William Barr
Former US attorney general
William Barr is an attorney who served as United States attorney general in the administrations of Presidents George Bush and Donald Trump. In the late 1990s he was a “Supreme Board Member” of the Knights of Columbus, but today he is just a member. For 21 years, Barr was also on the board of the DC-based Becket Fund for Religious Liberty.
Joe and Jill Biden
President and First Lady of the United States
Joseph Biden, 79, is the 46th president of the United States and the second Catholic president, after John F Kennedy, and also a Democrat of Irish heritage. He served as the 47th vice president from 2009 to 2017. In 2016, Biden was awarded the Laetare Medal, considered the highest honour for American Catholics, by the University of Notre Dame. Jill Biden, 71, is an American educator and the first lady of the United States. They both often make donations to Catholic charities and attend Mass but have been consistently criticised by members of the clergy – and Catholic lay leaders – for a voting and political record that does not reflect Catholic values, such as their stance on abortion. Biden’s election campaign was heavily supported by Planned Parenthood and he has called on Americans to make the overturning of Roe v Wade a political issue. In a 2021 cover story for the Catholic Herald, NYC priest Gerald Murray said that he would not give the president holy communion. Biden had a 90-minute audience with the Holy Father at the Vatican in October 2021. He also has a photo of Pope Francis in the White House Oval Office.
