New York Times slammed for claiming Pope Francis 'liberal,' Catholic Church split by politics

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Media top headlines June 21

Reporters and activists rushing to judge Florida Pride parade crash before investigation, The Washington Post getting knocked for painting Biden as 'deeply Catholic,' and CNN getting shredded for misleading headline on GA voter roll purge round out today's top media headlines

Critics slammed The New York Times for a piece claiming Pope Francis was "liberal" and that the Catholic Church was being further polarized by a conservative movement at odds with Vatican leadership. 

The report on a vote by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to advance a push by "conservative bishops" to deny Communion to pro-choice Catholic politicians like President Biden has drawn a strong reaction.

The Times reported the vote showed that a conservative movement was deciding how the Church asserted its power in the U.S., and that the "Catholic faithful" were more polarized because of it. They added that the 73% vote in favor of drafting a document on the meaning of the Eucharist represented a conservative momentum at odds with Pope Francis' priorities on issues like immigration and climate change. 

In the Catholic celebration of the Eucharist, bread and wine are blessed and become the living body and blood of Jesus Christ, which is then received by the faithful as Holy Communion.

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Critics slammed the liberal paper following the publishing of the piece, with some questioning whether its authors even had an understanding of Catholicism and others denying Pope Francis was "liberal" by citing his stances on certain issues. 

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The Washington Post also came under fire over the weekend for a piece it published describing Biden as "deeply Catholic" while analyzing the debate over Biden's support for abortion rights and his ability to take Communion.

"That's a private matter and I don't think that's going to happen," Biden said when asked about the vote and the possibility he could be denied Communion.

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He previously stated that he personally opposes abortion, but doesn't think he should impose his feeling on the issue on other Americans who feel differently. Since becoming president, he has been hailed by abortion rights advocates for various executive actions, including the decision to exclude a provision in his proposed budget that would block taxpayer funding of most abortions.

Fox News' Marisa Schultz and Cortney O'Brien contributed to this report.