President Joe Biden makes the sign of the Cross while in Tampa, Florida, on April 23 for a campaign event. (Image: Screen Shot/40 Days for Life Instagram)
ACI Prensa Staff, Apr 29, 2024 / 16:52 pm (CNA).
U.S. president Joe Biden has come under fire for making the sign of the cross during a rally criticizing measures that restrict abortion.
Among his critics are José Ignacio Munilla, the bishop of Orihuela-Alicante in Spain, who called Biden’s gesture a “sacrilege.”
Biden went to Tampa, Florida, on April 23 for a campaign stop one week before a law restricting abortion in the state from 15 to six weeks of gestation was due to go into effect.
While a Biden supporter on stage criticized Florida governor and former Republican candidate for president Ron DeSantis for signing the bill, Biden made the sign of the cross.
On his weekday radio program on Radio María España, Munilla said that making the sign of the cross in support of abortion constitutes a “sacrilegious” gesture and “the desecration of the sign of the cross.”
“Invoking Jesus Christ in support of abortion” has drawn strong criticism “in many pro-life and Catholic circles,” the bishop pointed out.
Crossing oneself, Munilla said, is meant to be used as a sign “in which we remember that Jesus gave his life for us, he gave his life for all the innocents, he gave his life to restore innocence and to make us saints.”
To use the sign of the cross as Biden did, however, is to “invoke the cross in a sacrilegious manner.”
Referring to the incident, the Spanish prelate warned of the risk that a Catholic might publicly show his faith by crossing himself while at the same time twisting its meaning “in a sacrilegious manner.”
Munilla questions moral stature of Biden, Trump
In addition to commenting on the incident, the prelate also offered a critical analysis of the two contenders for president of the United States, Biden and former president Donald Trump.
“In a nation like the United States, shouldn’t there be [candidates] from both the Democratic Party as well as the Republican Party with enough moral stature to properly represent their parties to the electorate?” he asked. In his opinion, both Biden and Trump lack that moral stature.
“Consider what Biden represents with his deteriorating condition, even psychologically, to run for president again with this absolute desecration of his own (purportedly Catholic) values, having made the cause of abortion, the spread of abortion throughout the world, almost his highest value,” Munilla said, commenting on the incumbent president.
Regarding Trump, Munilla noted that “although he has defended the pro-life cause — not totally, but in fact in a forceful way — he is involved in many [court] cases in which his moral stature has undoubtedly been seriously affected.”
Munilla prayed that the Lord “would raise up vocations to public life so that there are truly young people who, with a life of integrity consistent with their values, have as their only watchword, as the only driving force of their entering into political life, the desire to serve the common good.”
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
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Four men carry a statue of St. Bonaventure during a candlelight procession on July 14, 2023, in Bagnoregio, Italy, his birthplace, on the vigil of the saint’s feast day. / Patrick Leonard/CNA
Bagnoregio, Italy, Jul 15, 2023 / 12:15 pm (CNA).
The birthplace of St. Bonaventure, a 13th-century intellectual giant now revered as a doctor of the Church and the “second founder” of the Franciscans, paid homage to its patron Friday night on the vigil of his feast day with music, prayers, and a candlelight procession.
For the citizens of Bagnoregio, an idyllic town nestled in Italy’s Lazio region about a 1½ drive north of Rome, the July 15 feast is both a solemn holy day and a wellspring of civic pride. Bonaventure’s “braccio santo,” or holy arm — the only surviving relic of the saint — is kept in a silver, arm-shaped reliquary housed in a side chapel of Bagnoregio’s Cathedral of San Nicola and San Donato.
Religious sisters participating in a candlelight procession on July 14, 2023, in Bagnoregio, Italy, in honor of the town’s patron saint and native son, St. Bonaventure. Patrick Leonard/CNA
Friday’s procession, which commenced at the cathedral, was led by the town’s confraternities of the Most Blessed Sacrament, St. Francis, and St. Peter. Following them were a brass band, a statue of the saint adorned with flowers and carried by four men, and a priest carrying the holy arm. Then came Cardinal Fortunato Frezza, numerous priests, and this year’s first communicants, followed by other religious and residents.
As the participants made their way down the candlelit Via Roma, onlookers watched from windows, balconies, and restaurants bustling with patrons on a warm summer evening.
