US bishops have moved closer to imposing restrictions on communion for Catholic public figures who support abortion.
Plans to deny communion for the likes of US President Joe Biden were approved on Friday by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. There were 168 votes in favour, 55 against, and six abstentions.
The vote came at the end of a three-day meeting of the bishops held virtually.
The debate centred on the meaning of the Eucharist but the plans are being interpreted as a rebuke to Biden and other Catholic figures like him who continue to support and advance the cause of abortion.
A 'teaching document' will now be formulated over the summer in time for final approval in November.
Critics have warned the Church against being seen as partisan at a time of political tensions in the US. Supporters want to see a tough line taken on those whose actions contradict the pro-life stance of the Catholic Church.
Bishop Robert McElroy of San Diego said the Church risked the "weaponization" of the Eucharist if it moves ahead with the plans.
Supporter Bishop Donald Hying of Madison, Wisconsin, said lay Catholics were "looking for direction" from bishops towards Biden's actions in office, whose administration he said was advancing "the most radical pro-abortion agenda in history."
Pope Francis has said publicly that the Eucharist is "not the reward of saints" but rather the "bread of sinners".
Cardinal Luis Ladaria, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, cautioned US bishops against the plans in a May letter saying that they could become a "source of discord rather than unity within the episcopate".
