Last week, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops drew an immediate uproar with a vote about an inoffensive-sounding issue: by a margin of 168 to 55, they favored drafting a document on the sacrament of holy communion. The subtext was crucial: the vote was part of a campaign by conservative bishops to deny Catholic politicians who support abortion access—most notably, President Joe Biden—the eucharist, one of the most central and sacred elements of the Catholic faith. While some bishops have argued that this debate was simply about clarifying the understanding of the sacrament, ...