‘Devout’ Or ‘Extreme’: Media Treats Catholicism In Vastly Different Ways Depending On Politics

Major media outlets and reporters celebrated President Joe Biden’s Catholicism though he embraces policies explicitly opposed to Catholic teaching but criticized the Catholicism of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett for her adherence to certain Catholic principles.

Major outlets, reporters, and Democrats previously suggested that Barrett’s Catholicism was linked to extreme and cultish behavior. Yet most media also celebrates Biden’s Catholicism as “devout” without noting the significance of his divergence from Catholic teaching. Others suggest that the Catholic sentiment is changing due to public opinion on these topics — though...