Wilton Gregory, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Washington DC, announced that he would not prevent Democrat Joe Biden from receiving communion at Catholic churches, regardless of the Democrat’s uncompromising support of abortion.

“The kind of relationship that I hope we will have is a conversational relationship where we can discover areas where we can cooperate that reflect the social teachings of the church, knowing full well that there are some areas where we won’t agree,” Gregory said. “They are areas where the church’s position is very clear,” said the bishop, who is the first African-American cardinal in the history of the church. Gregory was speaking to the Catholic News Service on November 24th.

“I hope it’s a real dialogue, because I think that’s the mantra of Pope Francis — that we should be a church in dialogue, even with those with whom we have some serious disagreements,” Gregory continued.

“It’s not a matter of confusion,” said Gregory. “On my part, it’s a matter of the responsibility that I have as the archbishop to be engaged and to be in dialogue with him, even in those areas where we obviously have some differences.”

Catholic clergy and laity have debated the premise of allowing pro-abortion and pro-homosexuality politicians to receive communion for years, with the issue often dividing more conservative and liberal members of the church.

Wilton Gregory was made into a Catholic cardinal this week in a ceremony in the Vatican. He’s been described as one of the most liberal senior prelates in the American church hierarchy, banning parishioners from carrying concealed weapons as Archbishop of Atlanta in 2014. He frequently assailed President Donald Trump, arguing that pro-American immigration policy deviated from the principles of the Catholic religion.