Catholic Bishops Avoid Confrontation With Biden Over Communion
The New York Times
In a vote, they endorsed new guidance on offering holy communion to public figures but did not overtly mention the president or other officials who support abortion rights.
BALTIMORE — The Roman Catholic bishops of the United States backed away from a direct conflict with President Biden on Wednesday, approving a new document on the sacrament of the eucharist that does not mention the president or any politicians by name.
At issue was the question of which Catholics, under which circumstances, are properly able to receive communion, one of the most sacred rites within Christianity. For some conservative Catholics, the real question was more pointed: Should Catholic politicians who publicly support and advance abortion rights be denied the sacrament?
For some of the most outspoken critics of Mr. Biden and other liberal Catholic leaders, the document represented a strategic retreat. Still, its very existence highlighted a divide between conservative American bishops and the Vatican, and pitted some of the nation’s most powerful prelates against the country’s second Catholic president.
