海角大神

Every weekend, almost without fail, President Joe Biden goes to church. If he鈥檚 in Washington, he attends Mass at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Georgetown. If he鈥檚 at home in Wilmington, Delaware, he goes to his family parish, St. Joseph on the Brandywine.

In his victory speech last November, President-elect Biden cited the popular Roman Catholic hymn 鈥淥n Eagle鈥檚 Wings,鈥� and in his inaugural address in January, he quoted St. Augustine. The president often carries a rosary that belonged to his late son, Beau.

That a deep Catholic faith infuses President Biden鈥檚 life is hardly a secret, his election as only the second Catholic president almost unremarkable. The contrast with John F. Kennedy鈥檚 election in 1960 is stark: The senator from Massachusetts had to fight hard to overcome America鈥檚 history of anti-Catholicism. For Mr. Biden, the strong Catholic identity聽may have been a plus聽in key Rust Belt states last November.聽

Now, the president鈥檚 faith is center stage. Today, his top diplomat 鈥� Secretary of State Antony Blinken 鈥� had a private audience with Pope Francis at the Vatican, in a reset of U.S.-Vatican ties after the uneasy Trump era. Mr. Biden himself is expected to meet with the pope in Rome in October.聽

And in a burst of controversy, Mr. Biden鈥檚 stance on abortion rights 鈥� increasingly liberal over the years 鈥� returned to the headlines after the conservative-dominated U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) voted overwhelmingly to draft guidance on the Eucharist, or communion.

The move was widely seen as an effort by conservatives to encourage exclusion of Mr. Biden from the ritual over his political posture on abortion, based on聽comments聽from prominent bishops. On June 21, the USCCB released a聽Q&A聽clarifying that the vote was not specific to any individuals.聽Notably, the word 鈥渁bortion鈥� does not appear in the one-page document.

A 鈥渢wo-party鈥� church

Still, a larger conflict remains: Rank-and-file American Catholics, a shrinking congregation like most traditional faiths in the U.S., are increasingly at odds with church leadership.

Only one-third of U.S. Catholics believe the core teaching that the bread and wine during communion literally become the body and blood of Jesus Christ, according to聽a Pew Research Center poll.聽And two-thirds of American Catholics聽say Mr. Biden should be allowed to receive communion, despite his abortion politics.聽

The percentages vary widely by party. Some 87% of Democratic Catholics side with Mr. Biden, while only 44% of Republican Catholics do, Pew found. This disparity mirrors the larger polarization of U.S. politics as well as increasing polarization within the church, say experts on U.S. Catholicism.聽

鈥淚n this country, the two-party system has created a two-party Catholic Church,鈥� says Massimo Faggioli, a professor of theology at Villanova University in Philadelphia and author of the new book 鈥淛oe Biden and Catholicism in the United States.鈥� 鈥淭he political divisions in this country have created a sectarian mentality within Catholicism.鈥�

Professor Faggioli draws a parallel between the political behavior of increasingly conservative white Catholics in the U.S. and white evangelicals. About 6 in 10 non-Hispanic white Catholic voters are now Republican, up from 4 in 10 in 2008, according to Pew. Among non-Hispanic white evangelicals, a mainstay of the GOP, 8 in 10 voted for Donald Trump both in 2016 and 2020.聽

The Southern Baptist Convention 鈥� the nation鈥檚 largest Protestant denomination 鈥� has been going through its own聽cultural upheaval,聽in its case over race, gender, and politics. At the SBC鈥檚 recent annual meeting, the denomination narrowly averted an ultraconservative takeover.

鈥淭he situation is similar鈥� but not identical, says Professor Faggioli. Catholics, he notes, are unlikely to split into two churches, as the Baptists did in the mid-1800s over slavery. 鈥淚 believe there鈥檚 a sense of unity in the Catholic Church that we鈥檙e still holding, but I鈥檓 not sure about the future. I think what鈥檚 happening is a soft schism.鈥澛�

LGBTQ rights are another point of contention. The pope made headlines last October when he聽endorsed聽same-sex civil unions. Mr. Biden is an even more liberal ally, endorsing same-sex marriage as vice president before President Barack Obama did. In 1960, when Mr. Kennedy was running for president, the concern over Catholicism centered on fear of Vatican influence in the U.S. government. The big political issue was prayer in schools, not abortion or gay rights.

