Joe Biden, often described by the mainstream press as a "devout Catholic," is only the second Roman Catholic president in U.S. history. Nonetheless, he celebrated Holy Week by limiting religious freedom and rejecting Catholic dogma.
Last week was Holy Week on the Christian calendar, which culminates in the two events that define Christianity — the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on Good Friday, and His resurrection on Easter Sunday.
Holy Name College, a community of Franciscan Catholic priests and brothers, have provided for the religious needs of service members and veterans at Walter Reed for nearly two decades.
But no more, according to the Archdiocese for the Military Services.
At the very time we entered Holy Week, Christianity’s’ most sacred of days, the Biden administration issued a cease and desist order that directed the Catholic priests to stop all religious services at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
After the Franciscans’ contract for Catholic pastoral care was terminated, it was replaced by a secular defense contracting firm. Secular firms cannot celebrate Mass or dispense sacraments such as Holy Communion.
One Catholic U.S. Army Chaplin is currently assigned to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
However he’s in the process of separating from the service.
Timothy P. Broglio, J.C.D., Archbishop for the Military Services, called the move a violation of the First Amendment Free Exercise (of religion) Clause.
"It is incomprehensible that essential pastoral care is taken away from the sick and the aged when it was so readily available," Archbishop Broglio said.
"This is a classic case where the adage 'if it is not broken, do not fix it' applies. I fear that giving a contract to the lowest bidder overlooked the fact that the bidder cannot provide the necessary service.
"I earnestly hope that this disdain for the sick will be remedied at once and their First Amendment rights will be respected."
The First Amendment probides that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . . " (emphasis added)
All branches and departments of government are subject to the First Amendment guarantees, as are all levels of government from federal to local.
Legal counsel for the archdiocese reached out to Walter Reed’s contracting officers numerous times asking them to reconsider their decision — or at least put it off until the end of Holy Week. They never bothered to respond.
Also during Holy Week a Texas-based federal district judge suspended the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of mifepristone, an abortion inducing drug.
"The Court does not second-guess FDA’s decision-making lightly. But here, FDA acquiesced on its legitimate safety concerns — in violation of its statutory duty — based on plainly unsound reasoning and studies that did not support its conclusions," Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk wrote.
"There is also evidence indicating FDA faced significant political pressure to forego its proposed safety precautions to better advance the political objective of increased 'access; to chemical abortion — which was the 'whole idea of mifepristone.'"
Biden celebrated Holy Saturday of Easter weekend by vowing to fight the order tooth and nail.
"A federal district judge in Texas ruled that a prescription medication that has been available for more than 22 years, approved by the FDA, and used safely and effectively by millions of women should no longer be approved in the United States," Biden tweeted.
"We will fight this ruling," he vowed.
Sanctity of life is central to the Roman Catholic faith, and because of that, it permits abortions only when necessary to save the life of the mother. This mattered little to "devout Catholic" Biden, however, who hadn’t finished his Easter weekend message.
"Let’s be clear: Vice President Harris and I will continue to lead the fight to protect a woman’s right to an abortion, and to make her own decisions about her own health." he said. "That is our commitment."
Even if Biden believed he was acting in the best interests of the country, he couldn’t wait until after Christianity’s holiest day of the year to make his announcement?
Instead he had to turn it into an Easter weekend address to the nation.
And Walter Reed couldn’t wait until after Easter either?
We don’t necessarily expect political leaders to be especially religious, but we want them to have ethics. We expect them to live by a code other than the accumulation of power and wealth.
Not so with Biden, whether it’s protecting our borders, protecting the economy, or protecting our religious liberty.
Michael Dorstewitz is a retired lawyer and has been a frequent contributor to Newsmax. He is also a former U.S. Merchant Marine officer and an enthusiastic Second Amendment supporter. Read Michael Dorstewitz's Reports — More Here.
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