(Washington) The American clergy on Wednesday approved a general text on the meaning of communion without mentioning that this central sacrament of Catholicism could be denied to political personnel supporting the right to abortion, like President Joe Biden.
The document, titled The Mystery of the Eucharist in the Life of Jesus Christ, was approved by a large majority (222 for, 8 against, 3 abstentions) by the Conference of American Catholic Bishops (USCCB) at their fall meeting in Baltimore, in the northeast of the country.
A drafting proposal for this text, the final version of which focuses on the importance of this sacrament, had sparked controversy in the spring.
In May, the Vatican warned against possible measures targeting “Catholic officials in favor of legalizing abortion, euthanasia or other moral prejudice.”
The Conference then underlined that this document in preparation was “not intended for disciplinary purposes” or “directed against an individual or a group of persons”.
The question of abortion is very divisive within the Catholic hierarchy and American society, very religious.
Joe Biden, descendant of Irish Catholics, who frequently evokes his faith in public and attends mass almost every Sunday is personally opposed to the voluntary termination of pregnancy (abortion). He never wanted to challenge a right guaranteed by the American Constitution.
His government has filed an appeal to the Supreme Court against a law passed in Texas that prohibits a majority of abortions, even in cases of incest or rape.
He also overturned the decision of his predecessor Donald Trump to deprive organizations campaigning for the right to abortion of public funds, and he appointed homosexual and transgender people to the government.
In 2019, he had been refused communion, during which the faithful received the host symbol of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, in an American church. He then recalled having received it from the Pope himself.
And during a visit to the Vatican in October, Joe Biden assured that Pope Francis considered him “a good Catholic”.
Two in three American Catholics believed in March that the Democratic president should receive Holy Communion, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center.