The head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops told colleagues Tuesday that President-elect Joe Biden s policy positions, including support for abortion rights, pose a difficult and complex situation for the church.

Los Angeles Archbishop Jos Gomez, completing his first year as the USCCBs president, welcomes many of Bidens stances, including on immigration, racial justice and climate change. But some conservative bishops, noting the churchs strong opposition to abortion, were upset last week when Gomez congratulated Biden a fellow Catholic on his victory.

On Tuesday, as the USCCB ended the public portion of its two-day national meeting, Gomez departed from the official agenda to broach the issue.

We are facing a unique moment in our history, he said. The president-elect has given us reason to think he will support some good policies but also some that undermine our preeminent priority of the elimination of abortion.

These policies pose a serious threat to the common good, Gomez said. When politicians who profess the Catholic faith support them ... it creates confusion among the faithful about what the church actually teaches on these questions.

Gomez said he would form a working group to address the matter, headed by the USCCBs vice president, Detroit Archbishop Allen Vigneron.

There was no immediate response by Bidens transition team to an AP request for comment.