Ultraconservative San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone bars Speaker Nancy Pelosi from communion over her vocal support for abortion rights.
In a letter Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone wrote on Friday, he declared that Pelosi would not be permitted to receive communion in his archdiocese because of her abortion stance, calling it a “grave evil.”
He also confronted the House Speaker that she will also be banned from the sacrament, a central element of Catholic worship until she was willing to “publicly repudiate” her position defending the “legitimacy of abortion.”
“After numerous attempts to speak with Speaker Pelosi to help her understand the grave evil she is perpetrating, the scandal she is causing” and “the danger to her own soul she is risking, I have determined that she is not to be admitted to Holy Communion,” Archbishop Cordileone said on Friday.
Moreover, when asked to comment, Pelosi’s spokesman who is also practicing Catholic and often mentions the house speaker’s faith in advocating for her progressive views, rejected the request.
In 2008, Nancy Pelosi described herself as a “regular communicant” during an interview with C-SPAN. Pelosi also stated previously that if she were ever denied communion, “that would be a severe blow to me.”
The Catholic church has been vocally criticizing the abortion campaign. According to the church, it is among the gravest sins.
Last Summer, following Pelosi’s remarks, referring to herself as a “devout Catholic” in a news conference where she also expressed her support, allowing federal funding of abortions, Archbishop Cordileone criticized the House speaker.
“No one can claim to be a devout Catholic and condone the killing of innocent human life, let alone have the government pay for it,” the Archbishop said in the statement.
He also called for US President Joe Biden to be barred from receiving communion over his support for abortion rights. However, the effort failed after Cardinal Wilton Gregory of Washington declared that “he would not bar the president from receiving communion.”
Meanwhile, following Archbishop Cordileone’s attempt, the Vatican warned against denying communion to politicians who support abortion rights. According to Pope Francis, communion “is not the reward of saints, but the bread of sinners.”
However, despite the Pope’s warning, several American bishops have pushed forward anyway.
According to Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, Biden is a “threat to the church, given his endorsement of policies that advance moral evils and threaten human life and dignity, most seriously in the areas of abortion, contraception, marriage and gender.”
Furthermore, other Bishops have also supported Archbishop Cordileone’s attempt.
“I support Archbishop Cordileone in his courageous pastoral outreach to a member of his flock,” Bishop James D. Conley of the Diocese of Lincoln, Neb., said on Twitter.
Previously, Nancy Pelosi discussed her position in support of abortion rights.
“I come to this as a Catholic mother of five in six years and one week, and with the joy that all that meant to us. But with the recognition that it was my husband and I — our decision. It was our decision. And we should not, in this body or in that court, be making decisions for the women in America.” Pelosi said.
“They would like to throw me out, but I’m not going, because I don’t want to make their day,” she added.
