Archbishop of San Francisco BANS Nancy Pelosi from entering communion
Archbishop of San Francisco BANS ‘devout Catholic’ Nancy Pelosi from receiving communion because of her vote to codify Roe v. Wade and support for abortion
- Archbishop of San Francisco Salvatore Cordileone publicly released the letter he sent to the House Speaker on Friday
- ‘A Catholic legislator who supports procured abortion… commits a manifestly grave sin,’ he wrote
- Cordileone said he has contacted Pelosi numerous times to ‘help her understand the grave evil she is perpetrating’
- Cordileone insisted that the decision was ‘pastoral’ and not ‘political
- The Catechism of the Catholic Church calls abortion ‘evil’ and the teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable’
- In 2008, Pelosi said that being denied communion would be a ‘blow’
Archbishop of San Francisco Salvatore Cordileone has barred Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi from the Holy Communion after she voted to codify Roe. V Wade.
Cordileone said in a statement on Friday that Pelosi will not be admitted to Holy Communion in the Archdiocese of San Francisco, and cannot present herself to receive the Eucharist, until she backs away from her support for abortion.
It is the latest development following the leak of the Roe v. Wade draft abortion decision earlier this month and the latest bid by the church to hit back at liberal politicians who say they are Catholic but back terminations.
President Joe Biden, who describes himself as a devout Catholic and regularly attends mass, has also been threatened with being barred from communion because of his pro-choice stance.
Conservative catholic bishops have said neither him nor Pelosi should be allowed to receive communion.
‘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,’ Cordileone says in the letter.
Archbishop of San Francisco Salvatore Cordileone has barred Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi from the Holy Communion after she voted to codify Roe. V Wade
‘After numerous attempts to speak with her (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 the point has come in which I must make a public declaration that she is not to be admitted to Holy Communion unless and until she publicly repudiate her support for abortion ‘rights’ and confess and receive absolution for her cooperation in this evil in the sacrament of Penance,’ he adds.
‘Therefore, universal Church law provides that such persons ‘are not to be admitted to Holy Communion.
Cordileone insisted that the decision was ‘pastoral’ and not ‘political’. DailyMail.com has reached out to Pelosi’s office for comment.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church calls abortion ‘evil’ and the teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable’.
Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law,’ it says, before calling abortion and infanticide ‘abominable crimes.’
Pelosi, who has five children, was pressed on abortion after the Roe v. Wade opinion leaked to Politico and sent shockwaves across the country.
Last month she said: ‘This [topic] really gets me burned up in case you didn’t notice, because again I’m very Catholic, devout, practicing, all of that.
‘They would like to throw me out. But I’m not going because I don’t want to make their day.’
In a 2008 interview with C-SPAN, Pelosi said being denied Communion would be ‘a severe blow, the Catholic News Agency reported.
She added that the Church has ‘not been able to make that definition’ of where life begins. Pelosi also added that abortion should be ‘rare’, but it ‘shouldn’t impact on a woman’s right to choose’.
Pelosi has only been barred from communion in San Francisco, and it is up to Catholic bishops in other parts of the country whether she be allowed.
Biden threw his weight behind a woman’s right to choose during his presidential campaign in 2020, saying it is ‘fundamental’.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has rebuked Biden over his stance on abortion.
But he has continued to attend mass after Pope Francis told him in October 2021 during a meeting in Rome that he could continue to take the holy sacrament.
Pelosi also met Pope Francis in October.
After the Roe v. Wade leak, Biden doubled-down on his belief that women have a ‘fundamental’ right to an abortion and called on American voters to ‘elect pro-choice officials this November’.
He also warned that other ‘fundamental’ rights for Americans – such as same-sex marriage – could be at risk if the Supreme Court overturns Roe.
Cordileone said in a statement on Friday that she will not be admitted to Holy Communion in the Archdiocese of San Francisco, and cannot present herself to receive the Eucharist, until she backs away from her support for abortion
Nancy Pelosi met Pope Francis during a trip to the Vatican in October 2021. She has said in the past that being denied communion would be a ‘blow’
In June, Catholic bishops ignored a pointed Vatican attempt to find unity over abortion by approving the drafting of a ‘teaching document’ for Catholic politicians who support abortion.
Cardinal Luis Ladaria, the prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican’s theological watchdog, has tried to intervene in the rebuke from US bishops.
He wrote to the Conference of Catholic Bishops last year saying it would be ‘misleading’ to suggest abortion and euthanasia were ‘the only grave matters of Catholic moral and social teaching’ that require ‘the fullest level of accountability on the part of Catholics.’
In so doing, he signaled how the liberal Catholicism of Pope Francis – with a focus on poverty, racial inequality, climate change – is increasingly at odds with the U.S. Church.
Brian Church, the president of CatholicVote, a conservative non-profit advocacy group, told DailyMail.com in a statement: ‘Catholics across America commend Archbishop Cordileone and his pastoral leadership in handling the scandal posed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
‘For too long Catholic public officials have created confusion and disunity by advocating for policies that destroy innocent human life – in direct contradiction of the teachings of the Catholic faith.
