SPRINGFIELD, Illinois — Springfield’s Bishop Thomas Paprocki has stated President Joe Biden “mocks our Catholic faith,” following Biden’s latest pro-abortion move making the sign of the cross when hearing about restrictions on abortion in Florida.
In a May 8 video, Paprocki joined his voice to that of Cardinal Wilton Gregory and Spain’s Bishop José Ignacio Munilla in condemning Joe Biden’s selective approach to Catholicism and his support for abortion.
“Making the sign of the cross is one of the most profound gestures a Catholic can make in showing reverence for Christ’s death on the cross and belief in the Holy Trinity as we sign ourselves in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” said Paprocki. “To misuse this sacred gesture is to make a mockery of our Catholic faith.”
On April 23, Biden was seen making the sign of the cross in reaction to laws approved by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to restrict abortions from from 15 to 6 weeks. While campaigning in Florida, Biden attacked the state’s six-week ban as “extreme” and again declared that killing the unborn should be “a constitutional right in the federal Constitution.” The Catholic Faith in ... Best Price: $23.55 Buy New $28.49 (as of 12:17 UTC - Details)
The Catholic Church teaches that abortion is always wrong because it kills an innocent human being, thus violating the Church’s prohibition on murder. (CCC 2270-2272.) The Vatican’s 2004 memo states that a politician “consistently campaigning and voting for permissive abortion and euthanasia laws” manifests “formal cooperation” with grave sin, and must be “denied” the Eucharist.
Paprocki noted that “making the sign of the cross is one of the most profound gestures a Catholic can make in showing reverence for Christ’s death on the cross and belief in the Holy Trinity as we sign ourselves in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
“To misuse this sacred gesture,” said Paprocki, “is to make a mockery of our Catholic faith.”
The Springfield bishop summarized Biden’s action as having “compounded his support for the sin of abortion.”
Prior to Biden’s now viral sign of the cross, Cardinal Gregory had commented during an Easter Sunday interview that the president was a “cafeteria Catholic.” This, Gregory said, was because Biden “chooses to ignore” certain issues of the faith such as those relating to life and death.