Catholic bishop says Biden 'doesn't understand' Catholicism: 'He's just stupid' | Fox News
By: Timothy Nerozzi (Fox News)
Good advice
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
DC Archbishop calls Biden 'cafeteria Catholic' who 'picks and chooses' parts of the faith
Washington D.C.'s Roman Catholic Archbishop Cardinal Wilton Gregory called the president a "cafeteria Catholic" for picking and choosing parts of the faith while "ignoring or even contradicting" other aspects that are more "challenging."
A Catholic bishop in Michigan weighed in on the discrepancy between President Biden's policies and his professed Catholic faith earlier this month, suggesting "forgiveness" for the president's "stupidity."
Bishop Robert Gruss of the Diocese of Saginaw mentioned Biden during "Forgiveness as the Heart of Christianity," a lecture given on Apr. 5 at the Cathedral of Mary of the Assumption.
In the discussion, Gruss urged congregants to let go of unproductive anger and resentment towards others — citing his own experience growing up with an alcoholic father and a letter he wrote in adulthood forgiving him for the trauma of his youth.
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President Joe Biden (L) waves alongside his son Hunter Biden after attending mass at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Johns Island, South Carolina.(NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images)
Asking the faithful to interrogate their own hatreds and resentments, the bishop pointed out that destructive lack of forgiveness does not apply only to individuals they know, but also public figures and institutions.
"If you're harboring bad, negative, resentful feelings towards our president, you're not free," Gruss said. "Otherwise, you're letting him control you and your thoughts and your words and your actions. And I guarantee that if he is a problem for you, then those thoughts, words, and actions are negative — they're gonna come out and then we commit sin.
The bishop urged the faithful to note such destructive resentments when seeking the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the practice through which Catholics believe God forgives the sins they confess.
"How many times have you confessed your anger towards the president?" the bishop asked, provoking unintended laughter from the audience. But the bishop continued, "I'm serious, I'm not kidding. If you have it, you should be confessing it. Otherwise, you're not free."
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A confession sign inside the church at the Mary Queen of the Universe Shrine. (Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Gruss compared persistent anger and resentment to a "ball and chain" that harms the self more than the other.
Reflecting on his own feelings towards Biden — who has embraced a public affiliation with Catholicism while also supporting abortion, gender ideology, and other policies contrary to Church teaching — the bishop said he pities him.
"I don't have any anger towards the president. I feel sorry for him. I'm not angry at him, he's just stupid," Gruss said.
The comment provoked renewed laughter from the audience, though the bishop remained serious.
"It's not stupidity in the derogatory way, it's stupidity in the sense of [...] he doesn't understand the Catholic faith."
Gruss' comments are only the latest example of Catholic prelates' increasingly vocal opposition to Biden's self-professed Catholic identity.
Following heated debate about the appropriateness of the bishop's remarks, the Diocese of Saginaw released a statement about the talk in which Gruss clarified his points.
"I was speaking in the context of forgiving the president and any people in government who offend us by their words and actions — that we cannot harbor resentment toward them because in doing so, it would be sinful," Gruss said.
Gruss did apologize for using the word "stupid" to refer to the president, saying he should have chosen a more precise word.
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Biden arrives at St. Edmond Catholic Church in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
"I used the word 'stupid' in reference to President Biden, recognizing that it was poor judgment in my choice of words," Gruss said. "It was not meant to be disparaging, and I apologize."
Fox News Digital reached out to the Diocese of Saginaw and the office of the bishop but did not receive a response.
Pope Francis himself has previously commented on Biden's "incoherence" on the abortion issue as a professed Catholic.
"I leave it to [President Biden's] conscience and that he speaks to his bishop, his pastor, his parish priest about that incoherence," the pope remarked in 2022.
Timothy Nerozzi is a writer for Fox News Digital. You can follow him on Twitter @timothynerozzi and can email him at timothy.nerozzi@fox.com
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Wise words that should be heeded by those with obsessions seeded in the past.
