US President Joe Biden received Communion at St. Patrick's Church at Saturday Vigil Mass, a day after declaring Pope Francis advised him he should continue to partake in the sacrament, triggering criticism from some Catholic priests who believe the president's pro-abortion stance contradicts the church's teaching.
Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas, shared a scathing blog article by conservative Cardinal Raymond Burke, reiterating that Catholic politicians who support abortion rights are ineligible for the sacrament.
"Let us pray for the repentance of all who support the murder of the unborn…" he added in his Twitter post, which included a link to the article.
In his turn, Bishop of Providence Thomas Tobin posted on Twitter on Friday that he feared that "the Church has lost its prophetic voice."
"Where are the John the Baptists who will confront the Herods of our day?" he asked rhetorically.
Earlier this week, Tobin publicly urged the Pope to refuse Biden's communion.
Considering his outspoken support for unrestricted abortion, the president has been chastised by Catholic priests and parishioners across the country for continuing to accept communion and proclaiming his Catholic religion.
A group of Catholic bishops reportedly met in June to discuss the possibility of a communion ban, which Biden publicly dismissed, saying, "I don't think that's going to happen."
American bishops have also repeatedly lashed out at another pro-abortion Catholic politician, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. However, she seems unaffected by such criticism.
While Biden gets communion on a regular basis in his home dioceses of Washington and Delaware, the fact that he also received communion in Rome was important in terms of the church.
While the Pope delegates day-to-day management to his vicar, St. Patrick's parish is technically located within the pontiff's archdiocese.
As a result, Biden was able to receive communion in Pope Francis' archdiocese. The Mass was attended by about 30 individuals, according to the Associated Press, and security officers were placed along the aisles. The Bidens took a seat in the back row, which had been cordoned off as "Reserved," and entered discreetly shortly after Mass had started.