A resident of Bagnoregio, Italy, watches a candlelight procession through the streets of the town in honor of its patron saint, St. Bonaventure, on July 14, 2023. Patrick Leonard/CNA
Arriving at the piazza Sant’Agostino, Cardinal Frezza, standing beneath a monument of Bonaventure, offered a brief reflection on the importance of the saint and of procession as a form of popular devotion.
The relic “gives us strength to sustain our weakness … It is a relic that is alive and active,” observed the cardinal, a noted biblical scholar. It is “an arm that teaches,” he said, the very right arm that “wrote his works of great intellect and wisdom.”
The cardinal closed his brief catechesis by saying “our life is a holy procession, an itinerary of the mind towards God.” Here he was playing on the title of one of Bonaventure’s most important theological works, Itinerarium Mentis in Deum, “The Journey of the Mind to God.” Following a benediction with the relic, the procession continued down Via Fidanza, looping around the main gate and then back up Via Roma to the cathedral. The faithful entered and Cardinal Frezza imparted the final blessing, again with the relic.
Cardinal Fortunato Frezza leads a prayer service on July 14, 2023, in Bagnoregio, Italy, in honor of the town’s patron saint and native son, St. Bonaventure. Patrick Leonard/CNA
The Franciscans’ ‘second founder’
Born in 1217 (or 1221, according to some accounts) as Giovanni Fidanza in Civita di Bagnoregio (then in the territory of the Papal States), he displayed great acumen and intellectual curiosity. He was, however, plagued by ill health in his youth. His mother called upon the intercession of St. Francis of Assisi, and he was, according to the legend, miraculously cured.
The young Bonaventure studied at the nearby Franciscan convent. Given his great talent, at 18 he left Bagnoregio to study in Paris, then the intellectual capital of Europe.
He joined the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor in 1243. At the University of Paris, he studied under the renowned Franciscan theologian Alexander de Hales; in 1257 he earned his teaching license (magister cathedratus) in theology there. Bonaventure was a contemporary of St. Thomas Aquinas, whom he met as they were both teaching at the university. The two future doctors of the Church were united in defending the then-nascent Franciscan and Dominican orders, whose orthodoxy was called into question by the secular clergy.
A statue of St. Bonaventure is shown during a candlelight procession on July 14, 2023, in Bagnoregio, Italy, his birthplace, on the vigil of the saint’s feast day. Patrick Leonard/CNA
Bonaventure’s teaching career was cut short; in 1257 when he was appointed minister general of the Franciscan order, which was then plagued by internal factionalism due to divergent understandings of Francis’ spirituality following his death.
To rectify this, Bonaventure spent much time traveling around Europe to help maintain the unity of the order. In 1260 went to Narbonne, France, to solidify the rule of the order and that same year he started writing (which was completed three years later in 1263) the Legenda Maior, “The Major Legend,” considered the definitive biography of St. Francis. For Bonaventure, the key to righting the order lie in Francis’ ideals of obedience, chastity, and poverty, which he re-established as the Franciscans’ guiding principles.
A woman venerates the “braccio santo,” or holy arm, of St. Bonaventure on July 14, 2023, the vigil of the saint’s feast day, at the Cathedral of San Nicola and San Donato in his hometown, Bagnoregio, Italy. Patrick Leonard/CNA
Enduring influence
In addition to his contributions as the “second founder” of the Franciscans, Bonaventure had a profound impact on the papacy. Following the chaos of the three-year conclave in Viterbo that elected Gregory X in 1271 (the longest papal election in the history of the Church), the new pontiff, also a Franciscan, entrusted Bonaventure with preparing many of the key documents for the Second Council of Lyon (1272-1274) which sought to unify the Latin and Greek Churches.
He was made a cardinal in the consistory of May 28, 1273. He did not, however, see the end of the council, as he died on July 15, 1274. He was canonized in 1482 by Pope Sixtus IV and proclaimed Doctor of the Church by Pope Sixtus V in 1588.
A candlelight procession through the streets of Bagnoregio, Italy, on July 14, 2023, honors the town’s native son and patron saint, St. Bonaventure. Patrick Leonard/CNA
In 2009, Pope Benedict XVI, who was a great admirer of Bonaventure, visited the saint’s birthplace to venerate the relic and address the faithful. In 2010 he dedicated three consecutive Wednesday audiences on the saint, outlining the importance of his governance of the Franciscans and his theological, philosophical, and mystical works. Bonaventure’s writings, Benedict observed, demonstrate that “Christ’s works do not go backwards, they do not fail but progress.”