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Moral of the story, if you insert another person you loathe for president in the statement, He who angers you controls you. And we have a lot of people who are controlled right here by someone, something they have no control over. They are wasting their time and life.
I am unsure how questioning how a Catholic Bishop can be a determiner on another person's Catholicism violates the "Terms of Service". At best he could offer his own limited personal opinion and nothing more since he does not personally know Biden. Instead of being cited as some type of "expert".
We don't need to know Biden to know that he is an evil and awful person.
15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them."
Matthew 7:15-20
So tell me, is William Schladerson evil?.
"I used the word 'stupid' in reference to President Biden, recognizing that it was poor judgment in my choice of words," Gruss said. "It was not meant to be disparaging, and I apologize."
He was simply using the word as it was meant to be used.
He's not wrong.
Many Catholic bishops are conservative.
There are also tens of millions of Catholics who are not.
Its as simple as that.
As opposed to Protestant Ministers who go along to get along.
There are also tens of millions of Catholics who are not.
Many are Catholics in name only.
Its as simple as that.
Ya, we proved that haven't we?
every religious sect has a more "liberal" wing and a more "conservative " wing. it is one reason these faiths still exist after thousands of years.
I don't think so. Religion is basically about dogma.
There are over 45,000 denominations of Christianity across the world comprising more than 2 billion people.
And?
Some of them are quite liberal. Here's a few...
What's that got to do with Biden. He's a lapsed Catholic and a false prophet.
“…a false prophet…”?
…what? …
Assertion. Prove it.
No, now he is either senile or a pandering hypocrite. he was stupid.
That's rich. Coming from a Church that won't or can't fix itself internally over pedophile priests. . . seems pretty selective. . . like what's happening here. . . . Go heal thyself!
Are you saying all priests are pedophiles?
In a word: "No." (You are a friend, so I will answer the question.) As is the case in every aspect of human life. . . very little is absolute. Besides, we all should be familiarized with the Catholic Church pedophile priests scandals to understand what the issue is.
Who's going to care about some religious nutter's opinion, except other religious nutters?
Your President, for starters.
Why else would he bring up stuff like going to a synagogue along with going to Mass almost every day as a youth?
Also, folks who read and comment on articles such as this.
Obviously.
The man is a Puerto Rican raised in the black church and synagogues! He the most religious of the religious.
Puerto Rican, too?
I thought he was Greek, Polish, and Jewish!
Joe Biden may very well have been the world's most accomplished and devout teenager of all time.
A truly unbelievable story of his upbringing!
Should I care about that?
I did say "other religious nutters"...
Common sense and logic tells me you must have cared enough to ask the question.
Personally, I never ask questions about stuff I don't care about, saves me loads of wasted time!
No, he is a lying Irishman who likes to tell stories about cannibals.
Truly an amazing man, Biden is.
Greek, Polish, Jewish, Irish, Catholic, attended black churches (perhaps with his Catholic Puerto Rican family?), attended synagogues (perhaps with his extended Greek family), visited mosques, had a relative eaten by cannibals after crashing in the ocean, fought off a black hoodlum named Corn Pop, was arrested in Africa seeing Mandela, and got arrested protesting for civil rights as a youth.
I mean, he has something for everybody, what's not to like???
I cared enough about the NT community to question the stupid partisan crap that gets published here, not that some weird dude with a pointy hat is saying something bad about the President. There is a distinction there that shouldn't have to be explained in this much detail, but it appears it must be.
I'm tickled pink you think so much of me, personally, you took the time to respond.
Someone needed to point out the inanity of griping about a seeded article and commenting on it while claiming disinterest.
My understanding is Biden is a life-long Catholic. . . and public figure. The public figure element counts for something. That means Biden as president has the aspirations and dreams of all kinds, types, and categories in the citizenry looking to him for truth and justice. He is not lawfully "entitled" to run for office, get elected, and then serve only a segment of the populace—that are his tribe.
