Bishops think that they have authority over politicians.
Quote:US bishops set collision course with Vatican over plan to press Biden not to take Communion
During the virtual event, U.S. bishops are expected to approve a motion to begin drafting a document on “Eucharistic coherence" that would exclude Catholic political figures who support abortion rights from receiving Communion.
If they do proceed, the bishops will have opened a breach with Pope Francis and the Vatican, which has all but instructed the bishops not to go ahead with the motion.
Kansas City Archbishop Joseph Naumann, chair of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Pro-Life Activities and one of the main figures supporting a pastoral statement about Communion told The Associated Press in April, “Whether intentional or not, [Biden is] trying to usurp our authority."
https://www.rawstory.com/amp/us-bishops-...2653407200
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"