“For St. Bonaventure, Christ was no longer the end of history, as he was for the Fathers of the Church, but rather its center; history does not end with Christ but begins a new period,” Benedict said.
“The following is another consequence: Until that moment the idea that the Fathers of the Church were the absolute summit of theology predominated, all successive generations could only be their disciples,” Pope Benedict explained.
“St. Bonaventure also recognized the Fathers as teachers forever, but the phenomenon of St. Francis assured him that the riches of Christ’s word are inexhaustible and that new light could also appear to the new generations,” he said. “The oneness of Christ also guarantees newness and renewal in all the periods of history.”
Blasphemy was my first thought too Paul.
Considering that Florida receives more lightning strikes than any other state in the nation , Mr. Biden was acting a mite dangerously.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary: blasphemy. noun. blas·phe·my ˈblas-fə-mē plural blasphemies. : the crime of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence for God or a religion and its doctrines and writings and especially God as perceived by Christianity and Christian doctrines and writings.
If Biden’s contempt for the Sign of the Cross: “In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost” is not blasphemy, then the definition and his gesture have no meaning.
I’ve been on conversational Catholic forums in which people said that Pres. Biden’s Sign of the Cross was just a “meaningless gesture” with no religious intent. E.g., it’s the bottom of the ninth, the score is tied, there are 2 outs, the bases are loaded, and a pinch hitter is sent in and now has two strikes–before the next pitch, some people will fold their hands as though in prayer and/or make the Sign of the Cross. It could be a legitimate prayer (especially if it’s a game involving children or teens). But it’s probably just a meaningless gesture–even non-Catholics sometimes get into the habit of making a Sign of the Cross to express extreme stress and emotion. Of course, it’s also possible that Pres. Biden was trying to express his support of abortion, in which case it really is a sacrilege. He and other prominent pro-abortion Catholics in the U.S. should be universally denied Holy Communion by ALL priests, not just the traditional or the conservative priests. And the U.S. bishops should make a public announcement that support of abortion at any stage is a grave sin and encourage all Catholics and non-Catholic Christians to get involved in organizations that help women and children to escape from poverty, addictions, sexual slavery, mental and physical abuse, violence and gang life, etc. into a life where their health care needs are met, and they can get a good education that leads to a well-paying job that meets their needs and gives them joy.
About your baseball analogy and things that might just happen…
In 1970 I was visiting family in Eugene, Oregon, and the home professional baseball team was down by three runs. Bottom of the ninth, bases loaded, with two outs and the final pitch count was 3-2. We were not at the game, but on a short walk that took us to the top of the hill beyond the fence and far beyond the first base line. From there we glanced back and could see the field just long enough to witness the final pitch of the game…
A four-run home run over the center field fence! The Lord in never late, but He’s never early either. And, the batter was probably Hispanic.
The Spanish Bishop is spot on. God bless him. One thing never mentioned about Trump is that his wife is deeply devoted to Blessed Mary. Hopefully, Blessed Mary will help Trump eliminate his own personal immoralities.
We should all start with taking a fearless moral inventory of our own lives. Then, when we’ve eliminated every vestige of sin in our lives, we can take stock of President Trump’s moral failings and advise him from the vantage point of our own perfection.
Is this the same wife who within a few days headlined at Mar-a-Lago a million-dollar fundraiser for all-homosexual Log Cabin Republicans and who received its highest honor? Such hypocrisy and mendacity are nauseating and constitute acts of sacrilege and blasphemy against the Blessed Virgin Mary.
And most miserably unhappy bishops in this country refuse to rise out of their own self imposed fettered, squalid gutters! SHAME! These are our leaders and this is where they have led us!
I, for one, am gratified by the Spanish bishop’s statement. We are often given the impression that we should write off the Church in Europe. And this bishop is a relatively young 63. May his tribe increase.
He thought he was at Mass….period….it made no sense in light of what was being said by the woman cheerleader. The man has very little left past his old programming running on auto. No debasement too great if it means maintaining power for the regime, and his wife apparently quite ok with it.
