Cordileone praised as 'courageous' for Pelosi statement
Pelosi said San Francisco’s archbishop gives Communion to politicians who, she said, support the death penalty.
A number of US Catholic bishops have praised San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone for his “courageous” action in declaring May 20 that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is not “to be admitted” to Communion because of her stand on legalised abortion.
“I applaud Archbishop Cordileone's patient and persevering efforts to enlighten Speaker Pelosi about the moral gravity of her extreme efforts to promote, to advocate and to initiate legislation to enshrine legalised abortion into federal law,” said Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas.
In a statement released shortly after the San Francisco's prelate's announcement, he said: “I fully support both the pastoral and courageous actions that Archbishop Cordileone has now taken in an effort to awaken Speaker Pelosi's conscience and at the same time to protect Catholics in the Archdiocese of San Francisco and throughout the country from being confused by Speaker Pelosi's radical support for abortion, while claiming to be a faithful Catholic.
“I pray that Speaker Pelosi will have a change of heart,” added the archbishop, former chairman of the US bishops’ pro-life committee.
Denver Archbishop Samuel Aquila called Archbishop Cordileone’s action a “courageous, compassionate and necessary decision”.
He said: “I know Archbishop Cordileone to be a shepherd with the heart and mind of Christ, who truly desires to lead others towards Christ’s love, mercy and promise of eternal salvation.
“As Archbishop Cordileone writes, ‘conversion is always better than exclusion, and before any such action can be taken it must be preceded by sincere and diligent efforts at dialogue and persuasion. He has made every attempt to try and avoid this step.
“As I have previously written and Archbishop Cordileone makes clear as well, this issue is not about politics or simply enforcing church rules, but rather about love – love for the individual and love for the entire community.”
Among others who supported Archbishop Cordileone in statements or tweets were Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City and Bishops Robert Vasa of Santa Rosa, California; Michael Barber of Oakland, California; Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas; David Ricken of Green Bay, Wisconsin; Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois; Donald Hying of Madison; James Conley of Lincoln, Nebraska, Liam Cary of Baker, Oregon and Thomas Daly of Spokane, Washington.
Pelosi represents California’s 12th Congressional District, within San Francisco.
On May 24, in an appearance on MSNBC’s Morning Joe Pelosi commented on Archbishop Cordileone’s banning her from Communion.
“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 onto others,” she said.
For Pelosi, the issue is about more than just abortion, she said, and women and families need to know that “these same people” who oppose abortion “are against contraception, family planning, in vitro fertilisation. It’s a blanket thing and they use abortion as the front man for it.”
She also said San Francisco’s archbishop gives Communion to politicians who, she said, support the death penalty, which the church also condemns.
According to a report in Politico, a Washington news outlet, Pelosi was seen receiving Communion May 22 during Mass in Washington at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Georgetown, where President Joe Biden, also a Catholic, often goes to Mass. Biden also supports legalised abortion.
Jack Jenkins of Religion News Service reported May 23 that in a canon lawyer at The Catholic University of America told him in an email that Archbishop Cordileone barring Pelosi from Communion applies only within his archdiocese.
Critics of Archbishop Cordileone included Pelosi's hometown daily newspaper, the San Francisco Examiner, which accused the prelate of “grandstanding” on the abortion issue “and picking a fight with the most powerful woman – and second-most powerful Catholic – in American politics.”
The paper said the archbishop’s efforts to sow division and politicise the faith have intensified: “In light of Cordileone’s resurgent efforts to create discord, we repeat the call for Pope Francis to remove him and replace him with a leader who can unify rather than divide. ... It is Nancy Pelosi, not Archbishop Cordileone, who reflects the true spirit of Christian care in the city of St Francis.”
The editorial praised Pelosi as someone “who has worked tirelessly to improve the lives of the poor, the suffering and the oppressed”, all of which Archbishop Cordileone likewise praised.
An online petition critical of Archbishop Cordileone urging him “to stop playing politics with Communion” had garnered signatures of more than 10,000 Catholics and other Christians as of May 25, according to the petition’s sponsors, Faithful America and Faith in Public Life.
The same day, Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington, Virginia, said that after careful consideration, Archbishop Cordileone’s decision barring Pelosi from receiving Communion will be respected in the Northern Virginia diocese.
Bishop Strickland tweeted May 25: “The concern for Mrs Pelosi's eternal salvation extends to the Diocese of Tyler. She is barred from Communion here until she repents and stops advocating the murder of children. Pray for her heart to be turned to God and away from the power of this world.
“Please know that I find no pleasure whatsoever in fulfilling my pastoral duty here,” Archbishop Cordileone said in his May 20 statement. “Speaker Pelosi remains our sister in Christ. Her advocacy for the care of the poor and vulnerable elicits my admiration. I assure you that my action here is purely pastoral, not political. I have been very clear in my words and actions about this.”
In early May of last year, Archbishop Cordileone issued a pastoral that focused on the unborn, Communion and Catholics in public life titled: “Before I Formed You in the Womb I Knew You.” It was the first pastoral he has issued.
It says: “Those who reject the teaching of the church on the sanctity of human life and those who do not seek to live in accordance with that teaching should not receive the Eucharist.
“Conversion is always better than exclusion, and before any such action can be taken, it must be preceded by sincere and diligent efforts at dialogue and persuasion.”
He noted he had sent Pelosi a separate letter about the consequences of citing her faith in justifying abortion and refusing to retract her stance on the issue.
Pelosi considers abortion health care and, as recently as May 13 in remarks on the steps of the US Capitol, she warned the Supreme Court to keep its “hands off women's reproductive health care”. She also said if Roe is overturned, Republicans have a “dangerous and extreme agenda” that could see “an all-out assault” on more rights.
Her position on abortion “has become only more extreme over the years, especially in the last few months”, Archbishop Cordileone said. “Just earlier this month she once again, as she has many times before, explicitly cited her Catholic faith while justifying abortion as a choice, this time setting herself in direct opposition to Pope Francis.”
The archbishop opened his 1,300-word letter by saying that the Pope “has been one of the world’s most vocal advocates of human dignity in every stage and condition of life”.
How sad, it's the medieval mentality perpetuating itself. Since the current system for selecting bishops is the same as it has been since the Middle Ages there is no small wonder that the lack of intelligence perpetuates itself. How sad, that they do not know why the refusal to give communion is a part of their inherent ignorance. They do not know the fundamental reason for the Eucharist so they they choose to weaponize, the the sacred wafer as a battering ram. How sad, these people could not wipe the cancer of pedophilia from their ranks. How can we trust they are administering the Sacrament according to the will of Jesus? Oh well, we can only hope a Martin Luther will rise among us to save the church from sinking any lowers than it has sunk. How sad, they are reaching around for a cause to save face after the fiasco of bankrupting parishes to pay for the litigation of sin in the church. How sad, when perpetuating the myth about the beginning of life becomes more important than solving the real issues of life being destroyed by guns. How sad that we are sheep looking to be fed but are left hungry. How sad that there are no leaders, but only warlords beating us with rules that are meaningless. How sad that there is no kindness, compassion, generosity in places where we expect them to be found.
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