Contesting Francis X. Maier’s criticism of President Biden in the March 22 issue, Claire Marmion begins by saying, “Joe Biden is a man of faith” (Letters to the Editor, April 5). But is Biden’s faith ours?

St. Pope John Paul II, addressing the U.S. bishops in Los Angeles on September 16, 1987, spoke about Catholics who do not adhere to Church teaching. He said: “Some are reported as not accepting the Church’s clear position on abortion. It has also been noted that there is a tendency on the part of some Catholics to be selective in their adherence to the Church’s moral teachings. It is sometimes claimed that dissent from the Magisterium is totally compatible with being a ‘good Catholic’ and poses no obstacle to the reception of the Sacraments. This is a grave error that challenges the teaching office of the Bishops.”

In his encyclical Evangelium Vitae (“The Gospel of Life”), John Paul affirmed that procured abortion is murder, and that lawmakers who promote and approve laws permitting abortions are among those who are morally responsible for them. We have a grave and clear obligation to oppose abortion laws by conscientious objection. It is not licit to campaign or vote for them, except to make permissive abortion laws more restrictive so as to limit the number of authorized abortions (“The Gospel of Life,” 58, 59, 73).

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven” (Mt. 7:21).

— Steve Serra, St. Nicholas Church, Laguna Woods