Two controversial Catholic leaders will lead the Democratic National Convention in prayer before and after former Vice President Joe Biden speaks on Thursday.
The speakers, Rev. James Martin and Sister Simone Campbell, will pray for national unity under a Biden administration with a series of other faith leaders addressing the convention this week, according to a press release from the Democratic National Committee. The DNC announced the roster before a Sunday event during which members of many faith traditions called for social justice, greater care for the Earth, and a focus on racial healing.
Martin said in a statement that his prayer will focus on “respect for the sanctity of all human life and for a nation in which all are welcome.”
Martin, a Jesuit priest and frequent critic of President Trump, is controversial within the Catholic Church for his open attitude toward homosexuality, which has drawn criticism from more conservative members of the church hierarchy. Throughout the 2019 Democratic primary, Martin offered praise for then-South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who is gay, for articulating “the connection between his faith and his love.” Martin joined Buttigieg to speak at an awards ceremony for religious gay leaders, drawing criticism from many Catholics.
Martin later that year rose to Biden’s defense after a priest in South Carolina denied the former vice president Holy Communion on the basis of his support for abortion. Martin cautioned that the act, which drew a flurry of media attention over Biden’s Catholic faith, was “a bad idea and bad pastoral practice.”
“If you deny the sacrament to those who support abortion, then you must also deny it to those who support the death penalty, which is also a life issue,” Martin wrote in a Facebook post. “How about those who don’t support programs to help the poor? Or refuse to help refugees and migrants? How about those who don’t support “Laudato Si,” which is, after all, an encyclical? Where does it end?”
Martin added that in the words of Pope Francis, the Holy Eucharist is “a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak.” Biden has also defended his ability to receive Communion despite his support for abortion, which the church condemns, on the ground that Francis had given it to him on multiple occasions.
Campbell, a social justice activist leading the “Nuns on a Bus” campaign, is also controversial among Catholics for her attitude toward abortion. Campbell, who has appeared with Biden at many events, said in 2016 that she didn’t think it was “good policy” to outlaw abortion. Instead, she said, it was better to focus on “economic development for women and economic opportunity” to drive down abortion rates.
Campbell was an early supporter of the Affordable Care Act, which many Catholic bishops preached against, and attended the ceremony during which President Barack Obama signed it into law. Campbell was a subject in an investigation of nuns conducted by the Church during Pope Benedict XVI’s papacy.
The DNC’s announcements come as the Trump campaign hammers hard against Biden for his faith, alleging that because of his positions on abortion, as well as a slew of other issues, his faith is not genuine. That accusation was compounded last week when the Biden campaign chose as his running mate California Sen. Kamala Harris, who in 2018 spoke against the Catholic men’s group the Knights of Columbus.
Former Rep. Tim Huelskamp, who serves on the Trump campaign’s advisory board for Catholic outreach, responded to the announcements by saying that the party’s elevation of Harris, as well as its positions on abortion, show that “the time when Catholics could feel at home in the Democratic Party is long gone.”
