Pope Francis has poorly handled the issue of communion and the radical pro-abortion politics of Joe Biden and U.S. Nancy Pelosi, Archbishop Joseph Naumann has said.
The Kansas City archbishop later refused to back down on his criticism of the pope, saying he feels “sad” about the whole situation, according to the Catholic News Agency.
Both Biden and Pelosi profess to be devout Catholics, but they support the killing of unborn babies in abortions across the world. Despite repeated calls to repent and change their ways, both have stubbornly refused to stop supporting abortion on demand.
Earlier this year, Pelosi’s archbishop told her that she must stop receiving communion because of her radical pro-abortion actions. A few weeks later, however, she met with the pope at the Vatican and received communion anyway.
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In an interview published Wednesday, Naumann told the German newspaper Die Tagespost that Pope Francis has not handled the situation well.
“I think the pope doesn’t understand the U.S., just as he doesn’t understand the Church in the U.S.,” he said. “His advisers and the people surrounding him have completely misinformed him on this.”
Here’s more from CNA:
In his comments to Tagespost, Naumann said, “Of course we have to be pastoral” when dealing with such matters.
“However, it is not pastoral to tell someone they are a good Catholic and can receive Communion as a matter of course, when that person has committed a grave evil,” he continued. “The fact that the pope received Pelosi was politically exploited. In doing so, Francis is doing exactly what he warns others not to do.”
Naumann said Biden also “knows what is right in this regard,” and he has “no excuse” for his defiant actions. The president once had a moderately pro-life voting record, but his position on abortion changed with the Democrat Party, shifting more and more radical so that Biden now supports abortions for basically any reason up to birth and wants to force taxpayers to pay for them.
“He should not keep presenting himself as a devout Catholic,” Naumann told the newspaper.
Biden and Pelosi also are sending the wrong message, claiming that people can be good Catholics and support the killing of unborn babies in abortions, he said. To “flaunt their Catholic faith and advocate such evil” is unacceptable, Naumann continued.
Pelosi and Biden want to pass a radical pro-abortion bill that would force states to legalize abortions for basically any reason up to birth, force Catholic hospitals and pro-life medical workers to participate in the killing of unborn babies and force taxpayers to pay for elective abortions.
Last fall, San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore 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.”
Pelosi laughed at the archbishop’s statement at a press conference a few days later, saying she and Cordileone “have a disagreement about who should decide this.”
According to Aleteia, at least 20 bishops have issued statements supporting Cordileone’s decision to refuse communion to Pelosi, including Naumann, a former chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities.
Many U.S. bishops and priests have expressed concerns that pro-abortion Catholic politicians like Pelosi and 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.
