Jesuit priest calls lou holtz's comment on biden's catholic faith 'terrible'

Lou Holtz, a former college football coach, caused controversy during the Republican National Convention on Wednesday night when he declared that Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is

a "Catholic in name only." Biden has been vocal about his faith, which he says has helped him through difficult times in his life, like when his son, Beau Biden, died of brain

cancer in 2015. Holtz made his judgment while delivering a speech praising President Trump, saying he is a man who "genuinely cares about people" and is someone Americans can

"trust." Not long after Holtz was finished, liberals and conservatives alike jumped to Biden's defense on Twitter. On MSNBC, Jesuit priest James Martin said he doesn't

believe this is something "you should say about anybody." Holtz, he continued, "cannot look into the soul of Joe Biden ... I think it's a really terrible thing to say

about someone. He has no clue what's going on inside of Joe Biden's heart." SUBSCRIBE TO THE WEEK Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from

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directly to your inbox. From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox. Holtz has been involved in Republican

politics for decades. In 1983, he resigned as the University of Arkansas' football coach after being criticized for appearing in commercials endorsing the re-election of Sen. Jesse

Helms (R-N.C.). At the time Helms, who once said the 1964 Civil Rights Act was "the single most dangerous piece of legislation ever introduced in the Congress," was leading the

effort to keep Martin Luther King Jr. Day from becoming a national holiday. Explore More RNC Speed Reads