Last updated on May 23rd, 2022 at 08:36 am
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who holds herself out as a “devout Catholic,” is an ardent and enthusiastic supporter of abortion, in clear violation of Church teaching on the issue. Indeed, from the very beginning Christianity has been opposed to abortion. In the earliest written catechism (or teaching) of Christianity, The Didache, written in the first century A.D., the anonymous author declared:
“And the second commandment of the Teaching; You shall not commit murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not commit sodomy, you shall not commit fornication, you shall not steal, you shall not practice magic, you shall not practice witchcraft, you shall not murder a child by abortion nor kill that which is born….” (Emphasis added.)
Speaker Pelosi’s bishop, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco, repeatedly spoke with her, both in person and in writing, reminding her of the Church’s teaching on abortion and urging her to end her support for it. If she failed to do so, he said he would be forced to bar her from taking Holy Communion, which Catholics believe is the Body and Blood of Christ. Archbishop Cordileone in 2021 even led a “Rose and Rosary for Nancy” campaign where he asked Catholics to:
“[p]lease join me in praying the rosary and fasting for a conversion of Speaker Pelosi’s maternal heart to embracing the goodness and dignity of human life not only after birth, but in the womb as well.”
After Pelosi refused to alter her steadfast support for abortion, Archbishop Cordileone on May 19, 2022, officially barred her from Holy Communion.
Archbishop Cordileoni opens his letter to Pelosi notifying her of the bar by reiterating the Church teaching on abortion:
“The Second Vatican Council, in its Decree on the Church in the Modem World, Gaudium et spes, reiterated the Church’s ancient and consistent teaching that ‘from the first moment of conception life must be guarded with the greatest care while abortion and infanticide are unspeakable crimes’ (n. 51). Christians have, indeed, always upheld the dignity of human life in every stage, especially the most vulnerable, beginning with life in the womb. His Holiness, Pope Francis, in keeping with his predecessors, has likewise been quite clear and emphatic in teaching on the dignity of human life in the womb.”
Cordileone then notes that Catholics, especially politicians, have a duty to act in accordance with this teaching:
“This fundamental moral truth [on abortion] has consequences for Catholics in how they live their lives, especially those entrusted with promoting and protecting the public good of society. Pope St. John Paul II was also quite consistent in upholding this constant teaching of the Church, and frequently reminded us that ‘those who are directly involved in lawmaking bodies have a ‘grave and clear obligation to oppose’ any law that attacks human life. For them, as for every Catholic, it is impossible to promote such laws or to vote for them….’”
Should a Catholic politician support abortion, Cordileone writes, Holy Communion must be denied to him or her:
“A Catholic legislator who supports procured abortion, after knowing the teaching of the Church, commits a manifestly grave sin which is a cause of most serious scandal to others. Therefore, universal Church law provides that such persons ‘are not to be admitted to Holy Communion’ (Code of Canon Law, can. 915).”
The archbishop then cites the process laid out by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (the future Pope Benedict XVI), then the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, on how a bishop should deal with Catholic politicians who support abortion:
“’… when a person‘s formal cooperation becomes manifest (understood, in the case of a Catholic politician, as his consistently campaigning and voting for permissive abortion and euthanasia laws), his Pastor should meet with him, instructing him about the Church’s teaching, informing him that he is not to present himself for Holy Communion until he brings to an end the objective situation of sin, and warning him that he will otherwise be denied the Eucharist. When ‘these precautionary measures have not had their effect … ,’ and the person in question, with obstinate persistence, still presents himself to receive the Holy Eucharist, ‘the minister of Holy Communion must refuse to distribute it.’”
Archbishop Cordileone states that he faithfully followed this process by explaining to Speaker Pelosi on several different occasions the position of the Catholic Church on abortion and warned her that she would be denied Holy Communion if she did not change her stance. In his last communication with her, in a letter dated April 7, 2022, Cordileone told Pelosi that:
“should you not publicly repudiate your advocacy for abortion ‘rights’ or else refrain from referring to your Catholic faith in public and receiving Holy Communion, I would have no choice but to make a declaration, in keeping with canon 915, that you are not to be admitted to Holy Communion.”
After Pelosi arrogantly refused to change her position on abortion, Archbishop Cordileone had only option open to him:
“As you have not publicly repudiated your position on abortion, and continue to refer to your Catholic faith in justifying your position and to receive Holy Communion, that time has now come. Therefore, in light of my responsibility as the Archbishop of San Francisco to be ‘concerned for all the Christian faithful entrusted to [my] care’ (Code of Canon Law, can. 383, §1), by means of this communication I am hereby notifying you that you are not to present yourself for Holy Communion and, should you do so, you are not to be admitted to Holy Communion, until such time as you publicly repudiate your advocacy for the legitimacy of abortion and confess and receive absolution of this grave sin in the sacrament of Penance. (Emphasis in the original.)
Cordileone said that he was “ready to continue our conversation at any time, and will continue to offer up prayer and fasting for you.”
He ended his letter by telling Pelosi that he was asking all the faithful in his diocese to pray for all Catholic politicians who support abortion so “that with the help and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, they may undergo a conversion of heart in this most grave matter and human life may be protected and fostered in every stage and condition of life.”
So there you have it. “Devoutly Catholic” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was repeatedly told by her bishop the position of the Catholic Church on abortion and was warned that should she continue to support abortion she would be denied Holy Communion. And when she blatantly refused to change her position, her bishop officially barred her from Holy Communion. Let’s hope that more Catholic bishops across the country and world will take courage from Archbishop Cordileone and likewise bar from Holy Communion politicians who oppose a culture of life.
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