U.S. Catholic bishops approve document on the Eucharist that avoids confrontation with Biden, Pope Francis

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops voted 222 to 8 on Wednesday to approve a document on Catholics and the Eucharist, the central rite of Catholic religious observance. Three bishops abstained.

The 30-page document, titled "The Mystery of the Eucharist in the Life of the Church," is the fruit of a contentious yearlong debate on whether to deny communion to politicians who support abortion rights, sparked by the election of President Biden, the second Catholic president. In the end, the National Catholic Reporter says, the U.S. bishops "approved a milquetoast text summarizing Catholic teaching on communion." The document doesn't name any Catholic politicians, only obliquely refers to their special responsibility to model Catholic teaching, and barely mentions abortion.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered 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.

Sign up
Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.