By saying he rejects the fact that life begins at conception, President Joe Biden -- who is portrayed as a devout Catholic by the liberal media -- is not just dissenting from church teaching, but is "explicitly dissenting" from "sound science," said Salvatore Cordileone, head of the Archdiocese of San Francisco.
"[I]t’s not a matter of religious belief when life begins," said the archbishop in an interview with America magazine. "Science tells us life begins at conception. The church affirms that. So he [Joe Biden] is explicitly dissenting not only from church teaching but from sound science."
In September, Biden told reporters, “I respect those who believe life begins at the moment of conception. I don’t agree, but I respect that. I’m not going to impose that on people.”
In the Nov. 9 interview with America, Gloria Purvis said to Archbishop Cordileone, "There has been a lot of reporting in the Catholic media and even secular media on the meeting between the Holy Father and President Biden. He says they did not talk about abortion. He says that 'we just talked about the fact the pope was happy that I was a good Catholic, and I should keep receiving Communion.' It is well known that President Biden, while he says he’s personally pro-life, does not behave in a way that promotes policies around the issue of abortion that are in accordance with the church’s teaching. How do you interpret this comment?"
The archbishop said, "You brought up that [President Biden is] personally opposed [to abortion]. That was his position at one time. It’s not what it is now. He seems to be more guided by the Democratic Party than his Catholic faith on the issues where we’re not in harmony.
"He recently said that he no longer believes that life begins at conception, which is a problem for a couple of reasons. One is, it’s not a matter of religious belief when life begins. Science tells us life begins at conception. The church affirms that. So he is explicitly dissenting not only from church teaching but from sound science."