Biden, Abortion and Can. 915

Can. 915.

Bishops…. is it time yet?

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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35 Comments

  1. Dan says:

    “Those who believe life begins at the moment of conception and all, I respect that – don’t agree, but I respect that.” ummmm science?

    A public act demands a public act!

  2. Chrisc says:

    We have known this about Joe. He just didn’t say it. Archbishop Gregory’s silence will speak volumes.

  3. Thomas S says:

    “I don’t agree.”

    What happened to Joey being “personally opposed” but not wanting to impose his beliefs on others? Looks like he’s not actually personally opposed after all.

    And the Left wonders why people reject their Climate Change and Covid pronouncements. That’s “settled science,” but biology and embryology aren’t? Rank hypocrite.

  4. roma247 says:

    Whatever happened to “we follow the science”?

    What science contests the fact that life begins at the moment of conception?

    But of course, as we know, Tashlan is not a tame lion, so we had all better shut up and do as we are told.

  5. Andrew says:

    As Pope Francis wrote recently in a letter that accompanied TC:
    “One is dealing here with comportment that contradicts communion and nurtures the divisive tendency.”

  6. iamlucky13 says:

    Compare and contrast.

    President Biden:

    “Those who believe life begins at the moment of conception and all, I respect that – don’t agree, but I respect that.”

    Saint John Paul II:

    “Therefore, by the authority which Christ conferred upon Peter and his Successors, in communion with the Bishops-who on various occasions have condemned abortion and who in the aforementioned consultation, albeit dispersed throughout the world, have shown unanimous agreement concerning this doctrine-I declare that direct abortion, that is, abortion willed as an end or as a means, always constitutes a grave moral disorder, since it is the deliberate killing of an innocent human being. This doctrine is based upon the natural law and upon the written Word of God, is transmitted by the Church’s Tradition and taught by the ordinary and universal Magisterium.”

    Regardless of whether his bishop decides to invoke Canon 915, it still helps reduce the scandal to refer to the authoritative sources that establish that President Biden’s opinion is in contradiction with Catholic teaching.

  7. prayfatima says:

    The time for abortion to end was 1 second before it began. This awakening moment is long overdue but I thank God anyway. What is that thing again about “protecting the most wealthy…I mean, ‘vulnerable’”? And, should we all trust ‘science’ still, or perhaps only with covid? Maybe just on Tuesdays? Or after the 20th covid booster? Abortion is the darkest evil ever. Wouldn’t that be smart to post the daily death rates from abortion? Perhaps that’s where they’re getting the covid numbers from? That may make sense. The face masks are to hide our face from God out of shame for allowing abortion to go on so long. The most vulnerable are the ones who can’t even take their first breath. No vaccine needed.

  8. Mario Bird says:

    Mary, the Mother of God: “I am the Immaculate Conception.”

    Joseph, the President of the United States: “I respect that. I don’t agree, but I respect that.”

    Charles Bickford already gamed this one out in Song of Bernadette. She wins.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtKrTrEDDsI

  9. teomatteo says:

    He and Mrs Pelosi must’ve had the same 8th grade biology teacher. (A sub that day i’m think’n.)

  10. mo7 says:

    We have ultrasounds now Joe, you can’t peddle that clump of cells lie anymore. Even the woke crowd knows life begins at conception. They just don’t care.

  11. Texdon says:

    If Cardinal Gregory, Bishop McElroy, etc. had spoken out as aggressively against Joe Biden prior to the 2020 election as they have against the TLM, perhaps we would not be in the morass we are in now.

    Bishop Fulton Sheen is being proven right when he admonished the laity to defend the Church – too many bishops, priests and the pope are not doing their jobs.

  12. TRW says:

    Whatever happened to assent of the mind and will to the ordinary magisterium of the Church in regard to Its teaching on faith and morals? Isn’t that what it means to be Catholic?

  13. Semper Gumby says:

    Don’t Mess With Texas.

    Andrew: Good one.

    Texdon: Great point about the selective outrage.

    Joe “Kill the Babies” and “You Ain’t Black” Biden was rescued in Afghanistan in 2008 during a snowstorm when his helicopter could not return to base and instead landed in the mountains. The Afghan interpreter who left Bagram Airbase by vehicle with US soldiers to rescue Biden is now in hiding from the Taliban (it’s unclear of the fate of the Afghan soldiers who arrived at Biden’s helicopter first before the Bagram convoy arrived).

