Catholic bishops end effort to ban pro-choice politicians from receiving Communion

Comes after long push

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops ended its debate about whether politicians who support abortion rights should receive the Eucharist when it passed a new guidance that sidesteps the issue, abortion-rights-11637169752?st=c8yodw6u1lvc7q5&reflink=article_copyURL_share">The Wall Street Journal reports.

The measure passed with 228 votes in favour with only 8 opposing during the bishops’ meeting in Baltimore and was met with applause. The vote for the so-called “teaching document” was expected.

Conservatives wanted to bar Catholic public officials who oppose abortion from receiving Communion. This included President Joe Biden, himself a Roman Catholic who recently met with Pope Francis.

But the Vatican had warned against such a measure. Pope Francis said that bishops should deal with politicians who support abortion rights with “compassion and tenderness” while at the same time repeating that the church considers abortion murder.

Similarly, Mr Biden said that the pope told him he could continue to receive the Eucharist when he visited Rome last month.

“We just talked about the fact that he was happy I’m a good Catholic,” he said. “And I should keep receiving communion.”