Conservative American Bishops To Biden: Get Lost.

June 20, 2021 Glen Turpening

Conservative Bishops in the American Catholic Church drafted a document that could make it difficult for the President to receive Communion. (NY Times)

It was the most dramatic example of the conservative Catholic movement’s reach since Mr. Biden was elected. But the contingent had been gaining strength throughout the Trump era, clashing with the Vatican, wresting influence away from Pope Francis’ top representatives in the United States and further polarizing the Catholic faithful in the process. And now, American Catholics are facing an internal war over one of the church’s most sacred rituals, the Eucharist, which represents the body and blood of Christ. Leading U.S. allies of Pope Francis, including Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago, Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin of Newark and Cardinal Wilton Gregory of Washington, sided with the Vatican’s warning against proceeding with the eucharistic document, but they were ultimately drowned out. The measure passed with a vote of 73 percent who approved it compared with 24 percent who opposed it.

By Elizabeth Dias and Ruth Graham

Contrary to the desire of the Vatican, Conservative Catholic Bishops are flexing their muscles and alienating large contingents of their parishioners in the process. The majority of American Catholics support gay marriage and abortion rights in some form thus widening the ideological gulf between themselves and the stateside Catholic hierarchy. Social justice happens to be the priority of the current Pope but that agenda has little chance of influencing the policies of the arch conservative American Bishops.