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Pelosi Officially Denied Communion
Wow this is big. The Pillar, a Catholic news opinion site, reporting now: “Pelosi barred from Holy Communion over abortion advocacy.”
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is barred from receiving the Eucharist in the Archdiocese of San Francisco because of her efforts to codify federal protection for abortions, according to a May 20 statement from Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone.
Archbishop Cordileone, one of the conservative bishops for sure—one wonders how he got appointed to be over the archdiocese of San Francisco—has been admonishing Pelosi for a while. And ever since the leak about the Supreme Court’s decision to overthrow Roe v. Wade a few weeks ago, Pelosi and the left have gone on a rampage of full-throated support for all abortion rights. They even claim it’s a moral good to kill the innocent unborn and it’s within Catholic doctrine to allow abortion—a full out lie. Well, one would think Cordileone would have had enough. However, according to the news article, this had been brewing for a number of months.
In the May 19 notification published online, the archbishop recounted efforts to meet with Pelosi in recent months, noting that “I have not received…an accommodation to my many requests to speak with you again since you vowed to codify the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision in federal law, following upon passage of Texas Senate Bill 8 last September.”
“That is why I communicated my concerns to you via letter on April 7, 2022, and informed you there that, should you not publicly 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.”
This is an earthquake, both in the Catholic world and in political discourse. Can the denial of Holy Communion to other politicians who support abortion be far behind? I certainly hope more bishops will finally get their spine and follow suit. Here’s what the Archbishop wrote to Pelosi.
“I must make a public declaration that [Pelosi] is not to be admitted to Holy Communion unless and until she publicly repudiate her support for abortion ‘rights’ and confess and receive absolution for her cooperation in this evil in the sacrament of Penance. I have accordingly sent her a Notification to this effect, which I have now made public,” Cordileone wrote in a letter released Friday.
Three cheers to Cordileone, which translated from Italian means heart of a lion!
Published in Religion & Philosophy
Wow. Consequences for behavior. How unique!
In a back and forth under a Twitter post about this news release, someone commented that Pope Francis weighed in earlier, when people were suggesting Biden be withheld communion, that it was wrong. A reply mentioned that canon 915 overrules the Pope and the Cardinal is correct. I’m not Catholic but that seems to be right.
She’ll face much graver eternal consequences if she doesn’t repent, which is why this is an appropriate act of pastoral mercy by her bishop.
Who predicted the Archdiocese of SF would experience a preference cascade? What other dominos have Alito et al. knocked over?
Wow.
That’s amazing.
Doesn’t the Archbishop have a boss? Won’t the activist Left or the Catholics for Choice or someone else get to his boss and essentially veto his restriction or fire him as Archbishop? I don’t know how the hierarchy works in the Catholic Church.
Not a Catholic, so I don’t know how this works. Does the excommunication only apply in the Archdiocese of SF? Does the Archbishop of Washington DC have to issue the same discipline in his archdiocese to keep her from receiving there?
A bishop is the boss of his diocese. He’s appointed by the pope, and popes do occasionally “fire” bishops, though typically as a matter of form they offer their resignation which he then accepts. A bishop who refused to resign could be defrocked and/or excommunicated, but that generally only happens in cases of grave scandal, abuse, or heresy.
Now I doubt Pope Francis approves of this action, and it’s safe to predict Archbishop Cordileone won’t be getting a cardinal’s hat under this pontificate, but I’d be very surprised if he were fired over this.
In the footsteps of Blessed Fr. Fulton Sheen and Blessed Fr. Emil Kapaun, “Take courage and be a man.”
“Challenging them.” So you mean there’s more to being a good priest than welcoming everyone and telling us to be nice people? Imagine that!
Don’t forget donuts one a month.
The bishop is pretty autonomous on issues in their diocese. He can only reprimanded for violating Catholic doctrine or for corruption or I guess doing something illegal. Now the pope may not make him a cardinal for whatever reason. That’s about the only ramifications.