Why does it take a bishop from Spain?
Where are the Florida mitre’d’s?….dominus flevit
Thinking the same. Where are the Bishops, Catholic politicians promote abortion and the Bishops say nothing, it is a disgrace.
The Spanish bishop is woefully misinformed. Invoking Jesus Christ in support of abortion is blasphemy, not sacrilege.
Blasphemy was my first thought too Paul.
Considering that Florida receives more lightning strikes than any other state in the nation , Mr. Biden was acting a mite dangerously.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary: blasphemy. noun. blas·phe·my ˈblas-fə-mē plural blasphemies. : the crime of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence for God or a religion and its doctrines and writings and especially God as perceived by Christianity and Christian doctrines and writings.
If Biden’s contempt for the Sign of the Cross: “In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost” is not blasphemy, then the definition and his gesture have no meaning.
Why just condemn Biden? We should condemn every supposed Catholic who has voted for this man who loves the idea of killing unborn babies.
Yes Deacon Edward. And every member of the Catholic clergy who have enabled him to get to this level of moral error.
I’ve been on conversational Catholic forums in which people said that Pres. Biden’s Sign of the Cross was just a “meaningless gesture” with no religious intent. E.g., it’s the bottom of the ninth, the score is tied, there are 2 outs, the bases are loaded, and a pinch hitter is sent in and now has two strikes–before the next pitch, some people will fold their hands as though in prayer and/or make the Sign of the Cross. It could be a legitimate prayer (especially if it’s a game involving children or teens). But it’s probably just a meaningless gesture–even non-Catholics sometimes get into the habit of making a Sign of the Cross to express extreme stress and emotion. Of course, it’s also possible that Pres. Biden was trying to express his support of abortion, in which case it really is a sacrilege. He and other prominent pro-abortion Catholics in the U.S. should be universally denied Holy Communion by ALL priests, not just the traditional or the conservative priests. And the U.S. bishops should make a public announcement that support of abortion at any stage is a grave sin and encourage all Catholics and non-Catholic Christians to get involved in organizations that help women and children to escape from poverty, addictions, sexual slavery, mental and physical abuse, violence and gang life, etc. into a life where their health care needs are met, and they can get a good education that leads to a well-paying job that meets their needs and gives them joy.
About your baseball analogy and things that might just happen…
In 1970 I was visiting family in Eugene, Oregon, and the home professional baseball team was down by three runs. Bottom of the ninth, bases loaded, with two outs and the final pitch count was 3-2. We were not at the game, but on a short walk that took us to the top of the hill beyond the fence and far beyond the first base line. From there we glanced back and could see the field just long enough to witness the final pitch of the game…
A four-run home run over the center field fence! The Lord in never late, but He’s never early either. And, the batter was probably Hispanic.
The Spanish Bishop is spot on. God bless him. One thing never mentioned about Trump is that his wife is deeply devoted to Blessed Mary. Hopefully, Blessed Mary will help Trump eliminate his own personal immoralities.
We should all start with taking a fearless moral inventory of our own lives. Then, when we’ve eliminated every vestige of sin in our lives, we can take stock of President Trump’s moral failings and advise him from the vantage point of our own perfection.
Is this the same wife who within a few days headlined at Mar-a-Lago a million-dollar fundraiser for all-homosexual Log Cabin Republicans and who received its highest honor? Such hypocrisy and mendacity are nauseating and constitute acts of sacrilege and blasphemy against the Blessed Virgin Mary.
And most miserably unhappy bishops in this country refuse to rise out of their own self imposed fettered, squalid gutters! SHAME! These are our leaders and this is where they have led us!
They are afraid! And not for nothing kind of wimpy to stand up!
I, for one, am gratified by the Spanish bishop’s statement. We are often given the impression that we should write off the Church in Europe. And this bishop is a relatively young 63. May his tribe increase.
He thought he was at Mass….period….it made no sense in light of what was being said by the woman cheerleader. The man has very little left past his old programming running on auto. No debasement too great if it means maintaining power for the regime, and his wife apparently quite ok with it.
I’d thinking Dr. Biden either went into the union with that understanding, or had it firmly impressed upon her since.
I wish I had the same confidence in divine forgiveness for my sins as Mr. Biden appears to have in being forgiven his.