The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights' cautious support for Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan has sparked a fight among two member Catholic organizations.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops announced on Wednesday that it would withdraw from the Leadership Conference. Bishop William Murphy, chairman of the U.S. conference's Committee on Domestic Justice and Peace, explained in the press release that the interests of the two groups has "diverged" in recent years as "LCCR has moved beyond advocacy of traditional civil rights to advocacy of positions which do not reflect the principles and policies of the bishops' conference."

LCCR spokesman Jeff Miller said that while the group has "not yet issued a formal endorsement of her confirmation," they have "been generally supportive" of Kagan for the high court.

The progressive nonprofit Catholics United argued that the bishops' decision was inconsistent, since they did not criticize LCCR's endorsement of Sonia Sotomayor. Catholics United Executive Director Chris Korzen attributed the about-face to pressure from the Republican Party, particularly from a campaign led by former Bush political adviser Deal Hudson.

"A lot of these conservative groups are essentially bullying the Catholic bishops, and the bishops are unfortunately following their lead and crafting their public action in a way that supports these conservative groups' political agenda," Korzen told National Journal.com.

The U.S. Conference did not respond to requests for comment.