Catholic bishops are coming together in support of Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone after he barred House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) from receiving Holy Communion in light of her stance on abortion.
On Friday, Cordileone issued a letter saying because of Pelosi’s stance on abortion and her recent calls to protect access to abortion at the federal level, she should not present herself to a priest for Communion at Mass.
A growing number of bishops across the country are expressing their support, saying the ban should follow Pelosi regardless of which parish she attends.
“I have visited with the pastor at St Helena, [California] 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,” said Bishop Robert Vasa of the Diocese of Santa Rosa. “The new Canon (1379 §4) makes it clear that providing sacraments to someone prohibited from receiving them [has] its own possible penalties.”
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The Diocese of Oakland, California, was one of the first to support Cordileone’s ban.
+Michael Barber: “I support @ArchCardileone in the heroic and compassionate stance he took today in the protection and defense of human life. As @Pontifex said, ‘Every child who, rather than being born, is condemned unjustly to being aborted, bears the face of Jesus Christ.'”
— Diocese of Oakland (@oakdiocese) May 20, 2022
Bishops from Colorado, Illinois, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin have joined those in California.
Archbishop Aquila of Colorado called
Cordileone’s decision “courageous, compassionate, and necessary.”
Illinois’s Bishop Paprocki wrote, “I fully support and earnestly commend Archbishop Cordileone’s action in regard to Speaker Pelosi. All politicians who promote abortion should not receive holy Communion until they have repented, repaired scandal, and been reconciled to Christ and the Church.”
I fully support and earnestly commend Archbishop Cordileone’s action in regard to Speaker Pelosi. All politicians who promote abortion should not receive holy Communion until they have repented, repaired scandal, and been reconciled to Christ and the Church. https://t.co/TTncsZWVu2
— Bishop Paprocki (@BishopPaprocki) May 20, 2022
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Cordileone said he has tried to reach out to Pelosi in the past to discuss her stance on abortion, but his letters and attempts at contact have gone unanswered. Prior to Friday, his most recent letter was mailed on April 7.
