Joe Biden met with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Friday as part of the Biden European World Tour. The private meeting was lengthy, and they discussed the usual liberal issues, like climate change, migrants, and Covid.

Biden even told the Pope that he was one Irishman who never took a drink! Malarkey!

https://twitter.com/colmflynnire/status/1454071850603065344?s=20

But what about the elephant in the room: Biden’s support for abortion rights and the Catholic Church’s opposition to abortion?

According to Joe, they didn’t even discuss abortion. But Pope Francis did tell him that he was a “good Catholic” and should keep receiving Communion.

However, not all Catholic bishops have been pleased with their “Good Catholic” president. One is Bishop Thomas Tobin of Providence, R.I., who tweeted:

Dear Pope Francis,
You have boldly stated that abortion is “murder.” Please challenge President Biden on this critical issue. His persistent support of abortion is an embarrassment for the Church and a scandal to the world. Thank you.
Very respectfully,
Your brother +Thomas

— Bishop Thomas Tobin (@ThomasJTobin1) October 27, 2021

Other U.S. Catholic clergy who have opposed Biden and other pro-abortion Catholics taking Communion include the following:

• Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia;
• Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco — Nancy Pelosi’s diocese;
• Cardinal Raymond Burke, who has said that “Joe Biden is not a Catholic in good standing,” and that he “should not approach to receive Holy Communion;”
• Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, a staunch defender of life. He’s also chairman of the Committee for Pro-Life activities for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

But there are other clergy who have no problem with Catholic Democrats taking Communion. In fact, there are 68 bishops who don’t want the Conference of Catholic Bishops to even discuss the issue. Instead, they would rather have “Eucharistic coherence.” Nothing to see here, move along.

I’m not sure why Pope Francis and other high ranking Catholic clergy would gloss over the most significant moral issue confronting the Church. Do they really not care about life? Or do they relish being close to political power?

Or, perhaps, they’re considering Pew Research from last year which reported that 56% of Catholics say that abortion should be legal in all or most cases. What’s more disturbing is that 68% don’t want Roe v. Wade overturned. However, most Catholics who attended Mass regularly believe that abortion should be illegal in all or most cases. Of course they do — they take their faith seriously.

I must admit, I’m out of my lane when it comes to Catholic clergy or theology. I’m a cradle Missouri Synod Lutheran. But since the LCMS is staunchly pro-life, I do have some thoughts on Pope Francis and his seemingly lackadaisical way of handling Joe Biden’s pro-abortion politics.

I’m reminded of the notorious late-term abortionist, Dr. George Tiller, of Wichita, KS. In 2009, an assassin shot and killed Tiller during worship services at Redeemer Lutheran Church. Tiller was such a hero to the pro-abortion crowd that vigils for him were held nationwide, including San Francisco. Imagine — a doctor from inconsequential Wichita, KS, getting such love. But it’s all about abortion, isn’t it?

Steve Rhodes/flickr/CC BY-NC-ND 2.o.

What few people know, however, is that Tiller had joined Redeemer — of the theologically liberal Evangelical Lutheran Church in America — because his previous church had excommunicated him. Tiller had been attending Holy Cross Lutheran, a Missouri Synod congregation, but the church excommunicated him for his abortion practice. And that’s not something that happens everyday.

Uwe Siemon-Netto, former religion editor for United Press International and Lutheran theologian, wrote this about Tiller in 2008. It’s chilling:

“Down in Wichita, Kansas, there is a physician by the name of George Tiller. On his website he boasts that he has already performed 60,000 abortions, mostly late-term, and week after week he is killing 100 more unborn babies.”

“Dr. Tiller does not think of these fetuses as clusters of cancerous cells. He knows they are human because he baptizes some of them before he incinerates them in his own crematorium. You don’t baptize non-humans. Dr. Tiller knows that. He is a practicing Lutheran. His former congregation, Holy Cross of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, excommunicated him as an unrepentant sinner.”

So if a congregation of the much-smaller Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod could excommunicate one of its members for the egregious sin of abortion, why is the powerful Roman Catholic Church hesitant to keep pro-abortion politicians from Communion? Lutherans also believe in the Real Presence of the Body and Blood of Christ in Holy Communion. It’s a Sacrament for both churches — very serious stuff.

This is not to point fingers at devout Catholics. I know so many from the church who stand for life, like my son-in-law’s mother. She’s a registered nurse who had once been the director of a crisis pregnancy center — ironically across the street from a Planned Parenthood clinic. Sometimes, she said, girls would literally run from the PP clinic into their center. She truly has walked the walk.

But if what Joe Biden reported is true, then it’s disappointing that Pope Francis called him a “good Catholic” who can take Holy Communion without repenting. I thought life would be of utmost importance to the leader of the Roman Catholic Church.

Welcome, Instapundit readers! 

Featured image: DonkeyHotey/flickr/cropped/CC BY-SA 2.0.