Vatican orders US bishops to hold back statement condemning Biden’s plan to pursue ‘evil’ policies

Vatican orders US bishops to hold back statement condemning Biden’s plan to pursue ‘evil’ policies
The statement pointed out Biden's pledge to pursue anti-life and anti-family policies that would advance 'moral evils' in the areas of 'abortion, contraception, marriage, and gender.'
Wed Jan 20, 2021 - 12:20 pm EST

Archbishop Jose Gomez Claire Chretien / LifeSiteNews
By Pete Baklinski


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WASHINGTON, D.C., January 20, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) — The Vatican ordered the U.S. bishops’ conference (USCCB) to hold back a statement on incoming President Joe Biden that called attention to his pledge to pursue anti-life and anti-family policies that would advance “moral evils” in the areas of “abortion, contraception, marriage, and gender.”

The statement was to be released today, Wednesday, at 9 AM. Bishops were informed by USCCB officials, however, that the statement remained embargoed, reported The Pillar.

“Sources in the Vatican Secretariat of State, others close to the U.S. bishops’ conference, and sources among the U.S. bishops have confirmed to The Pillar that the statement was spiked after intervention from the Vatican Secretariat of State, hours before it was due to be released,” The Pillar reported. Cardinal Pietro Parolin is the Vatican’s Secretariat of State.

The “Statement on the Inauguration of Joseph R. Biden” was penned by conference president Archbishop José Gomez. It was already released by some dioceses, including the Diocese of Tucson (which subsequently deleted the statement).

Noting that Biden is the country’s “first president in 60 years to profess the Catholic faith,” Gomez pointed out that the incoming president’s agenda does not square with Catholic teaching.


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“So, I must point out that our new President has pledged to pursue certain policies that would advance moral evils and threaten human life and dignity, most seriously in the areas of abortion, contraception, marriage, and gender. Of deep concern is the liberty of the Church and the freedom of believers to live according to their consciences,” he wrote.

Gomez stressed that abortion will remain the “preeminent priority” for American bishops during the Biden administration.

“For the nation’s bishops, the continued injustice of abortion remains the ‘preeminent priority.’ Preeminent does not mean ‘only.’ We have deep concerns about many threats to human life and dignity in our society. But as Pope Francis teaches, we cannot stay silent when nearly a million unborn lives are being cast aside in our country year after year through abortion,” he wrote.

“Abortion is a direct attack on life that also wounds the woman and undermines the family. It is not only a private matter, it raises troubling and fundamental questions of fraternity, solidarity, and inclusion in the human community. It is also a matter of social justice. We cannot ignore the reality that abortion rates are much higher among the poor and minorities, and that the procedure is regularly used to eliminate children who would be born with disabilities,” Gomez added.

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The Pillar noted that the statement “had been debated hotly late into Tuesday evening, but multiple sources say it was the intervention of the Vatican that led to its delay.”

Sources close to the USCCB say that several American bishops had raised concerns about the statement’s release, deeming it unduly critical of the incoming administration.

Three sources close to the bishops’ conference said that objections to the statement’s release came from Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark and Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago, among other unnamed bishops.

Gomez wrote that rather than impose further expansions of abortion and contraception, as Biden has promised, he is “hopeful that the new President and his administration will work with the Church and others of good will.”

“My hope is that we can begin a dialogue to address the complicated cultural and economic factors that are driving abortion and discouraging families. My hope, too, is that we can work together to finally put in place a coherent family policy in this country, one that acknowledges the crucial importance of strong marriages and parenting to the well-being of children and the stability of communities. If the President, with full respect for the Church’s religious freedom, were to engage in this conversation, it would go a long way toward restoring the civil balance and healing our country’s needs,” he wrote.

***

Full statement, as published (and subsequently deleted) on the Diocese of Tucson’s website.

 

[UPDATE, Jan. 20, 1:13 p.m. EST: The statement is available on the USCCB website, although it is not listed among the regular news articles.]

January 22, 2021

Statement on the Inauguration of Joseph R. Biden, Jr., as 46th President of the United States of America

Most Reverend José H. Gomez
Archbishop of Los Angeles
President, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

My prayers are with our new President and his family today.

I am praying that God grant him wisdom and courage to lead this great nation and that God help him to meet the tests of these times, to heal the wounds caused by this pandemic, to ease our intense political and cultural divisions, and to bring people together with renewed dedication to America’s founding purposes, to be one nation under God committed to liberty and equality for all.

Catholic bishops are not partisan players in our nation’s politics. We are pastors responsible for the souls of millions of Americans and we are advocates for the needs of all our neighbors. In every community across the country, Catholic parishes, schools, hospitals, and ministries form an essential culture of compassion and care, serving women, children, and the elderly, the poor and sick, the imprisoned, the migrant, and the marginalized, no matter what their race or religion.

