Catholic Bishops agreed Friday to prepare a document that would restrict Catholic politicians who support abortion rights, including Joe Biden, from receiving Communion.
The measure, which had drawn objections from the Vatican and Pope Francis’ strongest allies, required only a simple majority but passed with 73 percent of the 229 votes cast Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reports. More than 270 U.S. Bishops were eligible to participate.
The bishops’ doctrinal committee will now draft a document on the Eucharist that will include a section on the conditions by which a politician may receive Communion.
Approval of the final document will require a supermajority of two-thirds at the conference’s meeting in November.
Proponents of the document originally planned to set a national policy on the subject, but did away with the idea in deference to the Vatican, which warned that a move like that would be divisive.
