Letters to the Editor: The stunning hypocrisy of Catholic bishops who want to deny Biden Communion

To the editor: I have been a Roman Catholic for the past 80 years. I have seen the good, the bad and the ugly in the Catholic Church. The fact that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has the temerity even to discuss denying Communion to President Biden for following the law of the land on abortion rights is disgraceful to me.

This is a church that ran homes in Ireland where babies died at shockingly high rates or were stolen from their young unwed mothers, and whose priests committed willful acts of depravity against young boys. Yet U.S. bishops have the audacity to question the devotion of our president.

It is time to take the church's tax exemption away. It has now become a very political organization.

Aine Smallwood, Encinitas

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To the editor: Biden opposes abortion personally but "doesn't think he should impose that position on Americans who believe otherwise," as your article put it.

President Millard Fillmore, who served before the Civil War, is reported to have personally found slavery repugnant but nevertheless believed the federal government should not interfere in the South's "peculiar institution."

How interesting that your article appeared in print on our new national holiday. I believe it is only a matter of time before we will be able to celebrate another day when all human babies are given their inalienable right to live.

Judith M. Seki, San Gabriel

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To the editor: The bishops' attempt to "rebuke" Catholic politicians who support and defend women's rights may actually result in a rebuke of the U.S. Catholic Church, where membership is on the decline.

One reason for the decline is discrimination against its own members. As a Catholic gay man, I have seen dozens of gay friends leave the church in the past 20 years. Similarly, those who are pro-women's rights may soon follow suit.

Biden is only the second Catholic president in our nation's history. While he supports policies that are pro- women's rights, his personal beliefs are pro-life. The Catholic Church should not disparage the president; equally important, it should not squander this opportunity.

Jeff Langan, La Cañada Flintridge

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To the editor: The hypocrisy of celibate male bishops who supported the last president, who lied constantly and even corrupted the idea of what is true, is self-evident.

No one wants an abortion. But have the bishops approved the use of contraception so that a woman can control the number of births for which she is responsible? No.

Catholic women, who have their own lived experience and conscience, use contraceptives. Should they also be refused Communion?

Doris Isolini Nelson, Los Angeles

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.