San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone is defending his decision to deny communion to Nancy Pelosi because of her radical abortion advocacy. he says the decision is “pastoral. not political” and defended against false accusations that he is “politicizing” the Eucharist.
In an interview with EWTN News’ Erik Rosales that aired on EWTN News Nightly, Archbishop Cordileone said the decision to not receive communion is ultimately Pelosi’s because she chose to promote abortion on demand up to birth and he would much prefer she have a change of heart, become pro-life “and become an advocate for life in the womb.”
“What does it mean to politicize the Holy Eucharist if one is following Church teaching and applying Church teaching?” Archbishop Cordileone said.
“One would have to demonstrate that one is doing that for a political purpose,” the archbishop said.
“I’ve been very clear all along, my purpose is pastoral, not political,” he added. “I am not campaigning for anyone for office. As a matter of fact, my preference would be for Speaker Pelosi to remain in office and become an advocate for life in the womb.”
In supporting his decision, Denver Archbishop Samuel Aquila called Archbishop Cordileone “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.” And Cordileone said that is the attitude he had with regards to Pelosi.
He explained how politicizing the Eucharist can even occur “in reverse.” One could “receive Communion as a means to furthering a political agenda, when one is motivated for that reason,” he said. “So it cuts both ways.”
SUPPORT LIFENEWS! If you like this pro-life article, please help LifeNews.com with a donation!
He added that he wants Pelosi and Catholics understand “the grave evil of abortion and what it means to cooperate with evil on the different levels.”
“I wanted to be clear in laying out that teaching,” he said.
Cordileone explained that he was “motivated by Speaker Pelosi’s reaction to the Texas Heartbeat Law” and her reaction to the Supreme Court draft overturning Roe.
That’s when Speaker Pelosi became very outspoken and aggressive — I’ll use that word — in vowing to codify the Roe v. Wade decision into federal law,” Archbishop Cordileone told Rosales.
Now, a fourth Catholic bishop has banned Nancy Pelosi from receiving communion. Bishop Michael Burbidge says Pelosi can’t receive communion in the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia because she’s radically pro-abortion.
Bishop Burbidge has extended the communion ban that Pelosi’s home bishop in San Franciso put in place late last week saying it now applies to her if and when she visits any Catholic church one the Virginia side of the nation’s capital.
Burbidge said he respects the decision San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone made to deny communion to Pelosi because of her radical abortion advocacy and because she refused to meet with him to discuss her pro-abortion record and to rent of her support for killing unborn babies.
“He is her bishop and as that bishop the direction and guidance he provides is not limited to just a geographical area,” Burbidge said on his diocese’s “The Walk Humbly Podcast.”
He explained that the decision was “pastoral, not political” and said the communion denial is not a punishment but a way of encouraging someone to repent and get right with God.
Click here to sign up for pro-life news alerts from LifeNews.com
“I can’t say it enough, (these) decisions are made for the good of individuals to guard the faithful from scandal, which is caused when Catholics in public office take positions at odds with Church teaching,” the bishop said. “That confuses people and a bishop has to guard against that.”
“All people, including those who are not public individuals, have to approach the sacraments truly in communion with the Church and Our Lord,” Burbidge said.
Yesterday, Bishop Joseph Strickland of Texas banned Nancy Pelosi from receiving communion “until she repents and stops advocating the murder of children.”
“Pray for her heart to be turned to God & away from the power of this world,” the bishop added.
The bishop of Tyler, Texas said Pelosi also is barred from Communion in his diocese.
“The concern for Mrs Pelosi’s eternal salvation extends to the Diocese of Tyler. She is barred from Communion here until she repents & stops advocating the murder of children. Pray for her heart to be turned to God & away from the power of this world,” the bishop said in his Wednesday tweet.
Pelosi lashed out at her archbishop Tuesday for denying her communion because of her pro-abortion actions, saying the Catholic leader should not “foist” his views onto others.
Pelosi professes to be a devout Catholic and frequently brings up her faith while pushing her political agenda, but she supports the killing of unborn babies in abortions up to birth and wants to force taxpayers to pay for their deaths.
Last week, San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone notified Pelosi that she may not receive communion unless she repents of her radical pro-abortion actions. On Sunday, she defied his decision and received communion at a Catholic church in Washington. Immediately, Bishop Robert Vasa, who heads the diocese where Pelosi has her vacation home, also denied her communion.
“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 said Friday.
Pelosi has sparred with Cordileone, the archbishop of her home diocese, numerous times over abortion. On Tuesday, she responded to his decision in an interview on MSNBC “Morning Joe.”
Follow LifeNews.com on Instagram for pro-life pictures and videos.
“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 onto others,” Pelosi said.
She slammed the archbishop for acting on his beliefs about the sanctity of life and marriage, saying: “Our archbishop has been vehemently against LGBTQ rights. In fact he led the way in an initiative on the ballot in California,” the AP reports.
She also accused Cordileone and other church leaders of hypocrisy because they don’t often speak out against politicians who support the death penalty.
“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 view,” Pelosi said.
Catholic leaders do speak out against the death penalty, but abortion is a predominate issue because it kills many, many more people. Since 1973, more than 63 million unborn babies have been killed in abortions, and Pelosi and other Democrat leaders are working aggressively to expand abortions.
Speaking Tuesday, Pelosi said she believes God gave people a “free will” to “honor” their responsibilities and make their own decisions about “the size and timing of their families.” She also asserted that she knows the Catholic faith better than her archbishop, saying his actions are “not consistent with the Gospel of Matthew.”
Last week, Cordileone stressed that his decision about Pelosi is “pastoral, not political” and he did not find any pleasure in it. The archbishop said he has been praying for the congresswoman 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. Even a few “pro-choice” politicians voted against the bill, saying it also would force Catholic hospitals and pro-life medical workers to participate in the killing of unborn babies and force taxpayers to pay for elective abortions.
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.”
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. He also encouraged people support pro-life advocates who help pregnant mothers in crisis through the archdiocese Stand With Moms programs.
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.”
