Profs and Pints Online presents: “Biden and the Bishops,” a primer on the politics and leadership of the Roman Catholic Church in America in advance of a potentially pivotal abortion vote, with Brian Flanagan, associate professor of theology at Marymount University and scholar of church governance.

[This talk will remain available in recorded form at the link given here for tickets and access.]

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops agreed on June 18th to vote this fall on a plan potentially denying communion to public officials who support abortion rights, and President Joe Biden is at the top of the list of officials some advocates of such a step had in mind.

Join Profs and Pints Online for an interactive talk examining how the nation’s bishops would make such a decision and what it would mean for President Biden and for the church in the United States.

Dr. Brian Flanagan, an expert on the church’s governance here and in the Vatican, will offer us insights into what exactly is going on behind the scenes at the U.S. Conference, how much its members agree on the proposal, and how Pope Francis feels and might potentially weigh in on all of this.

You’ll learn about the history of Catholics in public life in the United States and where President Biden and some of today’s other prominent Catholic politicians fit into it. You’ll gain an understanding of the organizational structures of the Catholic Church in the United States and what the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops can, and can’t, do under canon law. And you’ll end up with a much better sense of who the U.S. bishops are and how they differ from each other—and sometimes Pope Francis—on particular political and prudential judgments.

Among the questions he’ll tackle: Can the bishops actually ban President Biden from taking communion? What’s the potential impact of a debate by the U.S. bishops on Catholic politicians’ relationship to their church? What actually is likely to happen on this front this fall—and in the decades to come?

Dr. Flanagan studies the theological underpinnings of the Catholic church’s mission, structure, and governance. In addition, he is currently writing a book on the sorts of consultative decision-making and decentralized structures of authority that Pope Francis is trying to promote within the church. Regardless of whether you are Catholic, you will have a much more sophisticated understanding of the Church’s workings and role in American political life after hearing him speak.

Profs & Pints Online: Biden and the Bishops