When we speak on issues in American public life, we try to guide consciences, and we offer principles. These principles are rooted in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the social teachings of his Church. Jesus Christ revealed God’s plan of love for creation and revealed the truth about the human person, who is created in God’s image, endowed with God-given dignity, rights and responsibilities, and called to a transcendent destiny.

Based on these truths, which are reflected in the Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights, the bishops and Catholic faithful carry out Christ’s commandment to love God and love our neighbors by working for an America that protects human dignity, expands equality and opportunities for every person, and is open-hearted towards the suffering and weak.

For many years now, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has tried to help Catholics and others of good will in their reflections on political issues through a publication we call Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship. The most recent edition addresses a wide range of concerns. Among them: abortion, euthanasia, the death penalty, immigration, racism, poverty, care for the environment, criminal justice reform, economic development, and international peace.

On these and other issues, our duty to love and our moral principles lead us to prudential judgments and positions that do not align neatly with the political categories of left or right or the platforms of our two major political parties. We work with every President and every Congress. On some issues we find ourselves more on the side of Democrats, while on others we find ourselves standing with Republicans. Our priorities are never partisan. We are Catholics first, seeking only to follow Jesus Christ faithfully and to advance his vision for human fraternity and community.

I look forward to working with President Biden and his administration, and the new Congress. As with every administration, there will be areas where we agree and work closely together and areas where we will have principled disagreement and strong opposition.

Working with President Biden will be unique, however, as he is our first president in 60 years to profess the Catholic faith. In a time of growing and aggressive secularism in American culture, when religious believers face many challenges, it will be refreshing to engage with a President who clearly understands, in a deep and personal way, the importance of religious faith and institutions. Mr. Biden’s piety and personal story, his moving witness to how his faith has brought him solace in times of darkness and tragedy, his longstanding commitment to the Gospel’s priority for the poor — all of this I find hopeful and inspiring.

At the same time, as pastors, the nation’s bishops are given the duty of proclaiming the Gospel in all its truth and power, in season and out of season, even when that teaching is inconvenient or when the Gospel’s truths run contrary to the directions of the wider society and culture. So, I must point out that our new President has pledged to pursue certain policies that would advance moral evils and threaten human life and dignity, most seriously in the areas of abortion, contraception, marriage, and gender. Of deep concern is the liberty of the Church and the freedom of believers to live according to their consciences.

Our commitments on issues of human sexuality and the family, as with our commitments in every other area — such as abolishing the death penalty or seeking a health care system and economy that truly serves the human person — are guided by Christ’s great commandment to love and to stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters, especially the most vulnerable.

For the nation’s bishops, the continued injustice of abortion remains the “preeminent priority.” Preeminent does not mean “only.” We have deep concerns about many threats to human life and dignity in our society. But as Pope Francis teaches, we cannot stay silent when nearly a million unborn lives are being cast aside in our country year after year through abortion.

Abortion is a direct attack on life that also wounds the woman and undermines the family. It is not only a private matter, it raises troubling and fundamental questions of fraternity, solidarity, and inclusion in the human community. It is also a matter of social justice. We cannot ignore the reality that abortion rates are much higher among the poor and minorities, and that the procedure is regularly used to eliminate children who would be born with disabilities.

Rather than impose further expansions of abortion and contraception, as he has promised, I am hopeful that the new President and his administration will work with the Church and others of good will. My hope is that we can begin a dialogue to address the complicated cultural and economic factors that are driving abortion and discouraging families. My hope, too, is that we can work together to finally put in place a coherent family policy in this country, one that acknowledges the crucial importance of strong marriages and parenting to the well-being of children and the stability of communities. If the President, with full respect for the Church’s religious freedom, were to engage in this conversation, it would go a long way toward restoring the civil balance and healing our country’s needs.

President Biden’s call for national healing and unity is welcome on all levels. It is urgently needed as we confront the trauma in our country caused by the coronavirus pandemic and the social isolation that has only worsened the intense and long-simmering divisions among our fellow citizens.

As believers, we understand that healing is a gift that we can only receive from the hand of God. We know, too, that real reconciliation requires patient listening to those who disagree with us and a willingness to forgive and move beyond desires for reprisal. Christian love calls us to love our enemies and bless those who oppose us, and to treat others with the same compassion that we want for ourselves.

We are all under the watchful eye of God, who alone knows and can judge the intentions of our hearts. I pray that God will give our new President, and all of us, the grace to seek the common good with all sincerity.

