Religious Americans are deeply divided in their views on abortion.

The hardline stances of many conservative Catholic bishops in the U.S. are not shared by most lay Catholics.

Some Catholic bishops in the United States are persisting with criticism of President Joe Biden for his support of abortion rights.

When U.S. Catholic bishops convene virtually for a national meeting this week, they will be divided ideologically as well as physically.

FILE - In this Nov. 10, 2003 file photo, Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick, Archbishop of Washington, D.C., center, joins fellow clergy in prayer at the end of the opening session of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops meeting in Washington. McCarrick who was defrocked by Pope Francis in 2019 served as head of Catholic dioceses in Metuchen and Newark, New Jersey, and in Washington. “The shadow of the McCarrick report hangs over this meeting,” said John Gehring, Catholic program director at a Washington-based clergy network called Faith in Public Life. The report found that three decades of bishops, cardinals and popes dismissed or downplayed reports of McCarrick’s misconduct with young men. The bishops will discuss the McCarrick report twice Monday, first in a private session and later in a public livestream, according to the communications office of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Democrats are treading carefully on religious faith as they prepare to question President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee. “I don’t intend to question her about her personal views or private religious faith or views,” Coons, a key Biden ally, said this past week. Fearful of losing the high court for a generation, the left is demanding that Democrats resist Barrett's nomination with everything they have. Republicans have preemptively declared any discussion of Barrett’s faith out of bounds. But specifics about Barrett’s faith, such as broaching People of Praise, would have “a bad odor,” Franke said.

It’s a striking development given that the high court, for most of its history, was almost entirely populated by white male Protestants. Margaret McGuinness, a professor of religion at La Salle University in Philadelphia, noted that Sonia Sotomayor is the only current Catholic justice appointed by a Democrat. “No one should worry that Catholics on the Supreme Court will all agree with each other about matters of legal interpretation.”He cited Sotomayor, with liberal views, and Thomas, a staunch conservative, as examples. There has been a majority of Catholic justices on the Supreme Court since Alito joined in 2006. “I don’t think there’s any scheme or plot to bring Catholics to the Supreme Court,” he said.