The bishop urged parishioners to let go of hatred and resentment against public figures that keeps them from being 'free'
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A Catholic bishop in Michigan weighed in on the discrepancy between President Biden's policies and his professed Catholic faith earlier this month, suggesting "forgiveness" for the president's "stupidity."
Bishop Robert Gruss of the Diocese of Saginaw mentioned Biden during "Forgiveness as the Heart of Christianity," a lecture given on Apr. 5 at the Cathedral of Mary of the Assumption.
In the discussion, Gruss urged congregants to let go of unproductive anger and resentment towards others — citing his own experience growing up with an alcoholic father and a letter he wrote in adulthood forgiving him for the trauma of his youth.
President Joe Biden (L) waves alongside his son Hunter Biden after attending mass at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Johns Island, South Carolina. (NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images)
Asking the faithful to interrogate their own hatreds and resentments, the bishop pointed out that destructive lack of forgiveness does not apply only to individuals they know, but also public figures and institutions.
"If you're harboring bad, negative, resentful feelings towards our president, you're not free," Gruss said. "Otherwise, you're letting him control you and your thoughts and your words and your actions. And I guarantee that if he is a problem for you, then those thoughts, words, and actions are negative — they're gonna come out and then we commit sin. That's what sin is."
The bishop urged the faithful to note such destructive resentments when seeking the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the practice through which Catholics believe God forgives the sins they confess.
"How many times have you confessed your anger towards the president?" the bishop asked, provoking unintended laughter from the audience. But the bishop continued, "I'm serious, I'm not kidding. If you have it, you should be confessing it. Otherwise, you're not free."
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A confession sign inside the church at the Mary Queen of the Universe Shrine. (Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Gruss compared persistent anger and resentment to a "ball and chain" that harms the self more than the other.
Reflecting on his own feelings towards Biden — who has embraced a public affiliation with Catholicism while also supporting abortion, gender ideology, and other policies contrary to Church teaching — the bishop said he pities him.
"I don't have any anger towards the president. I feel sorry for him. I'm not angry at him, he's just stupid," Gruss said.
The comment provoked renewed laughter from the audience, though the bishop remained serious.
"It's not stupidity in the derogatory way, it's stupidity in the sense of [...] he doesn't understand the Catholic faith."
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President Joe Biden speaks during an event on the campus of George Mason University in Manassas, Virginia, to campaign for abortion rights. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Gruss' comments are only the latest example of Catholic prelates' increasingly vocal opposition to Biden's self-professed Catholic identity.
Following heated debate about the appropriateness of the bishop's remarks, the Diocese of Saginaw released a statement about the talk in which Gruss clarified his points.
"I was speaking in the context of forgiving the president and any people in government who offend us by their words and actions — that we cannot harbor resentment toward them because in doing so, it would be sinful," Gruss said.
Gruss did apologize for using the word "stupid" to refer to the president, saying he should have chosen a more precise word.
Biden arrives at St. Edmond Catholic Church in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
"I used the word ‘stupid’ in reference to President Biden, recognizing that it was poor judgment in my choice of words," Gruss said. "It was not meant to be disparaging, and I apologize."
Fox News Digital reached out to the Diocese of Saginaw and the office of the bishop but did not receive a response.
Pope Francis himself has previously commented on Biden's "incoherence" on the abortion issue as a professed Catholic.
"I leave it to [President Biden's] conscience and that he speaks to his bishop, his pastor, his parish priest about that incoherence," the pope remarked in 2022.
Timothy Nerozzi is a writer for Fox News Digital. You can follow him on Twitter @timothynerozzi and can email him at
