The Archbishop of Washington, Wilton Cardinal Gregory, criticized President Joe Biden over the weekend, calling him a “cafeteria Catholic.”
The archbishop appeared on CBS News’s “Face The Nation” on Sunday with host Ed O’Keefe, who asked him, “In the case of the president, do you get a sense that his regular attendance and adherence to the faith resonates with American Catholics?”
“I could say that he’s very sincere about his faith, but like a number of Catholics, he picks and chooses dimensions of the faith to highlight while ignoring or even contradicting other parts,” the archbishop answered. “There is a phrase that we have used in the past, a cafeteria Catholic, you choose that which is attractive and dismiss that which is challenging.”
“Is there something on the menu he’s not ordering, in your view, so to speak?” O’Keefe pressed.
“Well, I would say there are things, especially in terms of the life issues, there are things that he chooses to ignore or he uses the current situation as a political pawn rather than saying, look, my church believes this,” the archbishop replied. “He does attend church regularly with great, you know, devotion. But he also steps aside some of the hot-button issues or uses the hot-button issues as a political tool, which it’s not – it is not the way I think we would want our faith to be used.”
“The issues of life begin at the very beginning and they conclude at natural death,” he continued. “And you can’t – you can’t pick and choose. You’re either one who respects life, and all of its dimensions, or you have to step aside and say, I’m not pro-life, I’m, you know, in one side of the equation I feel that I could support this dimension of life, but in others, I would step aside.”
The Biden administration celebrated “Transgender Day of Visibility” on Easter Sunday after the White House faced a wave of condemnation over formally recognizing the gender identity event taking place on the same day as the religious holiday.
President Joe Biden posted to X on Sunday, saying, “On Transgender Day of Visibility, we celebrate the joy, strength, and absolute courage of some of the bravest people I know.”
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He added, “Today, we show millions of transgender and nonbinary Americans that we see them, they belong, and they should be treated with dignity and respect.”
On Transgender Day of Visibility, we celebrate the joy, strength, and absolute courage of some of the bravest people I know.
Today, we show millions of transgender and nonbinary Americans that we see them, they belong, and they should be treated with dignity and respect. pic.twitter.com/mhixHV9KC2
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) March 31, 2024
The White House also posted about Transgender Day of Visibility on Sunday.
Transgender Americans are part of the fabric of our nation.
On Transgender Day of Visibility, our Administration honors the extraordinary courage of transgender Americans and reaffirms our commitment to forming a more perfect union – where all people are treated equally. pic.twitter.com/ElRf9l62Nk
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 31, 2024
Former President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign released a statement on Saturday, calling the declaration an example of the Biden administration’s “years-long assault on the Christian faith.” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) posted on X that the White House “has betrayed the central tenet of Easter — which is the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” He continued, “Banning sacred truth and tradition—while at the same time proclaiming Easter Sunday as ‘Transgender Day’ — is outrageous and abhorrent. The American people are taking note.”
Daniel Chaitin contributed to this article.