Addressing news that the archbishop of San Francisco has barred her from receiving Communion, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that while she respects individuals who hold a distinct view on abortion rights than her own, she doesn’t respect their efforts in imposing those views onto others.
“I come from a largely pro-life, Italian-American Catholic family, so I respect people’s views about that, but I don’t respect us foisting it onto others,” Ms. Pelosi said during an interview on “Morning Joe.”
Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone issued a press release last Friday and granted an interview with Gloria Purvis, host of America Media’s “The Gloria Purvis Podcast,” about his decision to bar Speaker Pelosi from Communion. Along with a letter he sent to Ms. Pelosi, which he made public, the archbishop also released a letter to “the faithful” and to priests within the archdiocese.
“I come from a largely pro-life, Italian-American Catholic family, so I respect people’s views about that, but I don’t respect us foisting it onto others,” Ms. Pelosi said on Tuesday.
The archbishop’s restriction covers churches within the Archdiocese of San Francisco, but on Sunday, Speaker Pelosi attended Mass in Washington, D.C., and received Communion, in keeping with Politico. The church she attended over the weekend, Holy Trinity, is a Jesuit parish that President Biden sometimes frequents when he spends the weekend in Washington.
The archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Wilton Gregory, has previously said he wouldn’t deny Communion to President Biden, one other Catholic political leader who supports legal abortion. The pastor of Holy Trinity said last yr that he supported Cardinal Gregory’s approach to the difficulty of Communion for political leaders. The cardinal’s office has indicated that he wouldn’t be commenting on the controversy involving Speaker Pelosi.
Ms. Pelosi ceaselessly cites her Catholic faith as motivating her politics, but her support for legal abortion has put her at odds with church teaching. Still, last yr she met with Pope Francis during a non-public audience in Rome. For his part, the pope has urged bishops to not politicize the Eucharist and said he has never denied anyone Communion.
During Monday’s interview, the mother of 5 and grandmother of nine asked why other politicians who take political stances against church teaching haven’t been targeted with similar restrictions.
“I ponder in regards to the death penalty, which I’m against—so is the church—but they take no motion against individuals who may not share their view,” Ms. Pelosi said.
She said that anti-abortion activists are also searching for to overturn other rights, similar to access to contraception and same-sex marriage.
A handful of bishops who’ve expressed support for barring pro-choice politicians from Communion praised Archbishop Cordileone’s statement.
Archbishop Cordileone previously called for U.S. bishops to adopt a document that might lay the muse to ban Catholic politicians who support legal abortion, including President Biden, from Communion. The bishops ultimately adopted a document that didn’t explicitly say political leaders who support abortion cannot receive Communion.
A handful of bishops who’ve expressed support for barring pro-choice politicians from Communion praised Archbishop Cordileone’s statement.
“I fully support each the pastoral and courageous actions that Archbishop Cordileone has now taken in an effort to awaken Speaker Pelosi’s conscience and at the identical time to guard Catholics within the Archdiocese of San Francisco and throughout the country from being confused by Speaker Pelosi’s radical support for abortion, while claiming to be a faithful Catholic,” Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City, Kan., and a former head of the U.S. bishops pro-life committee, said in a press release.
Other Catholics anxious that Archbishop Cordileone’s actions politicize the church.
“[It] is hypocritical of bishops to selectively dole out punishment, especially by withholding what we Catholics consider is the actual body of Christ,” John Gehring wrote at Religion News Service. “This hypocrisy undermines the church’s integrity and sends a message that the hierarchy is a mere political interest group.”
