Speaker Nancy Pelosi Will Meet With Catholic Bishop Over Abortion, Communion
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
September 8, 2008
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — After her comments claiming the Catholic Church has not been consistent on its position against abortion and saying human life begins at conception, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has agreed to meet with San Francisco’s archbishop. The meeting with Archbishop George H. Niederauer will cover abortion and communion.
Niederauer indicates he may discuss whether or not it is appropriate for Pelosi to continue receiving communion following the controversial remarks.
Niederauer told The Hill, a Washington, D.C. political newspaper, saying he had received emails from “many Catholics” expressing concerns about Pelosi’s remarks.
The letters reportedly said the Church should not allow Pelosi to continue receiving the sacrament because of her perverting it with her pro-abortion views and misleading comments about Catholic teaching.
In a September 5 editorial appearing in the Catholic San Francisco newspaper, Niederauer wrote that Pelosi’s remarks were “in serious conflict” with Catholic pro-life values.
He wrote that he understands the decision is up to him as to whether Pelosi will be allowed to continue receiving communion and says he wants to invite the House leader “into a conversation with me about these matters.”
Niederauer said he wrote the article because it is his responsibility “to oppose erroneous, misleading and confusing positions when they are advanced.” He described Pelosi’s comments as “opposed” to church teaching.
“Let us pray together that the Holy Spirit will guide us all toward a more profound understanding and appreciation for human life, and toward a resolution of these differences in truth and charity and peace,” Niederauer wrote.
The Hill indicates Pelosi wrote Niederauer a letter thanking him for the invitation to chat.
Pelosi told CSPAN in an interview in August that it would be a "severe blow" if she was ever faced with the knowledge she wouldn’t be able to have communion.
“It depends on the bishop of a certain region, and, fortunately for me, communion has not been withheld and I’m a regular communicant, so that would be a severe blow to me if that were the case,” she said.
After Pelosi’s comments, several bishops corrected and rebuked Pelosi.
Last month, a top Vatican official, former St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke — now the prefect of the Apostolic Signature — said all Catholics, including politicians, should not receive communion if they are pro-abortion.
Archbishop Burke also issued a challenge to ministers to make sure they are not providing the sacrament to pro-abortion lawmakers who have not repented from their position, which is at odds with the pro-life teachings of the Catholic Church.
Communion should be denied to pro-abortion politicians “until they have reformed their lives," he said.
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