Today is the first day of the annual Catholic bishops’ spring conference and by my read two things emerged: Deep division, and strong emotions and views. A key vote right off the bat showed the men are in some ways split down the middle. #USCCB21 1/6
Bishops have various agenda items but most challenging is the move by some to create a doc about the meaning of communion, including for pro-choice Catholic pols. The bishops did this in 2006 but many conservatives want another one bc of the election of the pro-choice Biden. 2/6
Today, right off the bat the more-conservative bishops’ president reads a statement from a member of a Vatican committee that appears to encourage the bishops to create such a document. But the head of that Vatican body told the men to have various discussions first. 3/6
Immediately the Biden issue takes off. It’s embodied in the proposal by one bishop (Rozanski) to change the meeting agenda so that everyone can discuss this communion “coherence” document – no matter how much time it takes, even if its delayed beyond this meeting. 4/6
A bunch of the 100s of bishops speak. Some say Rozanski’s proposal is a “stall tactic” like a “filibuster.” Others say the proposal is driven by a Democratic Catholic president. 5/6
At the end of the day the motion to change the agenda (and possibly delay a vote on the communion-Biden doc) got 41 percent, so it lost. But the folks who want to create a document are very far from the 2/3 they need. Bishops, like America: Divided. 6/6 #USCCB21
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