Timothy Nerozzi writes at FoxNews.com about one Catholic leader’s assessment of the president.
A Catholic bishop in Michigan weighed in on the discrepancy between President Biden’s policies and his professed Catholic faith earlier this month, suggesting “forgiveness” for the president’s “stupidity.”
Bishop Robert Gruss of the Diocese of Saginaw mentioned Biden during “Forgiveness as the Heart of Christianity,” a lecture given on Apr. 5 at the Cathedral of Mary of the Assumption.
In the discussion, Gruss urged congregants to let go of unproductive anger and resentment towards others — citing his own experience growing up with an alcoholic father and a letter he wrote in adulthood forgiving him for the trauma of his youth.
Asking the faithful to interrogate their own hatreds and resentments, the bishop pointed out that destructive lack of forgiveness does not apply only to individuals they know, but also public figures and institutions.
“If you’re harboring bad, negative, resentful feelings towards our president, you’re not free,” Gruss said. “Otherwise, you’re letting him control you and your thoughts and your words and your actions. And I guarantee that if he is a problem for you, then those thoughts, words, and actions are negative — they’re gonna come out and then we commit sin. That’s what sin is.”
The bishop urged the faithful to note such destructive resentments when seeking the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the practice through which Catholics believe God forgives the sins they confess.
“How many times have you confessed your anger towards the president?” the bishop asked, provoking unintended laughter from the audience. But the bishop continued, “I’m serious, I’m not kidding. If you have it, you should be confessing it. Otherwise, you’re not free.”
Gruss compared persistent anger and resentment to a “ball and chain” that harms the self more than the other.
Reflecting on his own feelings towards Biden — who has embraced a public affiliation with Catholicism while also supporting abortion, gender ideology, and other policies contrary to Church teaching — the bishop said he pities him.
“I don’t have any anger towards the president. I feel sorry for him. I’m not angry at him, he’s just stupid,” Gruss said.
