Nancy Pelosi’s Bishop Instructs Priests to Deny Her Communion

National   |   Steven Ertelt, Micaiah Bilger   |   May 20, 2022   |   4:44PM   |   Washington, DC

After Catholic Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone released a statement saying Nancy Pelosi is not allowed to receive communion unless she repents of her abortion advocacy, her Catholic bishop said he would follow that decision.

As LifeNews reported, Cordileone said he formally notified U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi this week that she can no longer be allowed communion because she is no longer in communion with the Catholic Church by virtue of her repeatedly promoting abortion. Cordileone, who serves Pelosi’s home district of San Francisco, said he informed the congresswoman of his decision Thursday after repeated attempts to speak with her about the “grave evil” that she is supporting.

Now, Pelosi’s bishop in the diocese where she has her vacation home says he has instructed parish priests to implement the decision and refuse her communion if and when she visits their church.

Bishop Robert Vasa of the Diocese of Santa Rosa told The Pillar May 20 he has instructed priests to observe the decision of Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone when Pelosi attends Mass at the parish nearby her Napa Valley vacation home and vineyard.

“I have visited with the pastor at [Pelosi’s parish] and informed him that if the Archbishop prohibited someone from receiving Holy Communion then that restriction followed the person and that the pastor was not free to ignore it,” Vasa said in a statement provided to The Pillar by the Santa Rosa diocese.

Cardinal Wilton Gregory of the Archdiocese of Washington has not commented on whether Pelosi can receive the Eucharist when she is in the nation’s capital.

When in Washington D.C., Pelosi regularly attends Holy Trinity Parish in Georgetown and she and other pro-abortion Catholic politicians frequently receive communion there because that church has a liberal position on communion and abortion.

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Pelosi professes to be a devout Catholic but supports the killing of unborn babies in abortions up to birth and wants to force taxpayers to pay for their deaths.

In a letter published Friday on the archdiocese website, Cordileone explained his decision to deny communion to the Democrat leader:

“After numerous attempts to speak with her to help her understand the grave evil she is perpetrating, the scandal she is causing, and the danger to her own soul she is risking, I have determined that the point has come in which I must make a public declaration that she 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.”

The archbishop stressed that his decision is “pastoral, not political” and he did not find any pleasure in it. Cordileone said he also has been praying for Pelosi and urging others to join him in the hopes that she will repent and recognize the value of all human life.

Pelosi, a Democrat leader, often mentions her Catholic faith while supporting radical pro-abortion policies that most Americans oppose. Under her leadership, the U.S. House passed a radical pro-abortion bill last fall that would legalize abortions for basically any reason up to birth nation-wide even if Roe v. Wade is overturned.

At the time, Cordileone said the legislation amounts to “child sacrifice” and chastised Catholic politicians who support it. He said the bill is what “one would expect from a devout Satanist, not a devout Catholic.”

A few days later, Pelosi laughed at the archbishop’s statement at a press conference, saying she and Cordileone “have a disagreement about who should decide this.”

This week, Cordileone said he has received many letters from concerned Catholics about Pelosi misleading the public about abortion. And for a long time, he said he tried to be cautious, giving Pelosi the chance to repent and making attempts to talk with her before taking any action.

However, Cordileone said Pelosi’s continuous refusal to repent, her increasingly extreme pro-abortion actions and her public contempt for even Pope Francis’s pro-life teachings prompted him to act.

He thanked everyone who has joined him in praying for Pelosi through the Rose and Rosary for Nancy Campaign and asked people to continue praying for her change of heart.

Cordileone also encouraged people support pro-life advocates who help pregnant mothers in crisis through the archdiocese Stand With Moms programs.

“May God grant us the grace to be true advocates for the dignity of human life, in every stage and condition of life, and to accompany, support and love women who otherwise would be alone and afraid at a most vulnerable time in their lives,” the archbishop said.

Many U.S. bishops and priests have expressed concerns that pro-abortion Catholic politicians like Pelosi and President Joe Biden are “creating scandal” for the Catholic Church by encouraging evil. They have said the church must do something to make it clear that Catholics cannot support the killing of unborn babies in abortions and must repent before participating in Communion.

Among other things, Pelosi wants to force taxpayers to pay for elective abortions and force nuns who serve the poor and elderly to cover contraception that may cause abortions in their employee health plans. Once, she even called late-term abortions “sacred ground.”