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On April 30, Joe Biden completed 100 days in office with approval ratings higher than any president at this stage for 40 years. He leans heavily on a brand of Catholicism that disappoints some on the left and on the right, both inside and outside the church. How is he doing? And does his Catholicism affect this governance? His political fortunes remain tied to his ability to slay the virus and get the U.S. economy opened again. Biden’s approval rating in all polls is hovering around 60 percent, the highest of any president at this stage since Ronald Reagan.

Biden pushed progressive economic policies through Congress that are largely consistent with Catholic social teaching. His $1.9 trillion Covid-relief plan dedicated billions to eradicating the virus, an obvious pro-life concern. It also included tax relief for poor and working-class families and child tax credits. Biden is as traditional in his devotions and Mass attendance as any Catholic one will meet – and his prayer life is authentic; yet his style of being a Catholic in the world reflects the call of Matthew 25 with its emphasis on care of the poor and marginalized.

One area where Biden has disappointed Catholic activists is immigration. Biden needs to make good on expanding refugee caps and improving things with those seeking safety and asylum on the ground at the southern border. On the environment, Biden is using government funding to reorientate the economy away from fossil fuels and invest in clean technology. He invited Pope Francis to address a summit on Earth Day, which he did.

It has been one of Biden’s accomplishments so far that he has lowered the temperature in the culture wars.

Biden’s pro-choice stance on abortion remains an insuperable hurdle for many Catholics. Real progress on abortion will require cooperation and compromise between the two parties, but at the moment both are hostage to their extreme wings. Biden also wants to make faith, in particular his own Roman Catholicism, a vehicle for promoting the common good, albeit in the argot of a broader civil religion. It is not clear if it will work. The famous religiosity of Americans is fading.

The secularists often fail to recognize one of the advantages Biden’s Catholicism confers: a sense of ritual. In the American constitutional system, the president is both head of state and head of government. In the former role, he must step forward at times of national trauma and speak for all Americans. Biden’s empathy shines through. Biden’s idealism can also be inspiring when the head of state cares about ideals and conveys that caring to citizenry. There’s something about his Catholic faith that is at work in those moments.

Father Paul Magnano

La Conner