Thread by @jackmjenkins

NEW: Me, @ClaireGiangrave & @alemolina were curious what Catholic bishops actually think about proposals to deny communion to Catholic pols—say, Biden—who back abortion rights.

So we reached out to every Roman Catholic bishop in the country to find out. religionnews.com/2021/06/11/wha…

An important thing to understand up front: When U.S. bishops meet next week, they aren't actually voting on this issue. They're voting on whether to draft a document *relating* to it.

But that doesn't mean the larger issue of communion denial isn't getting *a lot* of attention.

At the heart of the issue is "scandal," a world with a technical theological meaning within the Catholic Church.

William Mattison breaks it down this way:

Biden/other Catholic pols have argued there's a distinction between personal beliefs (opposing abortion) and policy (voting on legislation), arguing they shouldn't legislate their faith on others.

But several conservative bishops appeared to reject that distinction to RNS.

Interestingly, there *is* a group of (generally) liberal-leaning bishops who seem opposed to barring politicians from Communion like this.

But only a couple have spoken out, and most appeared hesitant to discuss the topic before the USCCB meeting.

Only one gave us a firm no.

And there are bishops like Cardinal Dolan: although he admitted (when I pressed him in a public form) that he probably wouldn't deny Biden communion, reporting indicates he and others are reluctant to align themselves publicly with either camp regarding the communion issue.

In fact, many bishops seemed reluctant to express a firm opinion — even if some strongly suggested sympathy for those who back communion denial.

A running theme in our survey was tension between politics (both inside and outside the church) and ambivalence about the issue.

It remains to be seen what any of this means for next week's meeting, or how it will impact the worship habits of Biden, Pelosi, and other Catholics in Congress (*most* are Dems who support abortion rights).

But it offers a window into bishops' thinking: religionnews.com/2021/06/11/wha…