Multiple reports this morning indicate pro-abortion Vice President Joe Biden will seek the Democratic nomination for president against the top two candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, who are both ardent abortion advocates.
Fox News’ Ed Henry reports that sources close to Biden have told him that Biden will definitely run for president in 2016.
Three sources close to @VP telling me he’s expected to announce he is running but the sources are all urging caution on 48-hr timeline
— Ed Henry (@edhenry) October 19, 2015
There has been heavy speculation that Biden would run for the Democratic nomination. It was unclear, however, if he would be willing to endure the campaign trail following the death of his son earlier this year. Calls within the party for Biden to run have been fueled by concerns over Hillary Rodham Clinton’s email controversy and declining popularity. Her strong debate performance last week dampened some of that talk.
U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-PA-13) took to social media Monday to say Biden would be running.
I have a very good source close to Joe that tells me VP Biden will run for Prez — US Rep Brendan Boyle (@RepBrendanBoyle) October 19, 2015
Bide has been a staunch abortion proponent and, despite his Catholic faith, he said last month he did not want to get into a theological discussion about abortion but that the question of when life begins is above his pay grade.
Ironically, Biden started the interview by saying that Pope Francis is “the embodiment of the Catholic social doctrine that I was raised with, the idea that everyone is entitled to dignity, that the poor should be given special preference, that you have an obligation to reach out and be inclusive.”
CLICK LIKE IF YOU’RE PRO-LIFE!
Biden also said that he’s looking forward to the pontiff’s address to Congress on Thursday. He said, “As a practicing Catholic, I am really excited.” He agreed with Father Malone that the Catholic faith teaches that abortion is always wrong. Then, when Father Malone asked if it’s hard for him to reconcile the Church’s position on abortion with his own, he said, “It has been, it has been hard in one sense, because I’m prepared to accept de fide doctrine on a whole range of issues as a Catholic.
He added, “I’m prepared to accept as a matter of faith, my wife and I, my family, [the Church’s teaching on] the issue of abortion,” but not prepared to “impose” what he considers “a precise view, that is born out of my faith, on other people.”
However, Biden did say that there is a place for pro-life people in the Democratic Party even though their stance is pro-abortion.
Unfortunately, Democrats work diligently in Congress to defeat all types of pro-life legislation. From bills that ban late-term abortion and require abortion facilities to administer medical care for babies born alive after botched abortions to legislation that would de-fund Planned Parenthood, top Democrats rarely vote pro-life.
In 2013, Michael Sheridan, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Colorado Springs, says pro-abortion Vice President Joe Biden shouldn’t receive communion from the Catholic Church — at least in his diocese.
Excerpts from an interview he provided to his hometown Colorado Springs Gazette newspaper follow:
Daniel Cole: In 2004, you made national headlines when you spoke out against Catholic politicians on the wrong side of four non-negotiables: abortion, embryonic stem-cell research, euthanasia and same-sex marriage. You said that these politicians, and Catholics who vote for them, may not receive Communion until they have recanted and confessed. Is that still your position?
Bishop Sheridan: It’s clear to me that the Code of Canon Law, Canon 915, says that a Catholic politician who publicly espouses positions that are contrary, not just to any teachings of the Church, but to serious moral teachings, should not receive Holy Communion until they recant those positions publicly. Voters needs a little bit more nuance, because there the question is, are we voting for those politicians precisely because of their positions on those non-negotiable issues? Here is what I would say: It would be very difficult for me to understand how, if there are two candidates quite far apart in their positions on these matters, I could vote for the one who consistently opposes these Church teachings, simply because he might be in favor of a few good things.
DC: Would support for the contraceptives mandate also disqualify Catholic politicians from receiving Communion? Is that a new non-negotiable?
Sheridan: I think we do need to add to that list (of non-negotiables) religious liberty. Absolutely, yes. I think a Catholic politician who publicly and consistently defends the mandate, which causes people to violate their conscience — yes, I think that’s right up there with the rest of them.
DC: If Vice President Joe Biden, who is Catholic, were to swing through Colorado Springs on a campaign tour and attend your Mass, would you deny him Communion?
Sheridan: He should know, and I would do everything I could do to make sure that he knows, he ought not to be receiving Communion.
Biden got into big trouble with the bishops after his infamous 2008 appearance on “Meet the Press.” Tom Brokaw asked Biden if he agreed with the Catholic Church on abortion. “I’m prepared as a matter of faith to accept that life begins at conception. But that is my judgment. For me to impose that judgment on everyone else who is equally and maybe even more devout than I am seems to me is inappropriate in a pluralistic society.” He also said that in the Catholic Church there has long been a “debate” on when life begins.
