The US Catholic Church Under a Biden Presidency

It now appears that Joe Biden is the presumptive winner of the 2020 presidential election. While Donald Trump vows to continue fighting election fraud, and I hope he does, for the good of the nation, it’s unlikely to salvage his presidency. Not only would he have to prove, in court, that enough ballot fraud happened to influence the election, he would also have to win every single recount. The odds of this happening are infinitesimally small. The overwhelming likelihood is that Biden will be sworn in as the next president of the United States in January 20, 2021 (1.20.2021). So with that in mind, what would the US Catholic Church look like under a Joe Biden presidency?

Joe Biden claims to be a Catholic. In truth, however, he is a Lapsed Catholic who no longer believes what the Church teaches on key moral issues. He has openly defied the Church, both in politics and in the administration of his office. He’s 100% pro-abortion, following the lame pro-slavery arguments of the 1800s: “I’m personally against (abortion/slavery/etc.), but I wouldn’t want to impose my private beliefs on others.” Biden, like many Lapsed Catholic politicians, likes to play word-games when it comes to this, but the Catholic Church is crystal clear on this matter. If you’re pro-choice, you’re also pro-abortion, regardless if you admit it or not. Likewise, Biden has also used his previous office of vice president to officiate over “marriage” ceremonies of same-sex couples. Once again, he openly defies Church teaching. He can play the “I’m personally against, but…” game all he wants, but the Catholic Church is clear on this one too. If you officiate over a same-sex “wedding,” you’re openly opposing Church teaching on marriage and family.

So the question now is this. What will the bishops do? The bishops are now faced with a problem they haven’t had to deal with since the Kennedy Administration (1961-1963), which was essentially pre-Vatican II. The council was underway at this time, but the Church hadn’t seen any significant administrative or pastoral changes yet. The scandals of the morally-corrupt Kennedy Administration were kept covered to avoid national embarrassment during the Cold War. News of JFK’s adulterous affair with Marilyn Monroe wouldn’t be made public for years after his death. Furthermore, issues like abortion and same-sex “marriage” were not in the political mainstream at that time. So the US Catholic hierarchy didn’t have to deal with the scandal of a Lapsed Catholic in the Whitehouse. This time, however, it’s going to be different — very different.

Joe Biden loves to remind everyone how “Catholic” he is, yet he also likes to remind everyone how pro-abortion (pro-choice) he is, and he likes to show everyone how pro-homosexuality he is. As he does this, and he will, the question will naturally arise in the minds of most Americans (Catholic and non-Catholic like). Has the Catholic Church changed its teachings on abortion and homosexuality?

Now the bishops can try to wiggle out of this all they want, but the question will be nagging, prolific and constant. It will come from all corners of the United States. There will be no escaping it. America’s “Catholic” president, Joe Biden, will soon become the head of America’s top Catholic family, and will soon be the global representative of American Catholicism.

Of course, we know the Catholic Church has not changed its teaching on abortion and homosexuality. What will be curious to see is how the bishops will deal with this. Joe Biden is very much a product of the “pastoral accompaniment” standard of the US Catholic hierarchy. The question then arises: “If Catholic teaching has not changed, and Joe Biden opposes Catholic teaching openly, why have the bishops not done anything about it?” That, of course, will be their problem to deal with. They created it, now they have to deal with it. They made their bed, now they get to sleep in it.

The next logical conclusion Americans will determine is this. If the Catholic Church has not changed its teaching on abortion and homosexuality, and the bishops are unwilling to enforce those teachings, then obviously, those teachings must not be very important. And you know what? They’ll be right. Because actions speak louder than words, and Americans understand this at a fundamentally deep level. It won’t matter what the bishops say about Biden’s lapsed religious state, because the American people (both Catholic and non-Catholic alike) will see right though it. If these bishops aren’t willing to enforce their own teachings with disciplinary action of lapsed Catholics who publicly deny the faith, and then present themselves for communion as if nothing is wrong, then obviously those teachings aren’t important at all, to the very people charged with teaching them.

At this point, the facade will begin to crumble. Americans (both Catholic and non-Catholic alike) will finally know that the US Catholic Church is a joke. They’ll finally see, and they’ll be no denying it, that the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is a joke too. Episcopal authority, in general, is a joke. At least, that’s how Americans will see it. Americans (especially non-Catholic Americans) will finally get the confirmation they’ve always wanted. Catholicism just can’t be taken seriously anymore, especially in the United States. For the “Catholic in Chief” (President Joe Biden) himself has demonstrated, with his own actions, that the US Catholic bishops are nothing but paper tigers. There is no need to listen to them anymore — about anything really. They’re just a bunch of silly old men, wearing funny hats, who serve at the pleasure of Lapsed Catholic politicians (like President Biden), not the pope, and certainly not Jesus Christ. The US Catholic bishops will finally have a president of their own making, and a product of their “pastoral accompaniment,” which they completely deserve.

So how will Catholic bishops deal with this new image of the US Catholic Church in the minds of most Americans. It’s an image that is weak, feeble, impotent and frankly, sad. It’s in image of a castrated Church, that has “a form of godliness, but denies its power” (2nd Timothy 3:1-5). It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Certainly, a large number of America’s bishops are elated with Biden’s apparent win, and are eagerly looking forward to his administration. But they will soon discover that his elevation to the highest office in the land, will simultaneously coincide with their demotion to the lowest esteem in the land. Americans will simply lose all respect for them. Maybe they don’t care. They are his lapdogs, after all, and we’ll soon know exactly who they are. They will be those bishops who continue to remain silent in the face of his constant sacrilege every time he receives holy communion.

I think once Biden is sworn in, assuming he will be if Trump is unable to prove election fraud and win the recounts, we should begin making two separate lists…

• One for those bishops who speak out against the heresy of Biden’s pubic positions, and the sacrilege of him receiving communion every time he goes to Mass. Oh, and we will go to Mass you know, right there in Washington DC, every Sunday, under the watchful eye of the mainstream media. So the bishops will have plenty of opportunities to speak up.
• The other for those bishops who refuse to say a word. I suspect this list will be much, much longer.

What will we do with these lists? Oh, I don’t know. Maybe the smaller list of faithful bishops can be used to help Practicing Catholics relocate to dioceses where they’ll get better pastoral care. Maybe the larger list of unfaithful bishops can be placed on a “Wall of Shame” somewhere. Who knows?

Shane Schaetzel is an author of Catholic books and an Evangelical convert to the Catholic Church through Anglicanism. His articles have been featured on LifeSiteNews, The Remnant Newspaper, Forward in Christ, and Catholic Online. You can read Shane’s books at ShaneSchaetzel.Com