OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
A Catholic bishop has chided President Joe Biden on the gap between his professed faith and his policies.
Bishop Robert Gruss of the Diocese of Saginaw, Michigan, spoke on April 5 at the Cathedral of Mary of the Assumption in a speech titled “Forgiveness as the Heart of Christianity,” when he made the comments, Fox News reported.
He spoke about being raised by an alcoholic dad and forgiving him for that trauma when he was an adult.
He said that people should do the same with their resentment and furiousness not only towards people they know but famous people too.
“If you’re harboring bad, negative, resentful feelings towards our president, you’re not free,” he 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. That’s what sin is.”
“How many times have you confessed your anger towards the president?” he asked, drawing some laughter from the audience. “I’m serious; I’m not kidding. If you have it, you should confess it. Otherwise, you’re not free.”
He then spoke about his own thoughts on Biden and what he says his faith is.
“I don’t have any anger towards the president. I feel sorry for him. I’m not angry at him, he’s just stupid,” the bishop said.
“It’s not stupidity in the derogatory way. It’s stupidity in the sense of […] he doesn’t understand the Catholic faith,” he said.
After some controversy due to his comments, the bishop issued an explainer after the speech in which he apologized for the use of the word “stupid.”
“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,” he said.
“I used the word ‘stupid’ in reference to President Biden, recognizing that it was poor judgment in my choice of words,” he said. “It was not meant to be disparaging, and I apologize.”
This month, Biden took time out of his day to criticize a state Supreme Court ruling regarding an abortion law dating back to 1864.
The Arizona Supreme Court upheld the law, which bans most abortions, though it does provide an exception for when the life of the mother is in danger. The law also requires jail sentences of between two and five years for healthcare providers who perform the procedure, the Washington Examiner reported.
“Millions of Arizonans will soon live under an even more extreme and dangerous abortion ban, which fails to protect women even when their health is at risk or in tragic cases of rape or incest,” he said, according to a statement released by the White House.
Biden added he’s always been a champion of “women’s right to choose.”
“This cruel ban was first enacted in 1864 — more than 150 years ago, before Arizona was even a state and well before women had secured the right to vote,” he continued. “This ruling is a result of the extreme agenda of Republican elected officials who are committed to ripping away women’s freedom.”
Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris falsely blamed the Arizona ruling on former President Donald Trump in a statement Tuesday afternoon.
“Arizona just rolled back the clock to a time before women could vote — and, by his own admission, there’s one person responsible: Donald Trump,” she said.
“This even more extreme and dangerous ban criminalizes almost all abortion care in the state and puts women’s lives at risk. It provides no exceptions for rape, incest, or health,” Harris added. “It’s a reality because of Donald Trump, who brags about being ‘proudly the person responsible’ for overturning Roe v. Wade, and made it possible for states to enforce cruel bans.”
