By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer

In spite of his pro-abortion position and publicly displayed ignorance of Catholicism, Vice President Joe Biden was applauded at Mass on Sunday just after receiving communion.

Then Vice President-elect Biden was attending Mass at Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church on Jan. 18 when, just minutes after he received communion, parishioners gave him a standing ovation.

Biden, who has a consistent pro-abortion voting record, came under fire last September for misrepresenting Church teaching on abortion during an interview with Tom Brokaw on Meet the Press. Biden was asked when he thought life began and he responded, “I know when it begins for me. It’s a personal and private issue. For me, as a Roman Catholic, I’m prepared to accept the teachings of my church.”

Biden then added, “I’m prepared as a matter of faith to accept that life begins at the moment of conception. But that is my judgment. For me to impose that judgment on everyone else who is equally and maybe even more devout than I am seems to me inappropriate in a pluralistic society.”

He then went on to make the incorrect statement that there is some doubt in the Church about when life begins.

That he was permitted to receive Communion in this particular church did not surprise too many people, however. Holy Trinity, which is run by Jesuits affiliated with Georgetown University, is known to be liberal. For instance, it was one of the few DC churches to allow the dissenting Voice of the Faithful group to meet on church premises in 2002.

Biden’s hometown bishop, Monsignor W. Francis Malooly, bishop of Wilmington, Delaware, also gave him a pass when he recently refused to ban Biden from Communion. In spite of Vatican instructions to the contrary, Bishop Malooly said he believes he can do more good by not alienating Biden from the Sacrament.

But the fact that