In a video message sent to the annual Religious Education Congress in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Pope Francis argued that the “commitment, strength and dedication” of all is needed to build a better tomorrow after a global pandemic that has impacted the lives of all people.
The U.S. bishops’ conference pro-life chairman has called President Joe Biden’s intent to codify Roe v. Wade “deeply disturbing and tragic,” in response to a statement made by the second-ever Catholic president on Jan. 22.
Two leaders of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops applauded President Joe Biden’s Inauguration Day executive action ordering the federal government to keep in place and strengthen the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
As Joe Biden assumed the presidency, two of the country’s leading bishops disagree on how to respond to the new administration of the first Catholic president since John F. Kennedy.
Just before noon Wednesday Joe Biden put his left hand on his family’s 19th century Bible and was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States, and the first Catholic president since John F. Kennedy in 1960.
As Joe Biden prepared to be inaugurated as the 46th U.S. president, Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, expressed hope the incoming administration “will work with the church and others of goodwill” to “address the complicated cultural and economic factors that are driving abortion and discouraging families.”
“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.”
In the spirit of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., “we must meet the forces of hate and ignorance with the power of love,” the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said in a statement for the Jan. 18 federal observance of the slain civil rights leader’s birthday.
The lives of people lost to the “long, dark months of the coronavirus pandemic” was on the mind of Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles during an observance on the eve of All Souls’ Day.
The president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has called for a “moment of prayer” to unite Catholics across the country at a time when there is “much unrest and uncertainty” in the United States, said a Sept. 30 USCCB news release.
