A friend of mine recently had a conversation with her parish priest about Joe Biden and his “pro-choice” politics. She expressed the opinion that Biden should be denied Holy Communion until he comes to his senses and denounces the killing of the unborn. The priest responded that Biden is “just following the law”.

During the Nuremberg trials following WWII, many Germans took the position that they were “just following orders” when it came to exterminating the Jews. This despicable defense of homicidal behavior became known as the Nuremberg Defense or the Nuremberg Principles. The international court that was trying these agents of ethnic cleansing was not persuaded, and these murderers were ultimately found guilty of their heinous crimes.

Pope John Paul II had this to say about “following the law”:

Abortion and euthanasia are thus crimes which no human law can claim to legitimize. There is no obligation in conscience to obey such laws; instead there is a grave and clear obligation to oppose them by conscientious objection. From the very beginnings of the Church, the apostolic preaching reminded Christians of their duty to obey legitimately constituted public authorities (cf. Rom 13:1-7; 1 Pet 2:13-14), but at the same time it firmly warned that “we must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29)…In the case of an intrinsically unjust law, such as a law permitting abortion or euthanasia, it is therefore never licit to obey it, or to take part in a propaganda campaign in favor of such a law, or vote for it. From the Gospel of Life

So, on one hand, we have a parish priest who invokes the Nuremberg Defense on behalf of pro-abort Joe Biden. On the other hand, we have Pope John Paul II and the Magisterium saying “we must obey God rather than men”.

No wonder so many Catholics are confused over the issue of abortion. No wonder so many babies continue to be murdered in their mother’s womb. And no wonder so many Catholics are becoming increasingly infuriated over the acquiescence of the clergy to the crime of abortion.