By Gabriella Borter

BALTIMORE, Md. (Reuters) – Tuesday will see the U.S. Roman Catholic bishops debate whether President Joe Biden’s support to abortion rights should bar him from communion. The issue, which has caused deep rifts in American Catholicism since Biden became president, is expected to be debated by them.

Baltimore bishops have been scheduled to meet to review a document clarifying Holy Communion’s meaning. It is unclear how clearly the document should clarify whether Biden, a prominent Catholic from the United States, can receive Communion due to his political positions that are contrary to Church teaching.

This meeting will continue until Thursday. To pass the document, it needs to receive a “yes” vote by two-thirds (or more) of conference participants.

Conservative bishops argue that the conference should rebuke politicians like Biden, who are against church teaching and support abortion rights. This contingent demanded that the document establish clear criteria for eligibility to receive the sacrament.

Other people have warned against using the Eucharist to punish specific political positions.

A Pew Research poll conducted in April found that 55% U.S. Catholics think abortion should not be illegal in any or most cases. This compares to 59% in the general population.

Biden is the first Catholic U.S. President since John F. Kennedy. He has stated that he opposes abortion, but supports women’s rights to make their own decisions. In the face of state-enacted restrictive laws, Biden pledged to uphold abortion rights. The Trump administration appealed to the Supreme Court last month to strike down a Texas law prohibiting abortions for six weeks.

As the church struggles with retaining a fragmented membership, further divisions have resulted from the debate about communion eligibility. According to Gallup, nearly 20% of U.S. Catholics left the church over the last 20 years, mainly due to sexual abuse scandals that involved predatory priests and disagreements on social issues.

The Catholic newsletter The Pillar published a draft of this document earlier in the month. It does not name Biden, but it states that those who have some level of authority are responsible for the church’s incarnation. The document states that Catholics living in “mortal sin,” without repentance, should not be allowed to receive communion. However it does not specify who is responsible for the judgment.

An official spokesperson for the conference refused to comment on this draft.

On its website, the conference stated that it would not adopt a national policy of withholding communion for politicians.

Biden met with Pope Francis privately at the Vatican last week and told the Pope that he has said to him that he’s a “good Catholic” who is eligible for communion.

Before that meeting, Pope Francis appeared to critique the U.S. bishops’ handling of the matter in a political and not a pastoral manner.