    Biden prostrated himself at the altar of criminal George Floyd throughout last year, but checked his watch many times at Dover Airbase as fallen servicemen returned to the U.S. For the Death Party, Glorious Revolution and Dear Leader’s daily ice cream selection is more important than human life.

  14. teomatteo says:

    mo7 its even worse than that. The honest ones even admit that an abortion constitutes a murder by definition and they dont care!

  15. Joe in Canada says:

    he and his crowd are laughing at the bishops.

  16. Kathleen10 says:

    He has good days and bad days. He gets his point across when it matters to his rabid base. I would like to ask him when exactly does he believe life begins. Is it birth? Three a half months in? Six? Perhaps he now feels as many in his party do, you can rid yourself of an unwanted child when they are born full-term, a crime that cries out to heaven for vengeance. Our Lady of Guadalupe was sent to us when the Aztecs were doing what people in abortion clinics and universities do to babies today, even harvesting organs for profit from a LIVING child, then dissecting the baby into sellable parts. May God be pleased to send us the remedy to the people who play with life like it’s a toy for their use and pleasure.

  17. prayfatima says:

    I pray that the fight for protection of the most vulnerable in the womb wins, and in the process, ends all covid theater. Keep passing more and more very strict abortion laws and watch as pro-choice people fumble and bumble every time they seek to put another mandate on us. If they are going to mandate masks and vaccines against the free choice of all, then women should no longer be free to abort their baby. Can’t hold both positions. If you are pro-covid then you cannot at the same time be pro-choice.
    I wish the public could be bombarded with the statistics from abortion clinics. Put covid to shame, the real virus in our world is abortion. It has killed millions of only the single most vulnerable, it infects everyone with its lies and guilt and those who die from it have masks on-we cannot see who they are and we cannot hear them. Imagine the glorious day when abortion is abolished world-wide. What a beautiful day that will be. God, please let it happen!!

  18. WVC says:

    I’ll voice the unpopular opinion. The politicization of the Pro-Life movement, something many Pro-Life lobbyists actively encourage, is ultimately a far greater negative than it is a positive.

    I’m against abortion. I believe life begins at conception. I’m also against contraception. I believe Catholics who support abortion, especially public figures like Biden, should be treated with the harshest contempt possible until they repent and allowing them to receive Communion is a sacrilege of the highest order.

    All that being said, Biden will not end abortion. The Texas legislature will not end abortion. The Supreme Court cannot end abortion. No government can possibly end abortion. It can only be stopped by fathers raising daughters that understand it is absolutely unacceptable to murder their unborn children. THIS is the only actual solution. While counseling and crisis centers are excellent mitigation tools, the only true and lasting and meaningful change can be made in our homes and family’s.

    Meanwhile, on the backs of countless dead children, the media and political class continue to use abortion and the Pro-Life movement as NOTHING MORE THAN POLITICAL TOOLS. Everyone knows what Biden thinks. It’s no secret. It’s NOT news. But now he and his administration and the media don’t have to answer about the Afghanistan debacle, the collapse of the Southern Border, the cratering economy, the insanity of the COVID theater, the California governor recall or any other such thing – all they have to talk about right now is abortion. And they DON’T CARE about Pro-Life folks. They already know you’re not voting for them and they also know that ardent Pro-Life folks are the minority. They certainly don’t actually care about babies, one way or the other. They do care about the swaths of leftist although not fully radicalized women who have been brainwashed into believing that the “radical right” is attacking their “reproductive rights” and must be stopped at all costs.

    This is about trying to save face for Biden amongst those who will vote for him, and to get folks to be MOTIVATED to come out for the midterms and help the Democrats keep control of the house and senate.

    Abortion has become a relief valve for the Left. If things start going bad for them, they pull out the abortion card which helps shift focus, energize their misguided base, and eliminate folks who otherwise would have had a political chance of winning.

    It’s been 50 some years with no real progress to show from the Pro-Life side, but PLENTY of ground that has been lost. Every time this becomes a political fight, the Pro-Life side loses more and more ground. Perhaps it’s time to stop taking the bait?

    Again, I’m 100% against abortion, but I think the willful politicization of the issue has only helped abortion, not in any meaningful way stopped it. Had we fathers and mothers who raised daughters and sons well, abortion would cease to be a problem, regardless of what the politicians might say.

