House Speaker Nancy Pelosi attacked on Tuesday the Catholic archbishop who banned her from receiving Holy Communion in her home area.
What is the background?
Last Friday, San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone announced that he had barred Pelosi from receiving Holy Communion in the Archdiocese of San Francisco because of her increasingly “extreme” position on abortion.
The Catholic Church is staunchly pro-life, thus supporting abortion violates church teaching. The Catholic Church also holds that Holy Communion, one of the church’s most important sacraments, is reserved for baptized members. Members guilty of committing a “grave sin” (which includes abortion) are instructed to abstain from participating in communion until they undergo the sacrament of reconciliation.
What did Pelosi say?
During an interview on MSNBC, Pelosi parroted pro-abortion (and political, not theological) talking points, suggesting that Cordileone is yet another person who wants to clamp down on women’s rights.
“This is not just about terminating a pregnancy. So these same people are against contraception, family planning, in vitro fertilization — it’s a blanket thing, and they use abortion as the frontman for it while they try to undo so much,” Pelosi claimed.
The California Democrat then tried to pin the archbishop in hypocrisy over the death penalty.
“I wonder about the death penalty, which I’m opposed to. So is the church, but they take no actions against people who may not share their view,” she said.
Finally, she knocked Cordileone for opposing “LGBTQ rights.” The Catholic Church, of course, opposes gay marriage.
“Our archbishop has been vehemently against LGBTQ rights, too. In fact, he led the way in some of the initiatives— an initiative on the ballot in California,” she said. “So, this decision taking us to privacy and precedent is very dangerous in the lives of so many of the American people and not consistent with the Gospel of Matthew.”
Pelosi: Far Right Uses Abortion As A Cover For Other Things They Want To Accomplish
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What has Pope Francis said?
Pope Francis explained last September that participation in Holy Communion is reserved for Catholics “in the community,” but politicians who support abortion are “outside of the community.”