden is struggling with his conscience over his support for abortion.
Bishop Michael Hoeppner of Crookston, Minnesota and Bishop Samuel Aquila of Fargo, North Dakota are just two of the bishops who have increased their efforts to speak more forcefully and clearly on the issue of abortion over the last year.
In an interview with the Grand Forks Herald on Friday, Bishop Hoeppner explained the situation, saying, “We bishops are united in our teaching and our belief in the sanctity of all life. That’s not new, and it’s across the board, and some politicians have missed that.”
One particular threat to the unborn that the bishops are worried about is the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA), which President-elect Obama said he would sign into law as his first act as president.
Bishop Aquila criticized Obama’s willingness to sign the Act in his most recent column for the Diocese of Fargo newspaper, writing that Obama “directly opposes the divine law of God concerning the dignity of each human life, and so he strongly disagrees with the position of the Catholic Church.”
Given the serious threats posed by FOCA and by Catholics with poorly formed consciences who vote in favor of keeping abortion legal, the U.S. bishops are redoubling their efforts to explain the Church’s teaching.
In interviews with the Herald, both Aquila and Hoeppner pointed to vice president-elect Joe Biden, as an example of how some Catholics have become compromised on abortion.
During the recent presidential campaign, Joe Biden said that while he believes as a matter of faith that life begins at conception, he cannot impose his belief on others through law, and therefore can vote in favor of abortion.
Biden’s comments on NBC’s Meet the Press elicited reactionss from several bishops, one of whom was Charles Chaput of Denver.
“If, as Sen. Biden said, ‘I’m prepared as a matter of faith [emphasis added] to accept that life begins at the moment of conception,’ then he is not merely wrong about the science of new life; he also fails to defend the innocent life he already knows is there,” the archbishop said.
“Resistance to abortion is a matter of human rights, not religious opinion,” he added, arguing that law by nature involves imposing “some people’s convictions on everyone else.”
In his interview with the Grand Forks Herald on Friday, Bishop Aquila revealed that the soon-to-be vice president is experiencing pangs of conscience for his compromise.
“The nice thing about Biden, at least he says his conscience bothers him, which is good,” Aquila said.
Bishop Aquila argues that this stirring in their conscience needs to go further. “But they really should not be presenting themselves for Holy Communion because it is a scandal. And by us giving them Holy Communion, essentially what is communicated to them is that their position is fine.”
The Bishop of Tallahassee-Pensacola agrees with this as well. After a visit to his diocese by Biden during the presidential campaign, Bishop John Richard wrote to the politician and told him to examine his conscience about his support for laws that “fail to protect the unborn” before going to Communion.
It is important to continue to pray for the newly elected officials.
Biden would have made a far better candidate than Obama, for many reasons. Most of them VERY obvious.
No Communion for MR.Biden
Exactly what part of their position needs more clarity?
Joey Delaware should get right with the Lord here. He could help stem the tide of infanticide if he wants to.
Well Im glad his conscious bothers him a bit as he refuses to do anything to stop the killing of unborn babies. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy all over.
Careful, Bishop Aquila, Biden is a liar.
Let us pray for Joseph Biden, he may yet be saved.
‘troubled conscious’ ....only days after the election and what...60+ years in the catholic church.
Total PR ploy BS. Biden has no ‘conscious’ to be troubled with.
Conscience? Biden? The same guy that said what Obama voted against would cost thousands of American lives? Then ran on the same ticket with him? That Biden?
let’s hear him renounce it
I guess Joe is having Pontius Pilate syndrome.
“Careful, Bishop Aquila, Biden is a liar.”
And a Democrat...
Oh come on. Everyone knows that one of the requirements to be a US Senator is to have your conscience surgically removed before admittance.
If you’re a Republican, the spine comes out during the same procedure...
Sure. Now that the votes in are, Biden is ‘struggling’ with his conscience. That ploy works with many voters. Not with the Lord.
Yeah...it looks like he's been pulling his hair out in anguish.
How many Joe Bidens are there?
< /s >
A lot of people say their conscience bothers them about this or that. Some are telling the truth. Others are lying.
