Was Herod a “Practicing Catholic”?

A reflection in honor of the Memorial of the Passion of St. John the Baptist

Today we commemorate the beheading of Saint John the Baptist by King Herod. When the Washington Post described Joe Biden as a “very devout” Catholic some five years ago, I penned this reflection. Even though a lot of folks might just want to forget Joe – he’s certainly forgotten us – we should pray for him as we persevere in our efforts to reverse his murderous efforts to kill the most innocent among us.

The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist, by Caravaggio, 1608.

“I’m a practicing Catholic,” Joe Biden has often said. During her first press conference after the inauguration, White House press secretary Jen Psaki assured Americans that he’s a “devout Catholic” as well.

In that light, and given Biden’s position on several moral issues, perhaps we owe Herod the Great and his son, Herod Antipas, an apology for the bad press they’ve gotten from the people in the pews over the years.

We first meet Herod the Great in the second chapter of Matthew’s Gospel. There, we learn that Herodus Magnus was king of Judea when Jesus was born in Bethlehem. “In the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, ‘where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him’.”

Herod was “troubled.” After consulting the chief priests and scribes, he told the Wise Men that he wanted to worship the newborn King as well.

Of course, it was a murderous lie.

Well, the Wise Men found the Christ Child, and “rejoiced with exceeding great joy.” After worshipping Him and bestowing gifts upon Him, and “being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.”

Soon after, the angel warned Joseph to take Mary and flee, “for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.”

“Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men.”

Soul Brothers

Here we might pause to make a few observations.

Herod scholar Stewart Henry Perowne writes that, “unfortunately, there was a dark and cruel streak in Herod’s character that showed itself increasingly as he grew older. His mental instability, moreover, was fed by the intrigue and deception that went on within his own family.”¹

Well. These days “Catholic Joe” Biden apparently suffers from mental instability, as well as a mean streak that he frequently demonstrated during the campaign – one of many reasons, undoubtedly, that they kept candidate Joe in his Delaware basement.

His deception about the alleged crimes of his extended family continues. And he has also long been a notorious liar, a defect we saw in Herod as well.

Indeed, Herodus Magnus tried to mislead the Wise Men by feigning a fervent – one might even say “devout” – desire to worship the King of Kings. Likewise, Joe goes to Mass every Sunday to worship the King Himself. Herod showed his true character when he killed the Holy Innocents. Joe Biden showed his when he advocated a slew of abortion mandates on his second day in the Oval Office. To proceed with his reign of terror against the Christ Child, Herod consulted the chief priests and scribes. In adapting his pro-abortion policies to his role as a “practicing Catholic,” Joe Biden consults the Jesuits. Those chief priests and scribes were apparently afraid to confront Herod for his murderous rampage; today’s bishops are afraid to confront Catholic Joe for his.

And consider Herod’s threat to kill the Christ Child, driving Mary and Joseph – the patron saint of “Catholic Joe” – to flee to the south. Today Joe’s terror campaign against life has the Little Sisters of the Poor fleeing once more because Joe really wants to force them to sin against the Christ Child.

All In The Family

Next we come to the story of Herod Antipas, Tetrarch of Galilee and son of Herodus Magnus.

According to various annals, this Herod, “while in Rome staying with his brother Herod Philip, fell in love with Herodias, the wife of his host and the sister of Agrippa the Great.”

Herod Antipas soon married Herodias, and for that, John the Baptist (according to the account in Mark 6) “said unto Herod, it is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife.” So Herod Antipas “sent forth and laid hold upon John, and bound him in prison for Herodias' sake. Therefore Herodias had a quarrel against him, and would have killed him; but she could not: For Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just man and holy.”

We all know what happened next:

“And when a convenient day was come, that Herod on his birthday made a supper to his lords, high captains, and chief estates of Galilee; And when the daughter of the said Herodias came in, and danced, and pleased Herod and them that sat with him, the king said unto the damsel, Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee.

“And he sware unto her, Whatsoever thou shalt ask of me, I will give it thee, unto the half of my kingdom. And she went forth, and said unto her mother, What shall I ask? And she said, The head of John the Baptist. And she came in straightway with haste unto the king, and asked, saying, I will that thou give me by and by in a charger the head of John the Baptist.

“And the king was exceeding sorry; yet for his oath's sake, and for their sakes which sat with him, he would not reject her. And immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be brought: and he went and beheaded him in the prison, And brought his head in a charger, and gave it to the damsel: and the damsel gave it to her mother.”

Here we see that Herod was “personally opposed” to killing John the Baptist, but, fueled by several of the Deadly Sins, he endorsed the murder to please his wife, his political allies, and his other supporters.

Herodias wanted to kill John the Baptist because he had reproved her husband for his illicit marriage. In like fashion, “Catholic Joe” is undoubtedly “personally opposed” to sodomy, but happily presided over the marriage of two homosexual White House staffers. Herod was a homewrecker, stealing the wife of his brother; Bill Stevenson, who married the woman we now know as “Dr. Jill Biden” in 1970, famously told the Daily Mail that Joe wrecked that marriage several years later. Herod was adroitly manipulated by his wife; “Catholic Joe” is deftly commandeered by Dr. Jill.

Herodias killed John the Baptist for criticizing his position on marriage. In the Jewish and Christian tradition, marriage is the source of new life. So we find consistency in Biden’s attack on every aspect of life, stretching to new bounds the ability to kill on command.

Final Thoughts

As an expression of his “Catholic” persona, Joe Biden often displays his Rosary in public.

In the dedication of The Secret of the Rosary, Saint Louis de Montfort tells his fellow priests that “the Rosary is a priceless treasure which is inspired by God. Almighty God has given it to you because He wants you to use it as a means to convert the most hardened sinners and the most obstinate heretics.”²

This champion of the Rosary also asks that all fifteen mysteries be prayed every day. Does Joe Biden pray even one? We don’t know. His schedule certainly allows him plenty of free time to do so.

Nor do we know of his efforts, if any, “to convert the most hardened sinners and the most obstinate heretics.”

Who are we to judge?

A final note: Josephus, a Roman historian and contemporary of Herod Antipas, calls it “a demonstration of the interposition of Providence … that, within the revolution of a hundred years, the posterity of Herod, which were a great many in number, were, excepting a few, utterly destroyed.”³

1. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Herod-king-of-Judaea

2. https://www.ecatholic2000.com/montfort/rosary/rosary.shtml

3. Antiquities of the Jews, Book XVIII, Chapter 5. https://penelope.uchicago.edu/josephus/ant-18.html