Biden goes to Mass ignoring bishops' move that could BLOCK him and other Catholic politicians from receiving Communion if they support abortion

• President Joe Biden attended Saturday afternoon Mass at St Joseph on the Brandywine Roman Catholic Church
• Biden and the first lady made their way through the churchyard after Mass to spend a moment by the graveside of Beau Biden, the president's late son
• The Bidens are at their Wilmington, Delaware, home for the weekend
• On Saturday morning they announced that Champ, their 13-year-old German Shepherd, had died 
• Biden's church visit came after Catholic bishops took a step towards preventing him receiving Communion because of his abortion stance  
• 'That’s a private matter, and I don’t think that’s going to happen,' the president told reporters Friday at the White House 
• Supporters of the measure said a strong rebuke of Biden was needed because of his recent actions protecting and expanding abortion access  

President Joe Biden attended Mass on Saturday afternoon near his Delaware home ignoring a growing controversy as U.S. Catholic bishops try to block him receiving Communion because of his liberal stance on abortion.

He walked through the churchyard of St Joseph on the Brandywine before entering the church for its 4pm service.

He is a regular at the church when spending the weekend in Wilmington, and it was a familiar moment on a day marked by heartbreak.  

Earlier the president and first lady Jill Biden announced that their 13-year-old German Shepherd Champ had died.

'In our most joyful moments and in our most grief-stricken days, he was there with us, sensitive to our every unspoken feeling and emotion,' they said. 

'We love our sweet, good boy and will miss him always.'

Biden left the church at the end of the service with first lady Jill, who was carrying what looked like a magnolia plant.

Rather than making straight for the waiting motorcade, the walked to the side of the church to spend a quiet moment at Beau Biden's graveside. 

A day earlier, Catholic bishops ignored a pointed Vatican attempt to find unity by approving the drafting of a 'teaching document' for Catholic politicians who support abortion.

It means the country's increasingly bitter debate on abortion and other questions of sexual health centers on its most high-profile Catholics, and one of the more observant Christians to occupy the White House. 

For his part, Biden dismissed the bishops' move on Friday.  

'That’s a private matter, and I don’t think that’s going to happen,' he told reporters at the White House when asked the possibility that he and other politicians could be denied Communion. 

The vote - 168 in favor, 55 against with six abstentions - followed three hours of debate. 

Supporters of the measure believe a clear rebuke of Biden is needed to curb a series of measures that protect and expand abortion access.

Opponents, such as the Most Rev Robert McElroy, bishop of San Diego, fear it is a polarizing move that could lead to the 'weaponization' of the Eucharist - a more formal name name for Holy Communion. 

As a result of the vote, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops doctrine committee will draft a statement on the meaning of Communion in the life of the Church that will be submitted for consideration at a future meeting, likely to be in November.

The document will act as a statement of policy but will not be binding. Each bishop has the right to decide who can or cannot take Communion in his diocese.

The Vatican has already tried to intervene, fearing a breakdown in unity.

Cardinal Luis Ladaria, the prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican's theological watchdog, asked the USBC to delay the debate.

He wrote to the conference saying it would be 'misleading' to suggest abortion and euthanasia were 'the only grave matters of Catholic moral and social teaching' that require 'the fullest level of accountability on the part of Catholics.'

In so doing, he signaled how the liberal Catholicism of Pope Francis - with a focus on poverty, racial inequality, climate change - is increasingly at odds with the U.S. Church.

One section of the document is intended to include a specific admonition to Catholic politicians and other public figures who disobey church teaching on abortion and other doctrinal issues.

Bishop Donald Hying of Madison, Wisconsin, said during Thursday's debate that he speaks with many people who are confused by a Catholic president who advances 'the most radical pro-abortion agenda in history,' and action from the bishops´ conference is needed.

'They´re looking for direction,' Hying said.

Bishop Robert McElroy of San Diego countered that the USCCB would suffer 'destructive consequences' from a document targeting Catholic politicians.

'It would be impossible to prevent the weaponization of the Eucharist,' McElroy said.

Biden, who attends Mass regularly, says he personally opposes abortion but doesn´t think he should impose that position on Americans who feel otherwise. He´s taken several executive actions during his presidency that were hailed by abortion-rights advocates.

The chairman of the USCCB doctrine committee, Bishop Kevin Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana, said no decisions have been made on the final contents of the proposed document. He said bishops who are not on the committee will have chances to offer input, and the final draft will be subject to amendments before it is put up to a vote.

Rhoades also said the document would not mention Biden or other individuals by name and would offer guidelines rather than imposing a mandatory national policy.

That would leave decisions about Communion for specific churchgoers up to individual bishops and archbishops. Cardinal Wilton Gregory, the archbishop of Washington, has made clear that Biden is welcome to receive Communion at churches in the archdiocese.