When someone has been a RAT politician for > 30 years, I'll believe him when he passes a polygraph.
Don't forget the testicles.
You know, this strikes me as BS as I know of no priest that would even mention a discussion with someone on a private matter.
I’d say contrived. 100%
They take those out when they first decide to run...
Note that n brain scans of the soon to be next in line’s head have been released. He and Obama BETTER reveal much more once elected, with the econ and the world on precipices.
Quoting the U.S. Declaration of Independence, the bishop wrote: "The dignity of the human person begins at the moment of conception, not at birth. The dignity, as recognized by the signers of the Declaration of Independence, is bestowed by the Creator, and no one has the right to destroy innocent unborn life." http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=10434
I doubt the ‘Say it ain’t so Joe’ Biden is experiencing anything close to conscience pangs. After a lifetime of leftist graft and subversion, he’s as hard as stone. Personally, I’d be suprised if he does any suffering over anything he’s done until Judgement Day.
But probably not in the manner which the Bishop seems to be suggesting.
Beautiful.
Joe Biden—what conscience?
And if my uncle had wheels, he would be a truck.
C'mon Joe. Do the right thing. Time to get in the game. Be part of the deal.
““Careful, Bishop Aquila, Biden is a liar.”
And a Democrat...”
You are repeating yourself.
Pray, pray, pray! Pray for Biden, and Obama! Imagine how great it would be if they had a true crisis of conscience, changed their minds on abortion, and said to the country, “you know what, abortion *is* murder and we’re going to act like it is too,” and then introduced legislation to ban it. He’d become my favorite president.
Keep praying. Abortion only became an article of left-wing faith because it is a necessity to radical feminism, which is an important SIG in left-wing politics. Without abortion, women of the same productivity as a man aren’t as hireable or as promotable in the workplace as that man because of the higher risk associated with them (women withdraw from the workplace after giving birth, sometimes for years). Radical feminists know this, and THIS alone is the reason why they are in favor of it. It’s purely about money. There’s nothing about left-wing politics in and of itself that makes it a “pro-abortion” platform, it’s simply an accident of history that it happened this way. We CAN change peoples’ minds on this, so don’t give up. Pray, pray, pray. Volunteer at a crisis pregnancy center. Spread the word. Educate yourself.
NOTHING Biden can do will wash the blood off his hands. Nothing.
Let us do it retroactively, once he demonstrates he is worthy of being saved....until then, no thanks.
And to think I was considering going to confession for the first time in 30 years.
bttt
It appears that most of the Bishops will do or say anything to put off taking a stand.
I don’t know what makes the good bishop think Biden is “struggling” with anything; he’s certainly given no indication of any struggle whatsoever in his many years in Congress, busy voting for pro-abortion legislature whenever he can.
He won’t “struggle” until there are some consequences - that is, earthly, visible, and potentially politically costly - for his continued defiance of Church teaching. Then he might be forced to give it some thought. But now? Nah.
I personally don’t care whether he struggles with his conscience or not. He still supports abortion on demand. IMO this makes it worse not better.
It is ridiculous to think that somehow our sins are less serious if we feel guilty about them. All this indicates is that a person has been properly educated in church teaching, yet has disregarded it for the purpose of political benefit.
Pray for their conversion from cafeteria Catholicism to real Catholicism.
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Obama Says A Baby Is A Punishment
Obama: “If they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby.”
He is lying and playing a game; and in the process making a mockery of the genocide of 50+ million babies slaughtered since Roe.
He and the thousands of wicked “Catholic” politicians around the world should be publicly and formally excommunicated post haste.
They should be regularly condemned as the heretical barbarians that they are.
They should never be allowed to set foot on ANY Catholic property, especially not desecrating Churches with their unholy presence, until they repent.
They are mortal enemies of the Church, The State and of Humankind itself.
One day Christendom will have to come to the realization that the time for diplomacy ended when the first baby was ripped apart under Roe v Wade. This is a war; with more real blood and guts than all the wars in history combined.
ONE NATION UNDER GOD
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Obama Says A Baby Is A Punishment
Obama: “If they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby.”
Yes, no priest would do that, except if asked to do so. Maybe Joe knows something we don’t know.
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