Pope Francis directly addresses Joe Biden's abortion position, says it contradicts Catholic teaching

Pope Francis implicitly criticized President Joe Biden this week for holding a position on abortion that contradicts church teaching and orthodox Christian theology.

Biden supports abortion rights despite being a professed Catholic. Teaching in the Catholic Church strongly condemns abortion, drawing from Christian tradition and instruction that dates back to the first century A.D.

What did Francis say?

Speaking with Univision in an extensive interview, Pope Francis questioned the morality of abortion and stated his position on the issue is "nonnegotiable."

"Is it fair to take a human life to solve a problem? Whatever it is? Is it fair to hire a hit man to eliminate a human life?" Francis questioned.

Responding directly to the pro-abortion views of Catholics, Francis cautioned that clergy should not become overly involved in politics, but said Catholics who support abortion, like Biden, are holding an "incoherencia," an inconsistent and contradictory view.

"I leave it to [President Biden's] conscience and that he speaks to his bishop, his pastor, his parish priest about that incoherencia," Francis said of Biden.

After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Biden blasted the decision as an "extreme" decision and miscarriage of justice.

What has Francis said before?

The issue of Catholic politicians supporting abortion reached a fever pitch two months after San Fransisco Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone barred House Speaker Nancy Pelosi from receiving Holy Communion in her home parish because she supports abortion.

Last September, the pontiff addressed the issue, stating explicitly that Holy Communion is reserved for church members "in the community" — and those who support abortion are "out of the community."

"This is the theology," Francis said. "Then, those who are not in the community, cannot receive communion. ... Out of the community: Excommunicated, it’s a harsh word, but they don’t belong in the community, because they were not baptized, or because they are estranged from it."

"Those people who are not in the community cannot take communion, because they are out of the community," he explained. "It is not a punishment: Communion is linked to the community."

Still, neither the Catholic bishop in Washington, D.C., nor the bishop in Biden's home parish in Delaware have barred him from communion.