Yes, unfortunately. But I’m hoping other bishops pick up the ball. A good number of them want to do this. They seem to be convinced of the argument that it could make matters worse. After all a fair amount of Catholics are pro-abortion.
Does this decree only apply in the SF diocese? What about Washington DC?
Yes, only his diocese.
Thanks Manny!
She isn’t the only one sideways with their Bishop. Sen. Durban has been denied communion in Springfield for close to 20 years –
https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2021/11/08/dick-durbin-denied-communion-abortion-241795
so he goes to Church in Chicago or DC where the presiding Bishop is more accommodating
Somehow I doubt that Dick Durbin believes in the Real Presence. I wonder whether Cupich or Wilton Gregory do, either.
The Bishop of Springfield, Thomas Patrick, is a really good bishop. There are some out there.
If one is intent on going to hell, what is the purpose of communion.
Finally!
Still, I have some qualms about the idea and I’m not even Catholic. However, I have many Catholic friends. Most of them support the death penalty, which I believe goes against Catholic teaching. Should they be denied communion too?
No for multiple reasons. One is that the death penalty is a punishment enacted by the State after due process. While the Catholic faith holds that it is wrong to take life, even as the State, that is not a personal action. Abortion is different because it is a personal action. It’s not the State taking the life of a convicted person for a crime, but an individual taking an innocent life. This is why the Church has long considered abortion to be an inherent evil, because it takes innocent life and contributes to the devaluation of life. It’s why the Church opposes euthanasia as it has a similar effect.
Next it is a matter of scale. In the US there are very few executions per year, but there are thousands of abortions every day. Frankly most pro-death penalty Catholics would happily trade the elimination of the death penalty for the elimination of abortion.
She’s kind of made it a point to mention her Catholic faith while defending abortion in the same breath. I’m not Catholic, but I can see how that would be more of an issue than quietly not agreeing with the church.
Catholic dogma technically allows for capital punishment. The current Catechism tap dances around this by stating that the church doesn’t recognize any need for a government to do so. But acknowledging its validity is dogma, not policy, and not even the Pope can outright change it. Supporting capital punishment is not an intrinsic evil. It is a policy difference, like the question of married priests. (The RC Church allows married priests in some of its branches.)
The key is guilt. A duly and honestly convicted criminal, of a suitably heinous crime, is not an innocent. An unborn child is as innocent as it is possible for any normal human to be.
She hasn’t been excommunicated. She’s only been told to not receive Holy Communion – which no Catholic should do if they are in a state of serious sin. It’s a disciplinary step. Excommunication would be down the road if she doesn’t repent and continues to publicly and officially support abortion.
Stad (View Comment):
A) she isn’t excommunicated-no Catholic should go to communion while in the state of serious mortal sin. Once she sincerely repents & receives absolution thru the sacrament of penance she can, once again, validly receive the blessed sacrament. The Bishop is acting properly to try to save her soul.
B)Opposition to the death penalty isn’t a dogma of the faith- unlike opposition to abortion. Pope Francis said it was “inadmissible” which isn’t the same as intrinsically immoral. Inadmissible is non standard verbiage in Catholic doctrine.
https://www.usccb.org/resources/churchs-anti-death-penalty-position
She has been banned from the most important sacrament in the Church, Holy Communion. What is excommunication, if not that? Her baptism cannot be rescinded, so she is still Christian (as I understand Catholic doctrine).
To be seen by others engaging in the appearances of righteousness.
Pretty sure the definition of excommunication is being denied communion, hence the name. It doesn’t mean you can’t go to church, or aren’t considered a catholic.
Reconciliation & last rites are still there to save her soul….
Yes, as I understand it Confession, Absolution, and Penance are available to the excommunicated, since that’s the way to restore communion with the Church. Doesn’t mean she’s not excommunicated (at least in the Archdiocese of San Francisco).