President Joe Biden speaks during an organizing event as Nikki Fried listens Tuesday, April 23, 2024, at Hillsborough Community College in Tampa, Fla. ’s decision to make a sign of the cross during a Florida abortion-rights rally isn’t sitting well with the Catholic Church’s leadership.of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois joined Bishop Jose Ignacio Munilla, bishop of the Orihuela-Alicante Diocese in Spain, in condemning the president’s use of the gesture as “sacrilegious.
“Making the sign of the cross is one of the most profound gestures a Catholic can make in showing reverence for Christ’s death on the Cross and belief in the Holy Trinity as we sign ourselves in the name of the father, and of the son, and of the Holy spirit,” said BishopHe referred to Bishop Munilla, who said during his show on Radio Maria Espana that “crossing oneself is meant to be used as a sign in which we remember that Jesus gave us life for us, he gave us life for all the innocents, he...
To use the gesture in support of abortion is “sacrilegious” and “the desecration of the sign of the cross,” he said, as reported April 29 by the National Catholic Register.did, however, is to invoke the cross in a sacrilegious manner. I fully support Bishop Munilla, and agree with what he said.”stunned observant Catholics by making the four-point sign during an April 23 abortion-rights event in Tampa as he stood next to Florida Democratic Party chair Nikki Fried.
Ms. Fried criticized Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ signing of legislation to reduce the gestational limit for most abortions, saying “Ron DeSantis felt like he needed to run for president, so 15 weeks wasn’t good enough, we had to go to six weeks.”Bishop Joseph E. Strickland, who was removed in November as Bishop of Tyler, Texas, in a clash with Pope Francis, condemned the president’s gesture the same day, calling it “vile.”made the sign of the cross during Ms.