Today, church politics and U.S. politics are intertwined. Before the U.S. bishops voted to draft communion guidance, the Vatican warned them against taking steps that could lead to denial of the sacrament to politicians who support abortion rights. The issue is relevant to other pro-abortion-rights Catholic politicians, including Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former Secretary of State John Kerry, now Mr. Biden鈥檚 special climate envoy. Both have faced calls from bishops for denial of communion, including when Mr. Kerry was the Democratic presidential nominee in 2004.聽

Decisions to grant or deny communion are ultimately made by the local bishop. In 2019, as a presidential candidate, Mr. Biden was denied communion by a priest in South Carolina. But despite the conservative tilt of the USCCB, President Biden has not been in danger of losing access to communion either in Washington or Wilmington, where the relevant bishops lean liberal.聽

Mr. Biden has said little publicly about the issue. When asked about the U.S. bishops鈥� vote to draft a communion statement and the potential for a rift in the Catholic Church, he said, 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a private matter, and I don鈥檛 think that鈥檚 going to happen.鈥澛�

Biden鈥檚 evolving abortion stance

Complicating matters is the return of abortion politics to the U.S. Supreme Court. Now with a 6-3 conservative majority, the high court has agreed to hear a聽Mississippi case聽this fall that could significantly pare back the right to abortion under the 1973 precedent, Roe v. Wade.聽

The case has energized activists on both sides ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, and shines a light on Mr. Biden鈥檚 increasingly liberal position on abortion.聽

As a senator, Mr. Biden used to emphasize that he personally opposed abortion while refusing to impose his views on others. Now he espouses the mainstream Democratic position emphasizing women鈥檚 rights. Two years ago, Mr. Biden abandoned his long-held opposition to a ban on federal funding for most abortions.聽

In American politics, Democrats who identify as 鈥減ro-life鈥� are a vanishing breed, as the two parties become more homogeneous.聽Even defining the 鈥淐atholic vote鈥� can be difficult. In the 2020 election, voters who self-identified as Catholic split nearly evenly between Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump. But one expert on Catholic voters says there鈥檚 a split聽between 鈥減racticing Catholics鈥� 鈥� that is, those who attend Mass weekly and follow all church tenets, including on abortion and same-sex marriage 鈥� and others.聽

George Marlin, author of 鈥淎merican Catholic Voter: Two Hundred Years of Political Impact,鈥� says that practicing Catholics helped Mr. Trump to victory in key 2016 battleground states, and President Trump won the 鈥減racticing Catholic vote鈥� in 2020.聽

Mr. Marlin also defends the U.S. bishops in their decision to issue a statement on the Eucharist. 鈥淭hey have an obligation to spell out directly the teachings of the church,鈥� he says. 鈥淣o one forces people to be Roman Catholic. You can鈥檛 have your cake and eat it too.鈥澛�

His comment hints at the聽past statement聽of a high-ranking U.S. cleric that a 鈥渟maller, lighter鈥� church of purer belief would be preferable to one that is larger and less faithful to the full range of church teachings.聽

Conservative Catholics鈥� emphasis on abortion does put pressure on lay Catholics to choose sides, liberal church activists say. Sister Simone Campbell 鈥� head of the Network Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, who offered a prayer at the 2020 Democratic convention 鈥� said in January聽that the 鈥減olitical obsession鈥� with the 鈥渃riminalization of abortion鈥� has broken the church apart.聽

When asked last year by the Catholic News Agency whether her organization opposes legal abortion, Sister Simone responded, 鈥淭hat is not our issue.鈥澛�

U.S.-Vatican relations

In the U.S.-Vatican relationship, smoother sailing is expected under President Biden than under President Trump, both in style and substance 鈥� though perspectives still diverge at times. In Secretary Blinken鈥檚 meeting Monday with the pope and top Vatican officials, 鈥渢here is a deep and long laundry list of issues to talk about,鈥� including climate change, refugees, and China, says Shaun Casey, who served as U.S. special representative for religion and global affairs under President Obama.聽

The Vatican welcomed the U.S. return to the Paris climate accord, but the China question is trickier, following a 2018 deal allowing the Vatican to appoint bishops in China.聽

鈥淚n countries where the Catholic Church is a tiny, oppressed minority, the goal of their diplomacy is to make life easier for the faithful,鈥� which differs from the U.S.鈥檚 much broader agenda with China, says Professor Casey, director of the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs at Georgetown University.聽

Still, he adds, the Vatican is a 鈥渟trong advocate for religious freedom for all people,鈥� including China鈥檚 oppressed Uyghurs.

Back in the U.S., the larger controversy over Mr. Biden and communion has not only served to highlight intra-church conflicts 鈥� but could also engender sympathy for a president whose Catholic faith infuses his life and has provided comfort at times of personal tragedy.聽

鈥淐atholicism is at his core,鈥� says Bobby Juliano, a longtime Washington lobbyist who has known Mr. Biden and his family since 1973.聽

In a 2007聽interview with the Monitor聽on his faith, then-Senator Biden said he was troubled by church sex-abuse scandals involving children, but his commitment to the church was unchanged.聽聽

鈥淭his is my church as much as it is the church of a cardinal, bishop, or janitor,鈥� he said, 鈥渁nd I鈥檓 not going anywhere.鈥澛