It is time to stop this foolish negativism for negativism sake. We must think about what it is we should be doing here.
Doesn't mean he's not stupid.
The person running the administration that is targeting political opponents being looked at for truth and justice?
You have your perspective and I have mine. Furthermore, Biden beat "the other guy" badly in the past election so much so that the other guy is still sore and a loser over it.
You make it seem as if he's not a threat. If that's the case, then why are the left and Democrats trying so hard to keep him off the ballots. Its not like previous attempts haven't failed miserably.
Because he is elderly, but only a few years older than "the other guy." You know the sore loser who got beat by Biden in a fair fight!
LMAO. Are you referring to the election where Traitor Joe had to have Facebook censor people? You're starting to sound as delusional as Biden.
Right on, man!
Democrats are attempting to keep others off ballots just because Joe Biden is old.
Makes perfect sense---NOT!
Can't get a sillier reason.
Late elderly is 75 years of age or above. Donald Trump is 77 years old. Oops!
Of course he's not.
He must follow the law, even if the law contradicts an actual belief he might have.(pretend we are talking about someone with principles, not Biden). If he can't do that, he should resign.
But that's not the issue. Biden is an advocate for abortion, which contradicts Catholic teaching. The Bishop is criticizing him for his private, self interested advocacy, not how he performs his legally required duties.
But that is the thing. Biden, a life-long Catholic (I assume). And he must follow the law and advocate for his policies which impact (all) of us—especially federally. And, in the states. If the Church takes issue with a president being a president for all the people, then it should not advocate for a Catholic personage ever becoming president.
I am old enough to remember John F. Kennedy seeking the office of president and reasonable minds wondered if a Catholic president would be the dog "wagged" by the Pope! And, the old and defunct GOP understood the significance of such a concern not being the case for a deeply religious president.
your conflating two things. Biden has to follow the law. What he advocates the law to be is his choice. If his beliefs keep him from following the law, he should not be President. But nothing prevents him from offering his opinion on what the law should be.
en it should not advocate for a Catholic personage ever becoming president.
Funny how that never seems to apply to Justices or Governors who oppose the death penalty, for religious or other reasons.
resident being a president for all the people,
that's silly. No President is "president for the all the people" because the people disagree about everything. some significant number of people are always going to oppose a President's policy that "impacts us all". The President job is to execute the law. That's why he's the chief executive. What he believes is "right or wrong" is irrelevant to whether he faithfully executes it.
of such a concern not being the case for a deeply religious president
Kennedy? deeply religious is about the last adjectives I'd use to describe him.
That you will have to take up with any leader. I have made my case using JFK as the example of a Catholic President who did not always align with this Church when it crossed paths with democratic values. BTW regarding JFK:
That was a 'perfect' answer for the times Kennedy found himself in and it satisfied the Protestants who felt that support for a Catholic president in the thrall of a Pope would be disastrous for Protestants.
Please elaborate. As I do not see the connection to Biden or the leader of the nation status-there. Also, cautiously, you might want to consider i f you are moving the goalpost.
Well, that goes to the notion that political parties are "supposed" and "expected" to be adversarial, uncompromising and uncooperative. But that is not how parties (think Moderates in the two major parties) should operate.
As for what presidents feel about policies once they become the 'moral' leader and head of our country. . . that is between the man and his essence. . . people can be moved by a great many factors when it comes to rights and wrongs, conscience, and principle.
Whom do you view as "moderate "?
Moderate politicians do exist in congress in The Problem Solvers Caucus ( See here ).
You are simply barking up the wrong tree if you choose to deliberately look at Biden for truth and justice.
Partisan nonsense.
You spout negativisms just about every day about Republicans and anything "MAGA"!
I do and it is deserved. If MAGAs want positivity the saying goes. . .be positive towards Others in this country (and on this site).