Abortion violates Catholic canon 915, which says anyone who persists in "manifest grave sin" cannot and should not present themselves for communion – and, in fact, they ought to be denied participation. Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone has written a letter to that effect to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who describes herself as a "devout Catholic" yet claims abortion is sacred to her.
Cordileone's letter to Pelosi states, in part:
"[After you vowed to codify Roe v. Wade in federal law], I communicated my concerns to you via letter on April 7, 2022, and informed you there that, should you not publically [sic] 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."
UPDATE ...House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pushed back Tuesday on the decision by San Francisco's conservative Catholic archbishop to deny her Communion over her support of abortion rights, saying she respects that people have opposing views but not when they impose them on others. More details... |
In a follow-up report from Fox News, the archbishop shared that Pelosi and he had spoken "a couple of times" over the years – but "more recently, her advocacy for codifying the Roe decision [is] becoming more and more extreme and more and more aggressive."
Hugh Brown of American Life League tells AFN that Cordileone's stance and statements should be an example to other bishops who provide communion regardless.
"The example that we've had for the last multiple decades is an example of cowardice," says Brown. "I can't tell you how many Catholic supporters of the American Life League who I talk to have been frustrated and distraught over the last 30-plus years because the bishops won't do their job. It isn't rocket science."
Brown stresses there are no "liberal" or "conservative" labels applicable the Roman Catholic Church – only "faithful."
"Those [other] labels are created by people who disagree with something," he argues. "If you disagree with it, leave – you don't have to be Catholic. No one's putting a gun to anyone's head. If you disagree with the church's teachings on abortion, contraception, marriage … you know what? There's the door."
According to the ALL spokesman, American Life League has been working for decades for action to be taken against Pelosi. "And now she's being held accountable, 50 years later. It's about time, and we support him entirely," Brown adds.
The archbishop told Fox News that Pelosi's outspoken advocacy for abortion is a "scandal" – "an action that would lead others into error or into sin." And her advocating for something "as evil as abortion" and continuing to take communion, he explained, "creates confusion" among people and causes them to think it's acceptable for a Catholic to believe it's okay.
