Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco will no longer allow Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to receive communion on May 20. Three bishops followed the lead of the Archbishop, stating her abortion beliefs did not align with the Catholic Church.
Bishop Robert Vasa of the Diocese of Santa Rosa denied Pelosi the sacrament the same day Cordileone released the church’s stance. For her “to not be admitted to Holy Communion unless and until she publicly repudiates her support for abortion ‘rights’ and confesses and receive absolution.”
Vasa said, “I have visited with paster at St Helena 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.”
Bishop Michael Burbidge of the Diocese of Arlington and Bishop Joseph E. Strickland of the Diocese of Tyler joined Vasa.
These four bishops recommended that American Catholics need better education on the significance of the Eucharist.
Vasa referenced canon law when he said, “makes it clear that providing sacraments to someone prohibited from receiving them has its possible penalties.” Vasa explains that people who willfully administer a sacrament to “those who are prohibited from receiving it” could be “punished with suspension” under canon law.
“Those who have been excommunicated or interdicted after the imposition or declaration of the penalty and others obstinately preserving in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to Holy Communion,” which says in Canon 915
Teacher at the Catholic University of America and Canon lawyer Fr. John Beal rejected Vasa’s conclusion about Communion details being restricted to a single bishop’s diocese.
Pelosi responded to Cordileone on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” ridiculing the Archbishop for his pro-life stance that is consistent with the Catholic church and other pop culture trends that are infiltrating society, such as LGBTQ rights.
“I wonder about the death penalty, which I am opposed to,” Pelosi claimed. “So is the church, but they take no action against people who may not share their view.”
“So, we just have to be prayerful,” Pelosi added. “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.”
Whoopi Goldberg had an opinion on the subject when she went after Archbishop Cordileone, “That’s not your job dude.” With his job title, that is on of his main duties as Archbishop.
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