  19. prayfatima says:

    As long as laws protect a woman in obtaining an abortion and protect abortion workers, then there will be public opinion that abortion is not wrong. Our laws must reflect God’s commandments because not everyone is blessed to have good parents to teach them right from wrong. Yes, it is ideal that the parents teach their kids, but a good society ought to have laws that reflect God’s teachings, laws that will punish murder of the most innocent among us, in their most protected home: their mother’s womb. If society fails in this, then people fail to actually understand abortion for what it is. When laws do nothing, people think nothing of working at an abortion center, they believe the lie that they are “helping women “! No, they are assisting in premeditated murder! I’m sorry, I see the news going on today and it’s crazy, but it is very meaningful when the president has to speak on abortion. I think it’s great progress and I hope abortion is in the news from now on. Every political figure should be put on the spot and made to explain and defend their position on abortion. When does life begin!?! It’s a pretty important question, folks!! Probably high time we get it right!! Think of the horror of abortion and what a crime against God it is. His precious gifts are being rejected over and over again. It’s no wonder He’s so wrathful. We won’t have peace in this world until the babies in the womb have peace. It’s when politicians don’t talk about abortion that I get frustrated! That should be the only thing they talk about until it is outlawed completely! Am I foolish to think such things? Perhaps if we saw an abortion we would all feel so motivated to talk and end it, but it’s precisely because it is such a secret, silent killer that we gloss over the horror of what goes on in every city in America and beyond. We are literally dulled to it’s evil. Laws can and do make a difference! Already I have read that the abortion centers in TX have stopped scheduling abortions past 6 weeks. The blessed law did that. God bless Texas. And it got attention from the president because its all about abortion to these people though they won’t admit it. Change public opinion through strict laws and end abortion. Because now you have abortion workers afraid of getting sued for aiding and abetting premeditated murder. A high crime that should be punished for what it is. Yeah, people may think twice before applying to work at those centers in Texas now! People may think twice before driving a mother to her appointment at an abortion center.
    It will be a different day when the world wakes up from its slumber and sees the reality of abortion for what it is.

  20. beelady says:

    WVC: You make some valid points but I disagree with your statement that abortion can only be stopped “by fathers raising daughters that understand that it is absolutely unacceptable to murder their unborn children.”
    I think that a better idea would be for fathers to raise sons who see their mother and sisters treated with dignity and respect.
    Hopefully those sons will grow into men who know that it is absolutely unacceptable to engage in premarital sex.
    I believe that no woman wants to murder her child but some choose (wrongly, of course) abortion because they feel that it is their only option. If men stopped engaging in pre-marital and extra-marital sex, the abortion rate would plummet.

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  22. Benedictus says:

    His “holiness” intervened so that the noneffeminate bishops do not prohibit Biden and pelosi from communion. How long oh Lord?

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  24. WVC says:

    @beelady – Of course I completely agree with you. Had I been more complete in my statement, I would have said until fathers and mothers raise well ordered and moral sons and daughters. Until, in the minds of our children. chastity becomes something to be valued and not ridiculed, self-control becomes something to seek and not scorn, and the proper and authentic relationships between men and women honored and not subverted, there will be little progress in reconverting society.

  25. WVC says:

    @Benedictus – and it comes down to who the bishops regard more. Christ, to Whom they will have to answer on Judgment Day, or Francis, who will likely betray them regardless of their own actions.

  26. WVC says:

    @prayfatima
    Wanting something but then doing everything to make that something impossible is not just foolish – it’s destructive.

    I think you have your cart well in front of your horse. Just laws do not create a just society. Just societies create just laws. If abortion is outlawed today, it will not stop the practice and the abortion-mongers will not suddenly repent. Folks will defy the law both outright in public and covertly. They would work harder than ever before, likely raising more money than is imaginable and resorting to every conceivable dirty and violent trick in the book. In the end, the abortion lobby within the government stronger than it had ever been.

    And why does this work? Because there are so many, many, many women (and what passes for men) who have been raised to believe abortion is sacred. That abortion is good. Behind every single one of these deluded people are parents who completely failed in one of their most important duties.

    Folks in the Pro-Life political position keep insisting that the One Ring can be used for good if only we become fanatical about it. The One Ring must be destroyed. It cannot be wielded for good without creating far more damage than could be imagined.

    The only sensible political goal for the Pro-Life lobby would have been to seek more and more States’ Rights over Federal Power. And from there to then seek more and more local rights over state governance. The doctrine of subsidiarity would yield far more fruit than focusing more and more power in the One Ring. If one wants an example, just look at what happened to Marriage once the Government was given the power to “define” it. Yes, it defined it correctly for a short period of time, but then quickly changed that definition to include utter perversion.

    Folks who think the government will ever be the primary champion of life do not understand the very nature of modern government.

  27. prayfatima says:

    Our laws should mirror God’s laws, I don’t know how that is going to happen but it needs to be done. How do you get people to drive well and follow the rules of the road? You post signs and enforce the laws. For the most part, everyone seems to follow the rules of the road. Of course there are accidents but generally people want to get from point A to point B without getting into an accident. Following the rules of the road helps that happen so it behooves people to learn to drive well.
    I know government is corrupt but there are good people who have been raised well who want to implement laws to protect life in the womb. Will there still be people breaking those laws? Unfortunately yes, because everyone is imperfect and has free will. But like the traffic laws, the majority of the people will stop going down the road that is labeled “wrong way “. It just becomes easier to be good when you know what is expected. Because parents fail to instill the love of truth and goodness in their children, others of goodwill must make the way obvious. If you want people to slow down, put in speed bumps, because for some, the only thing that gets them to slow down is they don’t want to ruin their car on the bump. Yes, hearts and minds need to change but do we wait for that unknown day to come or do we try to make a change at the level of the law.

  28. KateD says:

    Biden is a science denier. It’s a well established incontrovertible scientific fact that life of all animals, begins at conception. Even the abortionists readily admit this.

    It’s natural and healthy to politicize abortion. We want to pass legislation that defends the unborn child’s right to life. This is how we maintain peace in America via the legislative process. Robust discussion, open communication, lobbying. and pushing the agenda forward.

    And since I’ve been tuned into the prolife movement, I’ve seen an aggregate of gained ground. There is movement back and forth, but the thrust is forward towards the protection of human rights for these most vulnerable amongst us.

    Abortion is THE front line in the battle between good and evil with the corporeal and incorporeal lining up in accordance with where their loyalties lie. The enemy would like us to believe that we have lost ground. It’s a tactic to demoralize us. That’s when we need to pick up the standard and ADVANCE!

    I want to be clear, this is, almost exclusively, a spiritual battle; The exceptions being when we provide assistance to mothers and fathers in crisis to address their very real and necessary physical needs, provide post abortion healing or to help abortion industry workers who have come to realize the horror of abortion to find employment elsewhere.

    Prayer is everything in this battle.
    Violence is the bag of the enemy and to engage at that level would be to lose on all fronts. That’s why 40 Days for Life is such a great campaign.

    But here’s something that has always perplexed me: Why are the demonic driving this mass carnage against the innocent?

    Historically, each time they drove the murder of innocents Hell was faced with a crippling defeat, for example during the infancy of Moses and then the birth of Saint John the Baptist and Jesus Christ.

    So he loses at least twice with this tactic and then doubles down? I don’t get it. What am I missing?

  29. KateD says:

    Biden reminds me of my grandfather at the end of his life. The voice, the staring off and infrequent blinking, the mouth agape, and that parkinson’s shuffle. Grandpa had Parkinson’s.

    My grandfather was already in the hospital at this point, to address physiological issues.

    I think we need to call a Constitutional Convention of States and have the entire administration removed for incompetence and malfeasance regarding Afghanistan and for a thorough reexamination of the election. Establish guideline that will assure election integrity. Hold a revote if we must, so that the voice of the people is clear and sure. The Interim POTUS should be one elected by a majority of the governors of the states, someone acceptable to most if not all. No DC. No territorial input. The end. Amen.

  30. beelady says:

    WVC – Thank you for the clarification!
    I agree with everything you wrote in your response to me.
    I think you made an excellent point in response to “prayfatima” as well – the government having the power to define marriage has been a disaster.

  31. prayfatima says:

    KateD, I agree that something needs to be done with the American election. Where are the people who are supposed to be fighting for the country? Aren’t they interested at all in freedom? Where is the real president and why isn’t he doing anything? Unbelievable. I want to wake up one day and learn that all the people who interfered with the election are in jail. And that abortion has been completely demolished.

    As for your question: Why are the demonic driving this mass carnage against the innocent? I have heard something about satanic sacrifices but I don’t know for sure anything. It’s just such an evil. I wish law enforcement could be all over this crime against humanity.

  32. Semper Gumby says:

    WVC: “I’ll voice the unpopular opinion.”

    Excellent. En garde, sir.

    “No government can possibly end abortion. It can only be stopped by fathers raising daughters [and sons, as WVC and beelady later point out] that understand it is absolutely unacceptable to murder their unborn children…While counseling and crisis centers are excellent mitigation tools, the only true and lasting and meaningful change can be made in our homes and families.”

    You have a point, but not a comprehensive point. Abandoning the public square will result in the elimination of those counseling and crisis centers through litigation by Death Party “Democrats” in city, state and federal government, or simply burned to the ground with little or no consequences to the mob.

