April 20, 2022
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Canonizing Joe Biden

Canonizing Joe Biden

Canonizing Joe Biden? I know my Republican friends will think this is a misprint. A week or so ago I would have thought the same thing. I regarded Biden as a man of little competence and less integrity whose most significant โ€œachievementโ€ was using his office to enrich himself and his relatives. But something happened that dramatically changed my outlook. I now see him as a man of great faith and humility, a spiritual giant.

How did this change come about? I read an article in America Magazine, a Jesuit publication. (Canโ€™t get more Catholic than that . . . well, at least couldnโ€™t for many years.) The article concerned โ€œwhat you need to know about [Joe Bidenโ€™s] faith,โ€ and reading it brought tears to my eyes.

It began by noting that on Election Day Biden โ€œprayed during Massโ€ and later, with โ€œa rosary on his wrist,โ€ as is his custom, encouraged his supporters to โ€œkeep the faith.โ€ย (All three behaviors signal a rare level of Catholic faith.)

The author then offered some details about Biden the man: As a child he wrote an essay expressing his desire to be president. He met with Pope Francis on two occasions. In addition (in the authorโ€™s words), Biden โ€œspoke to the media about how his faith anchored him during difficult moments, and pool reports routinely captured him leaving Mass.โ€ (Note that he was โ€œcapturedโ€ leaving Mass, suggesting he humbly tried to keep his attendance secret. And this happened โ€œroutinely,โ€ suggesting his humility was habitual. What a guy, I thought.)

The author also stated Bidenโ€™s view of Jesus: โ€œJesus Christ is the human embodiment of what God wanted us to do. Everything Jesus did was sort of consistent with what generically we were supposed to do: treat people with dignity.โ€ Emphasis added. (Bidenโ€™s phrasing here may be difficult for the theologically unschooled to grasp: it suggests that Jesus sometimes acted in a way humans by their very nature must act. Granted, theology can be at times confusing.)

Next the author cited a few of the accolades Biden has received from others:

From the executive director of the Franciscan Action Network: โ€œBiden actually sees his Catholic faith as a key for bringing the country back together and overcoming the divisions that divide us.โ€ (Working on the divisions that divide us is important; working on other divisions, as the director implies, is less important. For Joe to make that distinction is a sign of superior intellect.)

From Delaware Democrat Senator Chris Coons: โ€œ Joeโ€™s faith is really about our future, about a world with less suffering and more justice, where weโ€™re better stewards of creation, where we have a more just immigration policy and where we call out and confront the original sins of this nation, the sins of slavery and racism. Joe knows these are central issues in this election. And for him, theyโ€™re rooted in faith.โ€

From John McCarthy: โ€œItโ€™s not like we are just talking about faith to faith voters, but instead the vice president is being who he authentically isโ€”which is a person of faithโ€”and that is obviously coming across.โ€

From a member of Bidenโ€™s campaign staff (in the authorโ€™s words): โ€œBidenโ€™s faith was on display to voters throughout the campaign, which came naturally because of the role it plays in his life.โ€

The author then turned to Joe Bidenโ€™s own words on various occasions:

โ€œMy faith teaches me that we should be a nation that not only accepts the truth of the climate crisis, but leads the world in addressing it.โ€

โ€œMy faith implores me to embrace a preferential option for the poor and, as president, I will do everything in my power to fight poverty and build a future that moves us closer to our highest idealsโ€”not only that all women and men are created equal in the eyes of God, but that they are treated equally by their fellow man.โ€

Here Biden explains how he can be pro-life yet vote pro-choice: โ€œWhat Iโ€™m not prepared to do is impose a precise view that is borne out of my faith on other people who are equally God-fearing, equally as committed to life, equally as committed to the sanctity of life. Iโ€™m prepared to accept that the moment of conception is a human life convened [sic]. But Iโ€™m not prepared to say that to other God-fearing, non-God-fearing people.โ€ (If readers find it unreasonable for Joe to refrain from saying what he believes to others, they obviously lack faith in Joe, so their doubt disqualifies them from the discussion. Also, did Joe mean a human life โ€œconveyedโ€ rather than convened? Perhaps he was using an ancient theological term that refers to the gathering and assembling of DNA.)

Concerning the issue of abortion, the author remarks, โ€œJoe Biden has had to contend with critics who point out that his support for abortion rights and same-sex marriage puts him at odds with the teachings of his church.โ€ Emphasis added. (Critics can be bothersome, especially when they are well-informed. To Bidenโ€™s credit he has the virtue of forbearance and has been able to ignore their intrusions on his inner spiritual tranquility.)

The essay ends with this statement from Joe Biden: โ€œFor many, faith will help us get through this crisis that grips this nation today.โ€(His reference to โ€œmanyโ€ tauntingly leaves the reader to figure out what the othersโ€”no doubt heathens and Trump supportersโ€”employ to get through their crises. This demonstrates his refusal to tell us what to think but instead leave us to think for ourselves, and that is a virtue.)

But how do I get from the America Magazine article to the idea of proclaiming Joe Biden a saint? No matter how you look at it, this is a serious leap. A saint by definition is one whose love of God and holiness of life are exceptional. And such an assessment is traditionally not made until long after the personโ€™s death. Even the canonization of the one considered to have lived most like Jesusโ€”St. Francis of Assisiโ€”did not occur until two years after he died. What possible reasons could there be to canonize Joe Biden while he is still alive and has not yet been sworn in as President?

First, as readers will recall, Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize before he even became president (or did anything remotely related to world peace). Canonizing Biden would simply continue at the spiritual level what was done in Obamaโ€™s case at the secular level.

Second, the media in the U.S. have already unofficially embraced Biden with a level of affection matching the level of their hatred of Donald Trump. Canonizing Biden would demonstrate the consistency of their level of passion in the two cases and thus increase their self-esteem.

Third, Canonizing Biden would enable the media to hail him as a modern version of St. George, Patron Saint of England and other countries. A perpetual narrative could be promulgated comparing Bidenโ€™s metaphorical slaughter of the hateful, racist, sexist, homophobic xenophobe Donald Trump to St. Georgeโ€™s bloody dispatch of the mythical evil dragon. (Never-Trumpers would delight in regaling their grandchildren with that St. Joe narrative.)

Fourth, the Catholic prelates who advised Biden (and other politicians) that abortion is not the most important issue for Catholics but one among many issuesโ€”in fact, ranking well below the issues of climate change and frackingโ€”are surely proud of him for his faithfulness in applying their advice. Those prelates would make powerful champions of Bidenโ€™s cause for sainthood with other prelates and perhaps win the approval of Pope Francis for it.

Fifth, the reconciliation of all Americans, a current Biden theme, could be enhanced by having St. Joe offer a Plenary Indulgence to Republicans who support his political initiatives. This would be similar to the Catholic Indulgence that frees recipients from time in Purgatory. The difference would be that St. Joeโ€™s Indulgence would bestow lifetime freedom from assaults by anarchists, looters, and hurlers of Molotov Cocktails. (The genius of granting such an Indulgence would be that it demonstrates the charitableness traditionally associated with sainthood while avoiding offering a single concession to Republicans. What a guy, indeed!)

Copyright ยฉ 2020 by Vincent Ryan Ruggiero. All rights reserved

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Vincent Ryan Ruggiero