SAN FRANCISCO - San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone said Friday that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is barred from receiving Holy Communion over her support for abortion rights.Cordileone said in a letter to the California Democrat that she won't be admitted to Holy Communion at Mass.
The archbishop said Pelosi ignored his warning in April to either repudiate her advocacy for abortion rights or refrain from using her religion to justify her stance."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 wrote.He added, "Therefore, in light of my responsibility as the Archbishop of San Francisco to be ‘concerned for all the Christian faithful entrusted to [my] care’ ...
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."On May 5, Pelosi spoke with reporters on Capitol Hill about a leaked draft opinion by the US Supreme Court, which suggested Roe v.
Wade would soon be overturned. "It's very damaging. It does violence to the constitution and violence to woman across the country," said Pelosi.Friday, anti-abortion group, the American Life League, released a statement calling the San Francisco Archbishop's decision courageous, in defense of "the faithful" and "innocent human life." Meanwhile, Democratic State Senator, Scott Wiener, condemned the move.