The Roman Catholic bishop of Knoxville, Tennessee, urged Democratic nominee Joe Biden to rethink his support of abortion in light of the fact that God is going to judge him.
“A question for Mr. Biden,” Bishop Rick Stika tweeted Sunday. “At your judgement before God, how will you explain changing your position about abortion and how will you explain promoting no limits and allowing all protections removed protecting the most innocent?”
“Will you tell God you supported the ultimate child abuse because of the [American] Constitution?” Stika added. “I wonder what God must have asked many leaders throughout the centuries? Government over human rights and the taking of innocent lives. Many Catholics will need to answer this the first of many questions about the poor, the starving etc.”
Stika has publicly rebuked Biden before for claiming to be a Catholic while endorsing abortion. In August, Stika seemed to question the authenticity of Biden’s faith and went so far as to blast his running mate Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) as “an anti-Catholic bigot.”
“Don’t understand how Mr. Biden can claim to be a good and faithful Catholic as he denies so much of Church teaching especially on the absolute child abuse and human rights violations of the most innocent, the not yet born,” Stika tweeted, adding, “And he also praises his sidekick who has shown time and time again in senate hearings that she is an anti-Catholic bigot. So sad for this team.”
Stika also claimed that he “never thought” President Donald Trump was “all that pro-life” but conceded that he at least is anti-abortion and has proven good for religious liberty.
Biden has faced public condemnation from other Catholic leaders, such as Bishop Thomas Tobin of Providence, Rhode Island, who tweeted in August, “Biden-Harris. First time in awhile that the Democratic ticket hasn’t had a Catholic on it. Sad.”
In 2019, Father Robert E. Morey of Saint Anthony Catholic Church in Florence, South Carolina, reportedly denied Biden the sacrament of Holy Communion because of his abortion views. As The Daily Wire reported:
“Sadly, this past Sunday, I had to refuse Holy Communion to former Vice President Joe Biden,” Father Robert E. Morey of Saint Anthony Catholic Church told SCNOW. “Holy Communion signifies we are one with God, each other and the Church. Our actions should reflect that. Any public figure who advocates for abortion places himself or herself outside of Church teaching.”
“I will keep Mr. Biden in my prayers,” Morey added.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York supported the South Carolina priest during a later interview with “Fox & Friends.”
“I think that priest had a good point,” Dolan said. “You are publicly at odds with an issue of substance — critical substance. We’re talking about life and death in the church. You personally, out of integrity should not approach Holy Communion — because that implies that you’re in union with all the church beliefs. I never have [denied someone Holy Communion]. I’ve never had, what you might call the opportunity or never said, ‘Uh-oh. Should I give him or her Holy Communion?’ It’s never come up. [It] sure could.”
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