U.S. House Speaker Pelosi barred from Catholic communion over abortion
stance
Send a link to a friend
[May 21, 2022] By
Brad Brooks
(Reuters) - U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
can no longer take communion because she supports abortion rights and
also publicly invokes her Catholic faith, the archbishop of San
Francisco said in a letter released on Friday.
Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone said in an open letter addressed to
Pelosi and in another directed toward the faithful that "Pelosi's
position on abortion has become only more extreme over the years,
especially in the last few months."
Pelosi's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The archbishop's decision comes after the leak earlier this month of a
draft Supreme Court opinion indicating the top court would strike down
the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide.
Cordileone said Pelosi had not responded to his requests to meet in the
months since she pledged to codify abortion protections in federal law
after lawmakers in conservative states passed near total-bans on
abortions at the state level.
The archbishop said he sent Pelosi a private letter in April, warning
that he would bar her from communion unless she publicly repudiated her
support for abortion rights or stopped referring to her Catholic faith
in public.
[to top of second column]
|
![](../images/052122pics/news_t39.jpg)
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) speaks during her weekly news
conference with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., May
12, 2022. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/May/21/images/ads/current/graue_21BLAZER_081621.png)
Cordileone highlighted comments Pelosi made to the
Seattle Times editorial board this month, citing her Catholic faith
and support for abortion rights, then said: "They say to me, 'Nancy
Pelosi thinks she knows more about having babies than the Pope.' Yes
I do. Are you stupid?"
In his letter to the faithful, Cordileone wrote that "my action here
is purely pastoral, not political."
"Speaker Pelosi remains our sister in Christ," the archbishop wrote.
"Her advocacy for the care of the poor and vulnerable elicits my
admiration."
(Reporting by Brad Brooks in Lubbock, Texas; Additional Reporting by
Andy Sullivan in Washington; Editing by David Gregorio)
[© 2022 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |