USCCB president responds to Biden: Catholic bishops ‘will work as one body’ to end abortion
Archbishop Broglio’s comments were a direct response to Joe Biden’s claim that ‘not all’ of the US Catholic bishops were supportive of a move to ban taxpayer funds for abortion.
Abp. Timothy BroglioScreenshot
Thu Feb 2, 2023 – 1:03 pm EST
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WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) — The president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has responded to President Joe Biden’s recent comments on abortion, stating that the Catholic Church is “clear” in its effort to “make abortion unthinkable.”
In a statement issued February 1, USCCB President Archbishop Timothy Broglio responded directly to striking comments made by the prominently pro-abortion Biden to reporters on Monday.
“Catholic bishops are demanding that federal tax dollars not fund abortions,” stated EWTN’s Washington correspondent, referring to the USCCB’s support of legislation which would ban taxpayer funds being used for abortions.
“No, they are not all doing that,” said Biden of the U.S. Catholic bishops. He continued, “Nor is the Pope doing that.” Biden did not cite any evidence for his statement.
Writing Wednesday, Archbishop Broglio issued his statement of response, entitled “President of U.S. Bishops Conference on Bishops’ United Position Against the Evil of Abortion.”
Broglio noted that “[a]s we are taught by Jesus, human life is sacred. God calls us to defend and nurture life from the moment a new human being is conceived.”
While Biden – a self-professed Catholic – claimed that the bishops’ opposition to taxpayer funded abortions was not universal, nor was it supported by the Pope, Broglio took a different stance. “The Catholic Church has been clear and consistent in this teaching,” the USCCB president wrote.
Broglio also drew from Pope Francis’ statements on abortion, in which he has previously described abortion as hiring a “hitman.”
As the Holy Father, Pope Francis, has said, ‘It is not right to ‘do away with’ a human being, however small, in order to solve a problem. It is like hiring a hitman’.
“Taxpayer funding of abortion would force people of good conscience to participate in this grave evil against their will,” wrote Broglio, drawing from the USCCB’s original statement on the matter which was released January 27. Continuing, he stated:
It would contradict our right to live in accord with the tenets of our faith. Our nation is better than that. I pray that we will protect every child no matter his or her age, and open our hearts to respond to mothers in need with love and support rather than the violence of abortion.
The president’s brief comments caused an instant storm amongst faithful Catholics. Tyler’s Bishop Joseph Strickland firmly condemned Biden’s attempt to claim papal support for his own pro-abortion bolstering. “Mr Biden can’t be allowed to twist the words of Pope Francis in this way,” he wrote.
I implore the Vatican press office to emphatically clarify that Pope Francis rightly calls abortion murder. It is time to denounce Biden’s fake Catholicism.
Despite Biden’s striking comments about the Pope taking issue with the USCCB’s move, there has been no response from the Vatican about the matter. LifeSiteNews contacted the Holy See Press Office asking for clarification on the issue but has not received a response.
LifeSiteNews also contacted the White House, asking what evidence Biden had to make his statement, but has not received a response.
The U.S. bishops have launched an online petition urging senators and congressmen to vote for the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act. The petition can be found on the www.respectlife.org website, run by the USCCB Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities.
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