LONDON (LifeSiteNews) — A leading U.K. Catholic magazine has published a list of 250 “US Catholic influencers,” including pro-abortion President Joe Biden among the figures identified as wanting to “be a force for good” and to be honored at a series of award events.
In early October, The Catholic Herald issued its list of U.S. Catholics it identified as being “influencers” in the nation. Drawn from a variety of fields, the list includes Catholics in politics, education, and media, charity leaders, thought leaders, those in sports and entertainment, those in the military, and others described as “mavericks.”
The list includes a mixture of individuals who are faithful to the teachings of the Catholic Church, as well as those who are firmly opposed to certain doctrines, particularly those opposed to abortion and LGBT ideology.
Among the list of political, Catholic leaders was prominently pro-abortion Joe Biden along with his wife Jill. The Herald entry reads:
Joseph Biden, 79, is the 46th president of the United States and the second Catholic president, after John F Kennedy, and also a Democrat of Irish heritage. He served as the 47th vice president from 2009 to 2017. In 2016, Biden was awarded the Laetare Medal, considered the highest honour for American Catholics, by the University of Notre Dame. Jill Biden, 71, is an American educator and the first lady of the United States. They both often make donations to Catholic charities and attend Mass but have been consistently criticised by members of the clergy – and Catholic lay leaders – for a voting and political record that does not reflect Catholic values, such as their stance on abortion.
Biden’s election campaign was heavily supported by Planned Parenthood and he has called on Americans to make the overturning of Roe v Wade a political issue. In a 2021 cover story for the Catholic Herald, NYC priest Gerald Murray said that he would not give the president holy communion. Biden had a 90-minute audience with the Holy Father at the Vatican in October 2021. He also has a photo of Pope Francis in the White House Oval Office.
In an accompanying press release, the Herald made it clear that it was not simply highlighting influential people who identified as Catholic, but saw and presented them as real “leaders.”
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“We have taken a broad church approach to reflect the reality of Catholic America today,” said Herald chairman William Cash. “But our leaders do have one thing in common: They want to be a force for good and give back.”
Affirming its praise of the Catholics identified, the Herald added that its 250-strong list revealed “the reality that Catholic leadership in the U.S. is steadily transitioning from the clergy to the laity in the 21st century.”
“The Herald offers its congratulations to all those who have been selected for the achievements,” added Cash. To recognize those named on the list, the press release noted the Herald will be holding “a series of events” on the east and west coasts to “celebrate the 2022 entrants.”
The Herald also intended, by virtue of its list, to effect a renewal of “Catholic identity in the USA and beyond at a time when the Catholic Church has had fallout from negative headlines and dwindling church attendance following the pandemic.”
“The initiative is devoted to defending and promoting Catholic values and identity in public life,” wrote the Herald. “By identifying the 250 most influential Catholic lay figures in America, we hope to stimulate a reinvigorated spiritual dimension to an increasingly secular society,” wrote Jamie McGuire, director of a new institute established by the magazine.
Among the other members of the list was Harvard law professor Mary Ann Glendon. The Herald cited her famous rejection of a Notre Dame University award, after the institution had bestowed an honorary degree upon pro-abortion Barack Obama.
As noted by the Herald, Glendon refused the award by citing the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops 2004 policy on “Catholics in Political Life.” The policy states in part:
The Catholic community and Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions. {Emphasis original}
The document is no longer live on the USCCB website, but can still be found on the internet archive.
The Herald did not seem to consider including pro-abortion Biden on the list, nor holding a series of award events for the members of the list, to be in violation of the 2004 USCCB policy.
Joe Biden has been very open about his support for abortion as well as gender ideology. He has called abortion an “essential health service” and wishes to enshrine abortion into federal law, even though the recent midterm elections forced Biden to admit that this goal would not be achieved in the next Congress.
Biden also advocates a number of policies which would promote LGBT ideology in everyday life in America, as well as across the world.
READ: Archbishop says Biden is ‘gravely wrong’ for promising to legalize abortion at the federal level
The Catholic Church teaches that abortion is always wrong because it kills an innocent human being, thus violating the Church’s prohibition on murder, and that homosexual acts are “intrinsically disordered” and “under no circumstances can they be approved” (CCC 2270-2272; CCC 2357).
After Biden was denied receiving Holy Communion by a priest in 2019, in accordance with canon law, he stated, “It’s not a position that I’ve found anywhere else, including from the Holy Father, who gives me Communion.”
Indeed, during their private meeting last year Francis reportedly told Biden to “keep receiving Communion,” despite the politician’s continued, public support for abortion and LGBT ideology.