I entrust all our hopes and anxieties in this new moment to the tender heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of Christ and the patroness of this exceptional nation. May she guide us in the ways of peace and obtain for us wisdom and the grace of a true patriotism and love of country.
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/v...ies?utm_source=featured&utm_campaign=standard

 

Thanks for sharing that.

 

Guess all you American's here will be joining us Canadians now in socialism...

 

Hypocrites. If they were "Catholic first" as they claim to be, they would have done as instructed by St. Paul and warned Catholics against the walking scandal that is Biden who makes a mockery of all that those Bishops profess to believe and they would have been less judgemental of the one who never claimed to be of their flock.

A cautionary note here to members in the US. The purge is beginning and it is more than likely that there are members here on this forum who would convince themselves they were doing their country a service by bringing the wrath of Joe and Kamala down on you. Don't reveal your location on the forum and be careful whom you share it with in private messages. People who can square their consciences with voting for those who promote the wholesale slaughter of innocent babies will have no trouble salving this consciences when they sell you out. They'll just give some poor person a bowl of soup and boast about walking the talk. Be very, very careful. Fr. Heilman has hinted that he is already feeling the heat.

 

Indeed.. we know what's coming. Members of our own families (some of us anyway) could 'turn us in'. Agreed, be very careful

 

Sure looks that way.....at least until God sets things right. Probably not in my lifetime.

 

Let them! A clear path to heaven if they take us out. A privilege!

 

Dark days ahead, but Jesus is light of the World. Only in him do we have hope. I don't trust either Biden or Harris. If I get sold out, I get sold out. Who knows, a dumb ass like me might make the martyr list.

 

Me too!

 

Unless you are a centenarian, I must disagree with you. I think our Good Lord may set things right much faster than people think. Just my opinion...hope, really. But the time sure seems ripe to me in looking at the state of the world (and the Church!) today.

For you yourselves know well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. When people say, 'There is peace and security," then sudden destruction will come upon them as travail comes upon a woman with child, and there will be no escape.

As were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of man.
For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they did not know until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of man.

Therefore you also must be ready; for the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

Please note, I am not saying by posting these verses that I think the end of the world is at hand or even the "Day of the Lord" as Mark Mallett understands it. I really don't think the end of the world is too very near yet but maybe an "Era of Peace" might be: maybe several years from now or some decades or maybe...next week! Who knows? I don't really have a solid belief as to how all that will play out. But I am saying that things can change overnight, or at least, very, very quickly, if God decides to so act. Our Lord is telling us that his Second Coming will come "like a thief in the night": "For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage [i.e. people will be going about their business as if that day is going to be just another routine day - little did they know when they got out of bed that morning that that day is going to be the LAST one], until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they did not know until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of man." People will be working "in the field", "grinding at the mill", or browsing online or mowing the lawn and then they will hear the piercing blast of a great trumpet, will look up, "and then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory." The dead will be raised, the reprobate thrown into hell and the elect will enter into eternal glory and that will be that. So, if That Day, Dies Irae, can come so suddenly and unexpectedly, can't any other day, any one of which pales in significance to That Day?

Scripture tells us that there will be many people who will be able to read the "signs of the times" and have a good inkling that "the end is near", as the signs will say, but the mass of humanity will be clueless. I think that's what our Lord is telling us. Don't be clueless and unprepared. Watch and pray. Well, there are many signs in these times of ours in January 2021 that something is coming. imo. One of the greatest of which is the loss of (or expulsion from - take your pick, it doesn't really matter) the presidency of Donald Trump and the installation of rabid pro-abortion and pro-everything-else-evil Democrats as the majority party in both houses of Congress, despite the millions of prayers around the world that that exact thing would not happen. You better believe that God hears our prayers. Every one of them. But apparently He has something else in mind. Huge, huge sign.

Now, we have Francis and Biden. Huge. Years of sin in the Church ---> Francis. Years of sin in the State ---> Biden. Sorry, I'm American so I naturally have something of an American-centric outlook, but I do believe that the U.S. is a special country in the realm of the spiritual. Interestingly, there are questions surrounding both of their elections to their respective offices. There are many that believe that one or the other or both is/are not legitimate holders of their office, or possibly, in the case of Francis, that he lost his office at some point. And both claim to be Catholic but act in ways utterly contrary to the Catholic Faith they say they profess.

Another big sign was the second visit to Sister Agnes Sasagawa of the same angel who had visited her previously and the ominous message he gave her, right at the beginning of the spread of COVID and subsequent pandemic. I wouldn't be surprised if he was over there right now having another conversation with her. Come to think of it, today is the Feast of St. Agnes, virgin and martyr. Happy feast day, good sister.

And now, O ye kings, understand: receive instruction, you that judge the earth.
Serve ye the Lord with fear: and rejoice unto him with trembling.
Embrace discipline, lest at any time the Lord be angry, and you perish from the just way.
When his wrath shall be kindled in a short time, blessed are all they that trust in him.

