Source: Washington Post
By Michelle Boorstein; May 25, 2021 at 6:27 p.m. EDT
U.S. Catholic bishops next month are expected to take a vote aimed directly at the question of whether pro-abortion rights politicians should receive Communion. The vote will go ahead despite efforts by some bishops who think urging the exclusion of Catholics such as President Biden is not pastoral.
The decision by leaders of the D.C.-based U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to have the vote comes after dozens of U.S. bishops asked for it to be postponed, saying the conference is too divided. The Catholic news site the Pillar first reported Tuesday that the effort to postpone the vote was led in part by Washington Archbishop Wilton Gregory.
U.S. bishops have long been divided about how to deal with prominent Catholics who support abortion access, but the issue for some became urgent with Biden’s election. For other bishops, Biden is a boost for the faith because he is an attendee at weekly Mass who describes Catholicism as essential in his life and emphasizes key church priorities such as poverty, heath care and refugees. Biden is the second U.S. Catholic president, after John F. Kennedy.
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