On Friday, Bishop Robert Gruss of Saginaw, Michigan, apologized for his comment calling President Joe Biden “stupid” during a recent talk given earlier this month.
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Bishop Gruss made the comment on April 5 during a presentation titled “Forgiveness as the Heart of Christianity.” Biden is a controversial figure within Catholicism, because of his espousal of pro-abortion and transgender ideology, which run in direct conflict with the Church’s official teachings.
In his address, given at the Cathedral of Mary of the Assumption, the Bishop encouraged parishioners to practice forgiveness and not harbor negative thoughts and feelings, which he said would lead to sin.
If you’re harboring bad, negative, resentful feelings towards our president, you’re not free. 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 continued his address, asking the audience:
How many times have you confessed your anger towards the president?
This caused some of the audience members to laugh, prompting the Bishop to respond:
I’m serious, I’m not kidding. If you have it, you should be confessing it. Otherwise, you’re not free.
He then reflected on his own feelings and said:
I don’t have any anger towards the president. I feel sorry for him. I’m not angry at him, he’s just stupid.
The comment elicited laughter from the audience, though the Bishop didn’t partake and remained steadfast in his statements while elaborating:
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It’s not stupidity in the derogatory way, it’s stupidity in the sense of […] he doesn’t understand the Catholic faith.
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Following the incident, the Saginaw Diocese, situated in the central part of Michigan, shared a statement from Bishop Gruss with Catholic News Agency, where he expressed that his remarks were taken out of context.
Bishop Gruss said:
I was speaking in the context of forgiving the president and any people in government who offend us by their words and actions — that we cannot harbor resentment toward them because in doing so, it would be sinful. We must forgive them if we are to be free.
Bishop Gruss apologized while saying that his intention was not to be disparaging. He said:
I used the word ‘stupid’ in reference to President Biden, recognizing that it was poor judgment in my choice of words. It was not meant to be disparaging, and I apologize.
He said that he will continue to pray for Biden and other political leaders, and urged people of all faiths to join in prayers for the nation. Bishop Gruss said:
I will continue to pray for the president and all political leaders, that they may seek and be guided by the Spirit of Truth encourage people of all faiths and goodwill to pray for our great nation.
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In March, Cardinal Wilton Gregory, the Archbishop of Washington, D.C., spoke about Biden during an appearance on CBS News’ “Face the Nation,” where he described him as a “cafeteria Catholic,” saying:
I would say that he’s very sincere about his faith. But like a number of Catholics, he picks and chooses dimensions of the faith to highlight while ignoring or even contradicting other parts. There is a phrase that we have used in the past, a ‘cafeteria Catholic,’ you choose that which is attractive, and dismiss that which is challenging.
In 2022, Pope Francis used the word “incoherence” to describe Biden’s conflict with his abortion stance and the Church’s pro-life teachings, saying:
I leave it to [President Biden’s] conscience and that he speaks to his bishop, his pastor, his parish priest about that incoherence.
Bishop Gruss encouraged individuals to watch the full talk that he gave on the subject of forgiveness, to better understand the context of his remarks.
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