‘A Catholic legislator who supports procured abortion, after knowing the teaching of the Church, commits a manifestly grave sin which is a cause of most serious scandal to others.’
By Claire Chretien, LifeSiteNews, May 20, 2022 – 4:04 pm EDT
SAN FRANCISCO (LifeSiteNews) – San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone has instructed Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi, an outspokenly pro-abortion Democrat, not to present herself for Holy Communion in his diocese.
“[Y]ou are not to present yourself for Holy Communion and, should you do so, you are not to be admitted to Holy Communion, until such time as you [publicly] repudiate your advocacy for the legitimacy of abortion and confess and receive absolution of this grave sin in the sacrament of Penance,” Cordileone wrote to Pelosi in a “notification” delivered yesterday and published today (see PDF HERE). As of press time, the webpage on which the Archdiocese of San Francisco posted the letter displayed an error message.
The Catholic Church teaches that the Eucharist is the literal body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ. The Church teaches that no Catholic who has committed a mortal sin is to present himself or herself for Holy Communion until he or she has confessed that sin in the Sacrament of Confession.
Canon 915 of the Church’s Code of Canon Law instructs that “Those who have been excommunicated or interdicted after the imposition or declaration of the penalty and others obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to holy communion.”
“A Catholic legislator who supports procured abortion, after knowing the teaching of the Church, commits a manifestly grave sin which is a cause of most serious scandal to others. Therefore, universal Church law provides that such persons ‘are not to be admitted to Holy Communion’ (Code of Canon Law, can. 915),” wrote Cordileone.
Quoting a 2004 letter to U.S. bishops from then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, regarding Communion for pro-abortion politicians, Cordileone told the Speaker of the House, “I am grateful to you for the time you have given me in the past to speak about these matters. Unfortunately, I have not received such an accommodation to my many requests to speak with you again since you vowed to codify the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision in federal law following upon passage of Texas Senate Bill 8 last September.”
“That is why I communicated my concerns to you via letter on April 7, 2022, and informed you there that, should you not [publicly] repudiate your advocacy for abortion ‘rights’ or else refrain from referring to your Catholic faith in public and receiving Holy Communion, I would have no choice but to make a declaration, in keeping with canon 915, that you are not to be admitted to Holy Communion,” the archbishop continued.
“As you have not [publicly] repudiated your position on abortion, and continue to refer to your Catholic faith in justifying your position and to receive Holy Communion, that time has now come.”
Texas Senate Bill 8 bans abortions on babies with beating hearts and employs a unique private enforcement mechanism that allows private citizens to sue abortionists who violate the law. In the coming months, the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to overturn Roe v. Wade, which in 1973 imposed abortion-on-demand on all 50 states, and allow states to determine their own abortion laws. POLITICO published a draft of the Court’s majority opinion, an unprecedented leak.
‘Please know that I stand ready to continue our conversation at any time, and will continue to offer up prayer and fasting for you,” Cordileone told Pelosi. “I also ask all of the faithful of the Archdiocese of San Francisco to pray for all of our legislators, especially Catholic legislators who promote procured abortion, that with the help and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, they may undergo a conversion of heart in this most grave matter and human life may be protected and fostered in every stage and condition of life.”
