Catholic bishops are debating calling on President Biden to stop taking communion due to his stance on abortion.
The Committee on Doctrine for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is working on a document that would say politicians who are pro-abortion rights or publicly advocate for abortion rights should not take communion, The Associated Press reported.
The national meeting will be held in June and will be the first meeting since Biden, the second Catholic president in history, has been inaugurated.
The meeting would need a two-thirds majority vote for the document to be approved.
“Because President Biden is Catholic, it presents a unique problem for us,” Archbishop Joseph Naumann, chair of the USCCB’s Committee on Pro-Life Activities, told The Associated Press. “It can create confusion. … How can he say he’s a devout Catholic and he’s doing these things that are contrary to the church’s teaching?”
The Catholic Church has a strict anti-abortion stance, but some Bishops are against taking away communion from politicians who advocate for abortion.
“If a politician is targeted as a negative example by his own church, that sets a sad context in which the church can deal with this Catholic president,” Bishop John Stowes told AP. “It contributes to the polarization of the church and of society.”
Biden has a pro abortion stance and has taken steps in office to make abortions more accessible for women such as lifting restrictions on women having to go to a doctor before receiving the abortion pill.
“They need to understand the scandal that is caused when they say they are faithfully Catholic and yet oppose the church on such a basic concept,” Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone told the AP.
Whether the document is passed or not, it still allows bishops at individual churches to make the decision whether to deny someone communion.
The churches Biden normally goes to have said they would not deny the president communion, the AP noted.