House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is addressing San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone’s decision to prevent her from receiving communion over her pro-choice stance.
During an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” Tuesday, Pelosi was asked about the move.
“Let’s just say that 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,” the California Democrat said.
She continued, “Thank you for referencing the Gospel of Matthew, which is sort of the agenda of the church that is rejected by many who side with them on terminating a pregnancy. So we just have to be prayerful, we have to be respectful. 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.”
“Now, our archbishop has been vehemently against LGBTQ rights,” she added.
The Catholic Church is opposed to the death penalty, and Pope Francis stated in 2018, “The Church is firmly committed to calling for its abolition worldwide.”
Watch the video below:
NEW: Asked on MSNBC’s Morning Joe just now about the San Francisco archbishop’s decision to bar Nancy Pelosi from Communion, the Speaker invokes Matthew 25, notes bishops haven’t barred from Communion lawmakers who back the death penalty, which is also condemned by the church. pic.twitter.com/uS5nat1eMI
— Jack Jenkins (@jackmjenkins) May 24, 2022
Pelosi’s comments come after Cordileone barred her from receiving communion in the archdiocese.
In a letter to the California Democrat, the archbishop wrote, “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).”
He explained, “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,” he continued.
Cordileone went on:
“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.”
Pelosi has described herself as a devout Catholic. However, she has voice support for abortion access.
Last year, Pope Francis reiterated the Catholic Church’s view that “abortion is murder,” according to the Catholic News Agency.
President Joe Biden, who is also Catholic and supports abortion access, told reporters that the pope told him he should still take communion.
