Ethan Walker
Joe Biden is a Catholic with Jewish family members. He is the second Catholic US president, after John F. Kennedy, and has cited his Catholic faith as the reason for his personal opposition to abortion. However, Biden has a Jewish extended family, with all three of his children marrying Jewish spouses. Biden has embraced his Jewish connections, dancing the hora at his daughter's wedding and calling himself a 'non-Jewish Zionist' during his first presidential visit to Israel.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Religion | Catholic |
| Political Affiliation | Democrat |
| Family | Interfaith (Jewish spouses and grandchildren) |
| Spirituality | Religious |
| Abortion Views | Opposed due to Catholic faith |
| Political Views | Progressive |
| Support for Israel | Zionist |
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What You'll Learn
Joe Biden is a practising Catholic
Biden attends St. Joseph's on the Brandywine Roman Catholic Church in Wilmington, Delaware, his home church. He married his first wife, Neilia, in a Catholic ceremony and their children were baptised as Catholics. Biden's current wife, Jill, is also a Roman Catholic. Their daughter, Ashley, married Howard Krein, an ENT specialist, in a Catholic-Jewish ceremony in 2012.
Biden has three other children from his first marriage: Beau, Hunter, and Naomi. All three married Jewish spouses and Biden has described his family as an interfaith one. Biden's grandson, Beau, the son of Hunter, is halachically Jewish, as are the children of his late son, Beau. Biden has said that his family is "the only Irish Catholic [family] you know who had [their] dream met because [their] daughter married a Jewish surgeon".
Despite his Catholic faith, Biden has referred to himself as a "non-Jewish Zionist".
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Biden's children have Jewish spouses
Joe Biden is a Catholic, and his wife Jill Biden is also a Roman Catholic. However, all three of Biden's children have married Jewish spouses, resulting in an interfaith family.
Joe Biden's eldest son, Beau Biden, was married to Hallie Olivere, who is Jewish. They married in 2002 and had two children, Natalie and Robert. Beau Biden passed away in 2015 from brain cancer. Hallie received support from Beau's brother, Hunter Biden, who was separated from his wife, Kathleen Buhle, at the time. They dated from 2015 to 2019 and received the Bidens' full support.
Hunter Biden, Joe Biden's second son, has three children from his previous marriage to Kathleen Buhle: Naomi, Finnegan, and Maisy. Hunter later married Melissa Cohen, and they have a son together.
Joe Biden's only daughter, Ashley Biden, is married to Howard Krein, a Jewish doctor. They married in 2012 in an interfaith ceremony officiated by both a Catholic priest and a rabbi.
Joe Biden has embraced his interfaith family, celebrating his daughter's marriage to a Jewish surgeon during a political event in 2016. The Bidens' interfaith family includes several Jewish grandchildren, including the baby grandson cradled by Joe Biden during his victory speech.
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Biden's views on abortion
Joe Biden, the current US President, is a practising Catholic, but his views on abortion have changed over the years, especially during his time in the Senate. While Biden has stated that he is "personally opposed to abortion", he has also said that he does not feel he has the "right to impose [his] view on the rest of society".
In 1981, Biden supported a constitutional amendment that would have allowed states to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court ruling that safeguarded the right to abortion on a national level. However, in 2006, he called himself the "odd man out" in his party because he did not support federal funding for abortion and voted for bans on the procedure later in pregnancy.
During a 2019 campaign stop in South Carolina, Biden addressed how he squared his religious beliefs with his views on abortion:
> I'm prepared to accept for me, personally, [the] doctrine of my church [on when life begins]... but I'm not prepared to impose that on every other person.
As president, Biden has pledged to protect a woman's right to choose and keep access to abortion legal. He has also promised to pass a federal law that protects a woman's right to have an abortion and has criticised his predecessor, Donald Trump, for the deluge of state abortion restrictions since the fall of Roe v. Wade. Biden has also taken steps to repeal Trump's global gag rule, which restricts health organisations around the world from receiving US assistance if they perform abortions or provide information about the procedure as a form of family planning.
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Biden's family is Jewish
Joe Biden is a Roman Catholic, but his family tree includes several interfaith branches. All three of his children—Beau, Hunter, and Ashley—married Jewish spouses. Joe Biden's first wife, Neilia, with whom he had Beau, Hunter, and Naomi, died in a car accident in 1972. In 1977, he married Jill Jacobs, with whom he had his daughter, Ashley.
Ashley Biden, Joe Biden's youngest child and only daughter, married Howard Krein, a Jewish otolaryngologist and plastic surgeon. Krein volunteers with the International Hospital for Children. Their wedding included a Catholic-Jewish ceremony, and Joe Biden danced the hora at the reception. Joe Biden has expressed his happiness about his daughter's marriage, stating:
> I’m the only Irish Catholic you know who had his dream met because his daughter married a Jewish surgeon.
Joe Biden's son, Beau Biden, was married to Hallie Olivere, who was the Bidens' first Jewish daughter-in-law. Olivere is the daughter of Joe Biden's childhood friend and classroom crush, Joan. Beau and Hallie married in 2002 and had two children, Natalie and Robert, before Beau died of brain cancer in 2015. In the aftermath of Beau's death, Hallie turned to his brother, Hunter, and they began a relationship.
Hunter Biden has been married twice. His first wife was Kathleen Buhle, with whom he had three children: Naomi, Finnegan, and Maisy. His second wife is Melissa Cohen, a South African filmmaker. Cohen attended a Jewish day school and has a Hebrew tattoo.
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Biden's religious upbringing
Joe Biden is a Catholic. He was born on November 20, 1942, at St. Mary's Hospital in Scranton, Pennsylvania, to a Catholic family of mostly Irish descent. He is the oldest child of Catherine Eugenia "Jean" Biden (née Finnegan) and Joseph Robinette Biden Sr.
Biden's faith is central to how he views the world and has helped him through times of tragedy and loss. He was educated by nuns and priests, and his stances on social and environmental issues are informed by his Catholic upbringing. Biden's faith has been in public view for decades, and he has been open about his religious beliefs, often discussing them on the campaign trail.
Biden's family tree includes several interfaith branches, as all three of his children married Jewish spouses. Biden's first Jewish daughter-in-law, Hallie Olivere, was the daughter of Biden's childhood friend and classroom crush. Biden's children's children are also halachically Jewish. Biden himself has joked about his Catholic-Jewish family, saying, "I’m the only Irish Catholic you know who had his dream met because his daughter married a Jewish surgeon."
Despite Biden's Catholic faith, there are differing views on how religious he is. While most Democrats believe Biden is at least somewhat religious, with half saying he is "very" religious, a majority of Republicans say he is "not too" or "not at all" religious. There is also a debate among Catholics about whether Biden's views on abortion should disqualify him from receiving Communion in the Catholic Church.
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Frequently asked questions
Joe Biden is Catholic. He is the second Catholic president in US history, after John F. Kennedy.
Joe Biden has a Catholic family of mostly Irish descent. However, all three of his children have married Jewish spouses, and his grandchildren are halachically Jewish.
Yes, Biden has referred to himself as a "non-Jewish Zionist". He has also said, "you need not be a Jew to be a Zionist".
Biden has stated that his political positions are deeply influenced by Catholic social teaching. He personally opposes abortion because of his Catholic faith, but he has supported abortion rights throughout his presidency.
