RICHARD A. SOKERKA
The news Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco announced May 19 that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) should not be admitted to Holy Communion in the Archdiocese of San Francisco, nor should she present herself to receive the Eucharist until she publicly repudiates her support for abortion, ricocheted off church bell towers nationwide.
Archbishop Cordileone said the step was “purely pastoral, not political” and came after Pelosi, who has described herself as a “devout Catholic,” repeatedly rebuffed his efforts to reach out to her to discuss her abortion advocacy. He explained that he issued the instruction in accordance with canon 915 of the Code of Canon Law, which states that “Those … obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to Holy Communion.”
In his letter to her, the archbishop wrote, “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 publicly repudiate your advocacy for the legitimacy of abortion and confess and receive absolution of this grave sin in the Sacrament of Penance.
The archbishop opened his letter by writing, “Pope Francis, as much as any pope in living memory, has repeatedly and vividly affirmed the Church’s clear and constant teaching that abortion is a grave moral evil.”
A few bishops immediately voiced their support for the action taken by the archbishop.
Bishop Robert Vasa of Santa Rosa, Calif., said that he spoke to the pastor of St. Helena Catholic Church in St. Helena, a parish that Pelosi attends on occasion. “I informed him that if the archbishop prohibited someone from receiving Holy Communion then that restriction follows the person and that the pastor was not free to ignore it,” he said.
Archbishop Samuel Aquila of Denver tweeted, “I support and commend my brother bishop, Archbishop Cordileone, for making this courageous, compassionate, and necessary decision.
Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas tweeted, “Thank you, Thank you, Thank you Archbishop Cordileone for loving Nancy Pelosi in the Truth of Jesus Christ!”
Bishop Donald Hying of Madison, Wisc. Said, “I fully support Archbishop Cordileone’s prudent decision to recognize that the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has persistently taken public positions in support of legal abortion, contrary to her professed Catholic faith, choosing to separate herself from full communion with the Catholic Church.”
In a separate letter to priests of the San Francisco Archdiocese, the archbishop insisted that his decision was “simply application of Church teaching,” describing repeated attempts to meet with Pelosi since 2021 when she sought to codify Roe v. Wade into U.S. law. He wrote again to the Speaker in April, “detailing the extreme position to which she has moved on the abortion question and explaining the scandal that it is causing and the danger to her own soul. I asked her to repudiate this position, or else refrain from referring to her Catholic faith in public and receiving Holy Communion. I also advised her that if she refused to do this, I would be forced to make a public announcement that she is not to be admitted to Holy Communion.”
He received no response, but contacted Pelosi again in May when she described herself as a “devout Catholic” while explaining why she supported abortion, in the wake of the leak of a draft opinion suggesting the Supreme Court could strike down Roe v. Wade.
“There is nothing more that can be done at this point to help the Speaker understand the seriousness of the evil her advocacy for abortion is perpetrating and the scandal she is causing,” he said.
Archbishop Cordileone has clearly drawn a line in the sand with this “devout Catholic” politician. Yet there are many more politicians, who claim to be “Catholic,” who follow in lockstep with Pelosi and the Democratic Party promoting what St. Pope John Paul II called “the culture of death.”
Barring Pelosi from presenting herself for Holy Communion, now begs the question: If her, why not President Joe Biden, who unapologetically supports abortion on demand until birth and wants to enshrine abortion into federal law, and all the other “Catholic” Democrats who have made this their top priority while denying the tenets of their faith?