    The “family-only” approach appears to resemble the erroneously-named “Benedict Option” which is a panicked, defeatist, head-for-the-hills proposal. More specifically, Dreher recommended abandoning the wider culture and the federal government for a local-only way of life. That is an “Either/Or” option. Given today the poor quality of many schools and universities, the high volume of socialist propaganda, and the capabilities of modern technology, Either/Or is a recipe for turning a difficult situation into a disaster. There are pro-Life politicians worthy of our support.

    “Just laws do not create a just society. Just societies create just laws.”

    A good point. But, as you know, with human beings it’s not so cut and dried. There is a strong case to be made for both improving society (no earthly society will be perfect) by raising more virtuous sons and daughters, and simultaneously improving the wider culture and politics. In other words: Both/And.

    To illustrate. As you know, Texas recently passed a law to protect human life in the mother’s womb. The Biden Death Party regime, which cannot be bothered to rescue stranded Americans and even hung up the phone on at least several callers from Afghanistan to the State Department, now vows to counterattack Texas citizens with a “whole-of-government” response. Well, there is an abundance of recent historical examples of “whole-of-regime” assaults on human life. Molon Labe.

    The situation today appears to call for a Both/And approach. It takes time, it is often frustrating, and there will be setbacks. So when you write, “It’s been 50 some years with no real progress to show from the Pro-Life side” that is clearly more frustration, perhaps a touch of defeatism, than accuracy. Consider the increasing trend of pro-life clergy, politicians, laity, books- even movies:

    https://studentsforlife.org/2021/02/11/the-ultimate-list-of-pro-life-movies/

    It is our Christian duty to persevere.

    At this moment there are regimes hostile to life in Washington DC, the Vatican, and elsewhere. So, we dust ourselves off from bad days and continue. Christianity, the Vatican and these United States have been around longer than these jumped-up, soy-infused, Marx and Moloch-worshipping, Pachamama and Corn Pop-addled, hornswogglin’ horse thieves.

    Here is an illustration of Both/And, from Time magazine in 2005:

    “A senior Bush Administration official confirms that Fr. Neuhaus does have a certain amount of influence on such policies as abortion, stem-cell research, cloning and defense of the marriage amendment.”

    Recall, in the 1990s the Defense of Marriage Act was passed by Congress and signed into law by, of all people, Bill Clinton, and then overturned by the Supreme Court in 2015. The current so-called “legal” situation regarding marriage can change again, with time and effort.

    A Both/And quote from Fr. Neuhaus:

    “What is the goal of the pro-life movement? The goal is that we become a society in which every child is protected in law and welcomed in life.”

    That’s quite a goal, and a good one. Until then, our time in the wilderness can be arduous, God is well aware of that. Looking around today we see menx and womenx charging around in chariots chucking spears while mainline baby blood and stuffing their faces with avocado-vegetal burger squares.

    That will not end well. It never does. May they realize life is short and eternity long sooner rather than later.

    Meanwhile, there is also manna from Heaven…and the Grunt Padre Blessed Fr. Capodanno…and Chuck Norris…and…

    “And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night; the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.”

    “Lol, I am with you always, to the end of the world.”

  33. Semper Gumby says:

    That last sentence should begin with the biblical “Lo” and not “Lol,” which apparently would only be appropriate in the Gospel of Rodney Dangerfield.

  34. KateD says:

    Semper Gumby,

    There are a lot more lol’s in the Gospels than we readily perceive and Jesus has a really good sense of humor, I think….after one priest explained the dad joke/pun in the camel/cable eye of the needle bit, it gave me a tooootally different understanding of Who He Is. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was responsible for that “auto correct”.

    pray fatima- You are absolutely right about the Satanism. Many of the clinic workers have tattoos and jewelry which reflect that sentiment.

    Babies were sacrificed to Molech by the Chaldeans…but it was nothing compared to the vast numbers being slaughtered today world wide. It’s mind boggling. I wounded if it rivals the wickedness of the Aztec/mezoamerican human sacrifice…That resulted in the appearance of Our Lady of Guadalupe and the conversion of a continent!

    It seems to be the repercussion will be that much worse for hell. I wounder if it isn’t an attempt to hold human souls back in their spiritual journey. In order to prevent the highest places vacated thereby postponing the awful day of final judgement?

  35. Semper Gumby says:

    KateD: Good point, thanks.

    “There’s a new restaurant on the moon, Buzz Aldrin’s BBQ Shack. Great food, no atmosphere.”

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