‘The persistent disobedience of these public officials is a source of enormous sadness and scandal that begged for a response.
‘The Church has no choice but to protect itself and to encourage all of its members to live in communion with its teachings. For the sake of Speaker Pelosi and the rest of the flock in his charge, Archbishop Cordileone is right to call her to return to full communion with the Church. We hope and pray she will do so.’
‘You are not to be admitted to Holy Communion’: Archbishop Cordileone’s letter to Nancy Pelosi in full
The Second Vatican Council, in its Decree on the Church in the Modern 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.
This fundamental moral truth 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’ (cf. Doctrinal Note on some questions regarding the participation of Catholics in political life [November 24, 2002], n. 4, §1). 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).
With regard to the application of these principles to Catholics in political life, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, wrote to the U.S. bishops in 2004 explaining the approach to be taken:
In striving to follow this direction, I am grateful to you for the time you have given me in the past to speak about these matters.
Unfortunately, I have not received such an accommodation to my many requests to speak with you again since you vowed to codify the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision in federal law following upon passage of Texas Senate Bill 8 last September.
That is why I communicated my concerns to you via letter on April 7, 2022, and informed you there that, should you not publically 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.
As you have not publically 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 publically repudiate your advocacy for the legitimacy of abortion and confess and receive absolution of this grave sin in the sacrament of Penance.
Please know that I stand ready to continue our conversation at any time, and will continue to offer up prayer and fasting for you.
I also ask all of the faithful of the Archdiocese of San Francisco to pray for all of our legislators, especially Catholic legislators who promote procured abortion, 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.
Given at San Francisco, on the nineteenth day of May, in the Year of our Lord 2022.
Biden press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre tears into Oklahoma’s ‘extreme’, ‘absurd’ and ‘ultra MAGA’ law that bans abortions at fertilization – and says contraception and same-sex marriage are next
President Joe Biden’s press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre released a blistering statement on Thursday night calling Oklahoma;s new abortion ban ‘absurd’, ‘extreme’ and part of the ‘ultra-MAGA’ movement to ‘roll back the freedoms we should not take for granted in this country’
The White House has unleashed dury at Oklahoma’s new abortion bill that bans terminations at the fertilization.
President Joe Biden’s press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre released a blistering statement on Thursday night calling the new legislation ‘absurd’, ‘extreme’ and part of the ‘ultra-MAGA’ movement to ‘roll back the freedoms we should not take for granted in this country’.
She also said other ‘fundamental rights’ such as contraceptives and same-sex marriage are at risk in her response sent out just before Biden landed in South Korea.
It comes as the administration throws its weight behind protecting reproductive rights after the leak of the Roe v. Wade draft which suggests the landmark ruling will be overturned.
‘The President believes that women have the fundamental right to make their own reproductive health choices,’ Jean-Pierre said.
She added that the Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade ‘has been the law of the land for almost 50 years, and basic fairness and the stability of our law demand that it not be overturned’.
‘Today’s action by the Oklahoma legislature is the most extreme effort to undo these fundamental rights we have seen to date,’ the press secretary said. ‘In addition, it adopts Texas’ absurd plan to allow private citizens to sue their neighbors for providing reproductive health care and helping women to exercise their constitutional rights’.
‘This is part of a growing effort by ultra MAGA officials across the country to roll back the freedoms we should not take for granted in this country,’ Jean-Pierre added.
Republicans ‘are starting with reproductive rights, but the American people need to know that other fundamental rights, including the right to contraception and marriage equality, are at risk’, she also said on the first day of the President’s trip to Asia.
The bill was given final approval by the state’s conservative-majority legislature on Thursday, and is now headed to GOP Governor Kevin Stitt. He has already indicated he will sign it.
It comes on the heels of a leaked draft opinion from the U.S. Supreme Court that suggests justices are considering weakening or overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nearly 50 years ago.
The bill by Collinsville Republican Rep. Wendi Stearman would prohibit all abortions, except to save the life of a pregnant woman or if the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest that has been reported to law enforcement.
There are 18 states that have near-total bans on their books, while four more have time-limit bans and four others are likely to pass new bans if Roe is overturned
She defended it by saying that pro-choice arguments are so cruel it may as well be legal to abort children up until the age of 18.
Addressing the legislature Thursday, Stearman said: ‘It would solve many problems. Think of the disruptions in school.’
Vice President Kamala Harris was among those who condemned the new bill, branding it ‘outrageous.’
News of the bill sparked panic among women who feared they’d no longer be able to use popular methods of contraception including IUDs, or Plan B.
It is taken up to 72 hours after a sexual encounter which may have resulted in a pregnancy, meaning any woman who took the pill may be carrying a fertilized egg.
But Oklahoma lawmakers have insisted that Plan B has not been banned. Couples trying for a baby also feared the law outlawed IVF, but lawmakers say that is not the case.
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