The USCCB Vote and the Far More Interesting Story

 If you had been paying attention (especially to the media narrative) over the past week, you were expecting an extremely contentious vote today on whether or not the USCCB, as a body, should put forth a document on "Eucharistic Coherence", which is academic jargon for "should those habitually flouting defined dogmas of the Church be denied Communion?"  On Thursday, Archbishop Wilton Gregory gave an impassioned speech about how divided the body was, and how it had never been so divided as it was over this issue.  Before the meeting, a group of 60+ bishops dramatically begged Archbishop Gomez to suspend any discussion on the matter, lest it provoke a bitterly divided episcopate.

Today, that vote was held and..... it wasn't particularly close.  You need a 2/3 majority to do anything as a body.  The vote had nearly 75% voting in favor, with 5 abstentions.  While it's a secret ballot, several major cardinals and heads of major dioceses in America have gone on record against even allowing this discussion, much less doing something about it.  The document will be written, and it will likely include some form of statement on Eucharistic coherence and at least some nod to the fact Bishops should deny communion to those obstinately rejecting the faith.  (Let's not expect too much.)

There is a lot of talk over what this means about Biden and others.  That's certainly an interesting discussion, but its mostly academic.  Biden's Bishop (Wilton Gregory) has all but said Biden could perform an abortion himself while presiding over a gay marriage, and he wouldn't deny him communion.  His stated position is that any time a Bishop were to tell a high profile Catholic not to receive, that is "politicizing the sacraments."  So Biden is still going to receive communion.  As will most pro-abortion Catholic politicians.

There's also a lot of talk about "well what about those who support the death penalty" but that's a moot point as well.  The validity of the death penalty in modern circumstances is not a dogma of the Church in the reality of personhood for every conceived life is.  Even the Pope's clear disdain for the death penalty hasn't changed that reality, and he has not attempted to change that reality.  The only magisterial statement comes from the CDF, and it notes the difference between the two.  (Attempts to retroactively say Joseph Ratzinger didn't actually mean it mean nothing unless they state officially that there is no difference between abortion and the death penalty, which they will not do.)  So while a lot of people talk about this, it is also not very interesting or relevant.

So what is interesting or relevant?  Its clear that the ringleaders of this (at least at one point) were:

- Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago

- Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York (though he asked his name later be removed when his activity became public knowledge)

- Cardinal Sean O'Malley of  Boston

- Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Washington, DC

What do they have in common?  Three of them are Cardinals, with one of them likely to become one in the near future.  All are from major dioceses, and all are considered relatively close allies of Pope Francis.  All are also senior leadership in the United States.  Archbishop Gregory was right, but not in the way he thought:  The Church in the US IS divided.  The division isn't between "liberals" and "conservatives."  There is a division between senior clerics.  The rest of the Bishops are actually pretty united on this.  This is going to make the drafting of such a document troublesome, as a lot of the leadership participating in the document will be those who worked endlessly to forbid it from even being discussed.

Another interesting aspect is this is a sign that once again the powerful have lost the ability to craft their preferred narrative of choice.  They are some of the most powerful prelates in America, but also some of the most powerless in terms of forging consensus with their brethren.  Blase Cupich walks the halls of Rome and has media appointments on a regular basis.  It doesn't change the fact he's clearly held in contempt by his brother bishops in the US, who seem to take the opposite of whatever opinion he comes up with.  In 2018 Sean O'Malley's stock was never higher in the US Church.  Now he speaks, and nobody cares.  Timothy Dolan clearly loves being on TV and hearing the sound of his own voice.  He seems to be the only one enamored with it.

In a healthy and functioning body, this would essentially be a vote of no confidence in some of the most powerful men in the American Church. Most Bishops want to move forward on this, and its clear there is at least a very loud minority of American Catholics who want their bishops to take these matters seriously, and they outnumber their opponents.    I fully expect these same senior individuals to try and convince the Pope (who relies upon them to govern more than people appreciate) to intervene and squash or severely restrict the discussion.  Yet at 75%, this really might be one of those cases where even if he were inclined, he is not that inclined.  (For what its worth, I do not think he wants any involvement in this whatsoever, and will do whatever he can to keep Rome from getting involved.)

Alas, we do not have a healthy and functioning system of governance in the American Church.  The USCCB doesn't really have a point.  What this will do in the long term is place increasing pressure upon these individuals who tried to block this discussion.  They are going to have to go on record saying the USCCB's decisions have no bearing or authority, and should be ignored.  That's not something a senior prelate wants to do in his own backyard. Furthermore, if he tells everyone to ignore the USCCB, many dioceses will do precisely that, and then they will have to say why they are outliers from an increasing majority of dioceses who are trying to act with one accord.

The functional immediate importance of this document is non-existent.  Yet it does suggest a very medium term for a lot of senior bishops in the United States.