House Speaker Nancy Pelosi actively defied the notice given to her by the archbishop of San Francisco, barring her from receiving communion due to her support of abortion.
Politico reported that Pelosi was seen taking communion during the 9 a.m. Mass at Holy Trinity in Georgetown soon after the notice.
A public notification letter that had been sent to the House Speaker by Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone announced that she may no longer receive communion.
“As you have not publicly 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,” Cordileone said.
“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 letter stated.
After receiving the letter, Pelosi expressed her grievances on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
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
“I wonder about the death penalty, which I am opposed to,” she said. “So is the church, but they take no action against people who may not share their view.”
In response to this position, many anti-abortion Catholics have asserted that while a baby is innocent, the death penalty is meant for the most egregious dangerous criminals.
“What is important for women to know, and families to know, [is] that this is not just about terminating a pregnancy,” Pelosi continued. “Some of these same people are against contraception, family planning, in-vitro fertilization. It’s a blanket thing, and they use abortion as the front-man for it while they try to undo so much.”
“For public sentiment to weigh in, people have to know,” Pelosi continued. “Women have to know how pervasive this is.”
The decision on overturning Roe v. Wade is set to be announced by the end of June by the Supreme Court.
Cordileone had previously publicly spoke out about Pelosi’s abortion views, which the speaker downplayed his comments as having a “disagreement” about the issue.
“I believe that God has given us a free will to honor our responsibilities,” Pelosi stated in response.
Fox News reported on how Pelosi made claims that “as a devout, practicing Catholic,” the Church has “not been able to make that definition” of when life begins during a 2008 interview. This comment caused a lot of controversy and criticism from many top US bishops, to which she responded stating “the point is, it shouldn’t have an impact on the woman’s right to choose.”
Interestingly enough, Pelosi had also stated she wanted abortion to be “rare” during that interview, which is exceedingly different as compared to the present day Democrat Party’s position.
In the same year, Pelosi was questioned on the possibility of being denied communion on C-SPAN’s “Q & A.”
“I think some of it is regional. It depends on the bishop of a certain region and fortunately for me, communion has not been withheld, and I’m a regular communicant so that would be a severe blow to me if that were the case,” Pelosi said.
