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Last Friday, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco barred House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, from receiving Holy Communion if she did not publicly renounce her position on the contentious topic of abortion.
Pelosi responded on MSNBC's Morning Joe on Tuesday: "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 on to others."
This is the same excuse devout Catholic President Biden uses for his dual belief system.
However this time their Church is unwilling to conform to their hypocrisy.
Be informed, not misled.
The letter.
Archbishop Cordileon's letter to Nancy Pelsoi was direct and to the point.
He began:
To the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States Congress Nancy Pelosi
The Second Vatican Council, in its Decree on the Church in the Modem World, Gaudium et spes, reiterated the Church's ancient and consistent teaching that “from the first moment of conception life must be guarded with the greatest care while abortion and infanticide are unspeakable crimes” (n. 51). Christians have, indeed, always upheld the dignity of human life in every stage, especially the most vulnerable, beginning with life in the womb. His Holiness, Pope Francis, in keeping with his predecessors, has likewise been quite clear and emphatic in teaching on the dignity of human life in the womb.
Archbishop Cordileon continued through a long list of times the Catholic Church has affirmed, and reaffirmed its position on the sanctity of life.
Then he said this:
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. 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 reaction.
The reaction to the Cordileon's letter was as expected from Nancy Pelosi.
The Sacramento Bee was the first to attempt to sting the Archbishop and the Catholic Church.
The Bee published an article with this headline: "No Jesus For Nancy Pelosi?"
Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone claims that barring Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi from receiving communion in her home diocese of San Francisco has nothing to do with politics. Which is a silly thing to say, since no one who would believe him needs to hear it, and no one who wouldn’t will be at all persuaded by it.
No Jesus for Nancy, Cordileone announced last week, on account of her support for abortion rights. Only if this is, as the archbishop and others insist, a purely pastoral act of love and compassion — a charity, really, intended to save her soul and others — then, as Fordham University’s David Gibson asks, “My question is why these bishops don’t love Republicans as much as they love Democrats.”
Meanwhile, Nancy ran straight to the cameras.
She told MSNBC, "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 views. 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 on to others."
Pelosi continued, "Our archbishop has been vehemently against LGBTQ rights, too. In fact, he led the way in some of the initiatives — an initiative on the ballot in California" [a possible reference to Cordileone's support of California's Proposition 8]. So, this decision taking us to privacy and precedent is very dangerous in the lives of so many of the American people and not consistent with the Gospel of Matthew."
Speaking of inconsistencies, how is it that Pelosi, Biden, and others on the far Left can hold one belief personally while advocating to advance a competing belief? And they're not all Catholics.
Protestant Vice President Harris also claims a dual belief---holding that she embraces the teaching of Scripture while denying the sanctity of life and advocating for abortion?
A flurry of U.S. bishops have rallied behind San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, who has barred Nancy Pelosi from receiving Holy Communion because of her aggressive abortion advocacy.
As of May 23, at least 13 U.S. bishops have made public statements praising and thanking Archbishop Cordileone for the move, which was variously described as “courageous,” “heroic,” and “compassionate.”
Lincoln Bishop James Conley says he supports Archbishop Cordileone “in his courageous pastoral outreach to a member of his flock. His actions are made as a shepherd with the heart of Christ.”
“We fervently pray for a conversion of heart for Speaker Pelosi and for all those who advocate for the destruction of human life in the womb,” Bishop Conley continued. “Let us pray that all people recognize the dignity of every human soul: man, woman and child, born and unborn.”
Madison Bishop Donald Hying said he backs the archbishop’s “prudent decision” to recognize that Speaker Pelosi “has persistently taken public positions in support of legal abortion, contrary to her professed Catholic faith, choosing to separate herself from full communion with the Catholic Church, and therefore is not to present herself for the reception of Holy Communion in the Archdiocese of San Francisco.”
Green Bay Bishop David Ricken offered his “strong support” for Archbishop Cordileone’s decision that Nancy Pelosi not be admitted to Holy Communion.
“Speaker Pelosi’s aggressive promotion of abortion and blatant public disregard for Church teaching has consequences. In many ways, she has made this choice herself through her words and actions,” Bishop Ricken added.
These men and others like them are holding true to Scripture on the issue of abortion---the sanctity of life.
Pope Francis has said, "the reason for the Catholic Church’s steadfastness on the matter of abortion is because it is murder.”
Regarding abortion, “it is more than a problem, it is a murder,” Francis said, and “whoever performs an abortion kills, any way you look at it.”
“Pick up any embryology textbook for medical students,” the pontiff continued. “By the third week after conception, all the organs are already there, all of them, even the DNA … It’s a human life!”
“This human life must be respected, this principle is so clear!” he added.
“This is why the Church is so hard on this issue because if it accepts this it is as if it accepts daily murder,” he said.
But not all Catholics are in agreement with their Church or their Pope.
Over the weekend, Nancy Pelosi received the Eucharist at a Catholic Church in Washington DC where the archbishop said he does not plan to impose a ban similar to the one in San Francisco.
Takeaway.
In 2 Timothy 3, the apostle Paul describes the nature of people in the last days. In his description, he warns of people who are characterized as “having a form of godliness but denying its power” (verse 5). In fact Paul feels so strongly about it that he says, “Have nothing to do with such people.”
In verse 5 he tells Timothy to avoid those who state they are Christians with their mouths—they have a “form” of godliness—but who act as unbelievers—they deny the power of godliness.
Those who have a form of godliness are those who make an outward display of religion. They present themselves as godly, but it is all for show. There is no power behind their religion, as evidenced in the fact that their lives are unchanged. They speak of God and live in sin, and they are fine with that arrangement.
In fact, they celebrate it.
Charles Ellicott, a distinguished English Christian theologian and bishop of Gloucester and Bristol during the 1800s wrote, “These, by claiming the title of Christians, wearing before men the uniform of Christ, but by their lives dishonoring His name, did the gravest injury to the holy Christian cause” (Ellicott’s Bible Commentary for English Readers, entry for 2 Timothy 3:5).
Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Engaged. Be Prayerful.