"Watch and pray"


(sorry to ramble on like that)

 

I read an article showing how America sounds like it has to be Mystery Babylon. Was pretty convincing.
Thoughts?

 

Mark Mallet wrote something along those lines. From something I read elsewhere (sorry that I can recall who wrote it or where I read it) America doesn't fit the details given in Scripture. I'm fairly sure that the conclusion was that Jerusalem is the best match. Or maybe the conclusion was that Jerusalem is the harlot and Babylon is the secular power - whatever will be the future equivalent of what imperial Rome was when St. John received the revelation.

 

Putin:

'There is no Fear of God in you'

 

Whoever Put in is he does speak some truth.

 

Sounds like the things some evangelicals write. Lots of nations are tied to MB and the Harlot because of the great wealth and power it grants to those kings who yoke themselves and their people to it. It says as much in the prophecy of the day of it's destruction which some of those same kings will partake in because God will put it in their hearts to turn against and destroy it. That doesn't make them MB in spite of having some of the traits of it. God calls His people out of MB leading up to this just as Jesus exposed the hypocrisy of it in the Sanhedrin and Pharisees. Many people follow after it however.
MB has been around in one form or another from the beginning. Pharaoh was a good example of it. He and his priests used secret knowledge to oppress and enslave people. The obelisk is a symbol of this oppression and stands in most nations of the west not as a sign of the churches victory over this false religion like it does at the Vatican but instead as a monument to it. Few understand the difference. It is why so many of the rulers of oppressive kingdoms went to Egypt to bring them back to Europe and erect them there.
The Muslims too knew this. At the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, a part of the rite is to stone the symbol of the devil and renounce him. This was represented as obelisks that the people would cast pebbles at while renouncing him. This rite was changed however back in 2004 when those symbols were replaced by long stone walls and the reason was given that it was for safety. The Muslims have a prophecy about this actually which states that when the Hajj is corrupted they will know that the times of the end have begun. It says that some will realize this but the majority will be ignorant.
The obelisk was used to help determine the time of day and in turn the movements of the planets. This knowledge known to pharaohs priests was used to determine the days and times of eclipses. Great ceremonies were given at the times of the eclipses to convince the ignorant slaves that Pharaoh was a man/god and worship him. The people were in awe when this took place.
It worked so well the Israelites turned back to worshiping those gods associated to pharaoh when Moses was on the mountain. The Bull was the god symbolized by Egypt as the protector of pharaoh.
Any nation who oppresses and dominates God's people is a form of it but there are very specific things stated about it that can not be found in those other nations.
The war which gave birth to America and it's independence never ended and goes on today. It has been being fought ever since without armies and soldiers on our soils but fought none the less. History proves his out when we read about what took place after the war. The new governmet may have taken a new form but the goal was the same for some.
So long story short, I do not believe America in spite of the overwhelming attempts to make the world believe we are mystery Babylon fulfills that prophetic role or comes even close. We no doubt share in the sins of it because we have been pledged to it by many of our kings and have done it's bidding as a result at times but those days are drawing to a close.

 

Fr Z has been thrown out of the Diocese of Madison, WI because he said exorcism prayers against election fraud at the end of his streamed Masses. He is asking readers for subscriptions to support him. There undoubtedly will be others.

Edited to add: Today, Fr. Heilman posted this:

I’m hearing more and more reports that “strong” Christians are coming under greater attack. “Strong” Christians are a threat to those who oppose the Holy Spirit. I know I am among those under serious attack as I was recently suspended from Facebook for 30 days for sharing a Lifesitenews article that nobody else has been penalized for sharing (article HERE). The radical secular Left has been ramping things up, primarily by spinning a narrative to now say that talk of “spiritual warfare” incites violence … which is utter nonsense. As those who oppose the Holy Spirit now feel they have taken control, the attacks are intensifying as each day passes. I believe we have angered the devil, especially, as our (Altman, Heilman, Peckman) book, “Let Freedom Ring” is expected to go public next week...

He is going to say prayers from the Auxilium Christianorum each day to counteract the attacks.
https://usgraceforce.com/we-are-under-attack-lets-pray-for-one-another/.

 

But when these things begin to come to pass, look up, and lift up your heads, because your redemption is at hand...

 

Muzzling the bishops isn't a big surprise under Francis. The world is being manipulated into believing all the pope's words and actions and now the new "catholic" president's words and actions are what Catholics should believe and how they should act. I find it best for my mental health and faith to limit how much of this stuff I stay exposed to. It's a serious battle cause I don't like to be mislead or lied to and don't want to be blind to what is coming.