The Vatican has warned U.S. bishops not to deny President Joe Biden communion for his support for abortion, and a new poll shows most Catholics favor the president being given communion despite his support of abortion rights.
A majority of Catholics told the Pew Research Center poll in March that Biden should be permitted to receive communion at Mass — a topic that is resurfacing this week as Biden is set to meet with Pope Francis this week on his trip to Europe.
The Pew Research Center issued a fact sheet Wednesday on Catholics, the pope and Biden before the trip.
It showed a political divide on the issue of communion. While just 29% of Catholics polled said Biden should not receive communion for his policies and support for abortion, a majority of Catholics who are Republican (55%) say Biden's abortion stance should disqualify him from receiving communion.
Just 11% of Catholic Democrats said the same, while an overwhelming majority of 87% said Biden should be given communion, according to the poll.
Regardless of public opinion, the political debate on who can receive communion has raged on, even if the Vatican has cleared Biden from being blocked from communion by restrictive bishops.
The Pew Research Center polled 12,055 U.S. adults March 1-7.