The U.S. bishops approved by a wide margin a plan to draft a document to examine the "meaning of the Eucharist in the life of the church" following a lengthy debate.

Both supporters and critics of the proposal said it could be used to pressure bishops to deny Communion to pro-choice Catholic politicians.

Creating national norms was never the intent behind a proposal to write a new statement on the Eucharist, said Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Doctrine.

A controversial proposal from the U.S. bishops’ doctrinal committee that seeks approval to begin a process of drafting a document about the Eucharist seems on track to come up for a vote.

The Catholic Church in the United States is in danger of losing its relevance if its presentation of the Gospel is alien to the world in which people live.

Such debates don’t really happen elsewhere in the Catholic world.