A Tennessee Catholic bishop who has been speaking out against Joe Biden’s pro-abortion policies urged Christians to pray for the politician Sunday.
Breitbart reports Bishop Rick Stika of the Diocese of Knoxville said the pro-abortion Democrat, likely the next president of the United States, needs prayer “for his soul.”
“Now Biden is the second Catholic President,” Stika wrote on Twitter. “We too must pray for him but also now that he holds the life and death of the yet to be born, those who believe in religious liberty and freedom of conscience, parental rights in regards to the education of their children and the religious persecution by the national media and so called liberals and progressives, pray for his conversion of heart.
“Pray for his soul,” he continued.
On Friday, he also shared a tweet from Pope Francis recognizing World Children’s Day.
“Every child needs to be welcomed and defended, helped and protected, from the moment of their conception,” the tweet read.
Biden, who claims to be a devout Catholic, supports abortion on demand and wants to force taxpayers to pay for them. He and his vice presidential running mate, Kamala Harris, are being described as the most pro-abortion presidential ticket in history.
American Catholic bishops have been speaking out against Biden’s anti-life and anti-Catholic proposals. Last week, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops launched a new committee to explore how to work with a Biden administration.
SUPPORT LIFENEWS! If you like this pro-life article, please help LifeNews.com with a donation!
For months, Stika has been urging Biden to repent and support the right to life for all human beings, including those not yet born. In September, he criticized Biden for repeatedly quoting Pope Francis on the campaign trail while ignoring the church leader’s frequent condemnation of abortion. Then, in October, he asked Biden to consider how he will account to God for supporting killing unborn babies in abortions.
“At your judgment before God, how will you explain changing your position about abortion and how will you explain promoting no limits and allowing all protections removed protecting the most innocent?” the bishop asked. “Will you tell God you supported the ultimate child abuse because of the American Constitution?”
If Biden takes office and does what he promised, abortions could increase across America. Not only did Biden promise to codify Roe v. Wade into federal law in case the U.S. Supreme Court overturns it, he also promised to end the Hyde Amendment and force taxpayers to pay for elective abortions.
More than 800,000 unborn babies are aborted every year in America, and about 62 million have been aborted since 1973 when the U.S. Supreme Court forced states to legalize abortion on demand. Without the Hyde Amendment, researchers at the Charlotte Lozier Institute predict 60,000 more unborn babies could be killed in abortions each year.
In April, Biden went so far as to call the killing of unborn babies an “essential medical service” during the coronavirus pandemic. His health care plan would expand abortions as well by forcing insurance companies to cover abortions as “essential” health care under Obamacare.
He also promised to undo all of Trump’s progress for life, including restoring funding to the billion-dollar abortion chain Planned Parenthood.
On religious freedom, Biden’s position also is deeply troubling. Biden has endorsed anti-religious freedom policies that would force nuns, religious charities and hospitals to violate their deeply-held beliefs by funding the killing of unborn babies in abortions and potentially even by helping to facilitate their deaths.
He also promised to restore an Obama-era mandate that would force the nuns with Little Sisters of the Poor and other religious employers to fund contraception, including types that may cause abortions, in their employee health insurance plans.
