Cardinal Raymond Burke reiterated his belief that 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden should not receive Holy Communion because of his “consistent record” of supporting abortion legislation.
“No devout Catholic, no practicing Catholic, can be in favor of abortion,” the 71-year-old Burke told Fox News host Martha MacCallum on the eve of the 46th annual March for Life in D.C. He added that no consistent Catholic could “justify voting for legislation, policies that promote abortion” but that the former vice president “has a consistent record of being pro-abortion.”
“This isn’t a question of a confessional belief,” the cardinal continued. “This has to do with the natural law. The first precept of the natural law is the defense of human life.”
Burke went on to criticize Biden’s position that creates a dichotomy between his private and public views on the issue. “You can’t say … privately, ‘I think it’s wrong’ — I imagine he means by that, as a Catholic, he thinks it’s wrong — but then, in his public life, he can act as if it’s not morally evil.”
“It’s one of the greatest moral evils,” Burke added.
Biden was denied Holy Communion last October by a Catholic church in South Carolina. “Holy Communion signifies we are one with God, each other, and the [Catholic] Church,” explained the Rev. Robert Morey, who barred Biden from the sacrament. “Our actions should reflect that. Any public figure who advocates for abortion places himself or herself outside of Church teaching.”
Burke was made a cardinal in 2010 after having made a name for himself rebuking pro-abortion politicians. In 2004, he claimed former Democratic Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry should be denied Holy Communion for his abortion views. He also rebuked the University of Notre Dame in 2009 for giving President Barack Obama an honorary doctorate despite “aggressively advancing an anti-life and anti-family agenda.”
Pope Francis demoted Burke after “a few high-profile disagreements,” according to the Washington Post.