Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi (D-CA); Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone of San Francisco in Baltimore, Md., Nov. 13, 2012. / Ryan Rodrick Beiler/Shutterstock, Michelle Bauman/CNA
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 20, 2022 / 15:37 pm (CNA).
Editor’s note: Below is the full text of San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone’s notification to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, informing her that she should not receive Holy Communion in her home archdiocese, the Archdiocese of San Francisco. Cordileone made the following letter publicly available on Friday, May 20.
NOTIFICATION
To the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States Congress Nancy Pelosi
The Second Vatican Council, in its Decree on the Church in the Modem World, Gaudium et spes, reiterated the Church’s ancient and consistent teaching that “from the first moment of conception life must be guarded with the greatest care while abortion and infanticide are unspeakable crimes” (n. 51). Christians have, indeed, always upheld the dignity of human life in every stage, especially the most vulnerable, beginning with life in the womb. His Holiness, Pope Francis, in keeping with his predecessors, has likewise been quite clear and emphatic in teaching on the dignity of human life in the womb.
This fundamental moral truth has consequences for Catholics in how they live their lives, especially those entrusted with promoting and protecting the public good of society. Pope St. John Paul II was also quite consistent in upholding this constant teaching of the Church, and frequently reminded us that “those who are directly involved in lawmaking bodies have a ‘grave and clear obligation to oppose’ any law that attacks human life. For them, as for every Catholic, it is impossible to promote such laws or to vote for them” (cf. Doctrinal Note on some questions regarding the participation of Catholics in political life [November 24, 2002], n. 4, §1). 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).
With regard to the application of these principles to Catholics in political life, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, wrote to the U.S. bishops in 2004 explaining the approach to be taken:
“… when a person’s formal cooperation becomes manifest (understood, in the case of a Catholic politician, as his consistently campaigning and voting for permissive abortion and euthanasia laws), his Pastor should meet with him, instructing him about the Church’s teaching, informing him that he is not to present himself for Holy Communion until he brings to an end the objective situation of sin, and warning him that he will otherwise be denied the Eucharist. When ‘these precautionary measures have not had their effect … ,’ and the person in question, with obstinate persistence, still presents himself to receive the Holy Eucharist, ‘the minister of Holy Communion must refuse to distribute it.’”
In striving to follow this direction, 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.
As you have not publically 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. Therefore, in light of my responsibility as the Archbishop of San Francisco to be “concerned for all the Christian faithful entrusted to [my] care” (Code of Canon Law, can. 383, §1), by means of this communication I am hereby notifying you that you 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.
Please know that I stand ready to continue our conversation at any time, and will continue to offer up prayer and fasting for you.
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.
Given at San Francisco, on the nineteenth day of May, in the Year of our Lord 2022.
[Signed]
Salvatore J. Cordileone
Archbishop of San Francisco
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St. Mark’s Square in Venice, Italy. / Shutterstock|maziarz
Vatican City, Mar 25, 2024 / 11:45 am (CNA).
Pope Francis will travel by motorboat along Venice’s canals and offer Mass in St. Mark’s Square during his visit to the “floating city,” the Vatican announced Monday.
The Holy See Press Office has released the schedule for the pope’s upcoming day trip to Venice — the pope’s only scheduled trip so far in 2024.
The 87-year-old pope will travel by helicopter from Vatican City to Venice in under two hours and will land on Giudecca Island, home to Venice’s women’s prison.
The pope’s first meeting will be with inmates in the prison, where he will also tour the Vatican art exhibit being displayed there and meet with the featured artists.
Pope Francis will then travel by motorboat from Giudecca Island to Venice’s Basilica of Santa Maria della Salute, a place of pilgrimage in the city built in thanksgiving to the Virgin Mary for saving Venice from the terrible plague of 1630.
The pope will give a speech to young people from dioceses throughout Italy’s northern Veneto region in the piazza in front of the basilica before crossing a bridge over the Grand Canal to arrive at St. Mark’s Square.
After the Mass, Pope Francis will privately venerate the relics of St. Mark the Evangelist inside the basilica. He will leave St. Mark’s Square via motorboat to arrive at a heliport on Sant’Elena Island, where he will depart by helicopter at 1 p.m. after having spent only five hours in Venice.
Pope Francis will be the first pope to visit the prestigious Venice Biennale art exhibition, which will be open to the public from April 20 to Nov. 24.
The Vatican has participated in the Art Biennale since 2013. The first Holy See Pavilion was commissioned by Pope Benedict XVI, who also visited Venice in 2011 and traveled across the Grand Canal in the same gondola as Pope John Paul II did in 1985.
A defining theme of Pope Francis’ papacy has been his urging of humanity to better care for the natural environment, which he has done most prominently in his landmark 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’ and numerous subsequent writings and speeches.
The pope’s emphasis on this topic — especially his foray into climate science via his recent encyclical Laudate Deum — has variously drawn both praise and consternation from Catholics in the United States, about half of whom do not share Pope Francis’ views on climate change, according to surveys.
In Laudate Deum, which was released in October as a continuation to Laudato Si’, Francis wrote that the effects of climate change “are here and increasingly evident,” warning of “immensely grave consequences for everyone” if drastic efforts are not made to reduce emissions. In the face of this, the Holy Father criticized those who “have chosen to deride [the] facts” about climate science, stating bluntly that it is “no longer possible to doubt the human — ‘anthropic’ — origin of climate change.”
The pope in the encyclical laid out his belief that there must be a “necessary transition towards clean energy sources, such as wind and solar energy, and the abandonment of fossil fuels.” This follows a call from Pope Francis in 2021 to the global community calling for the world to “achieve net zero carbon emissions as soon as possible.”
He further lamented what he called “certain dismissive and scarcely reasonable opinions [on climate change] that I encounter, even within the Catholic Church.”
In light of the new encyclical — which extensively cites the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) — Pope Francis was invited to speak at this week’s United Nations Climate Change Conference, known as COP28. Though the 86-year-old pope was forced to cancel his trip due to health issues, the Vatican has indicated that he aims to participate in COP28 this weekend in some fashion. It announced today that Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin will represent the pope at the conference.
While various Catholic groups have welcomed the pope’s latest encyclical, some Catholics have reacted with persistent doubts, questioning whether the pope’s policy prescriptions would actually produce the desired effects.
How do Americans feel about climate change?
According to a major survey conducted by Yale University, 72% of Americans believed in 2021 — the latest available data year — that “global warming is happening,” and 57% believe that global warming is caused by human activity.
More recent polling from the Pew Research Center, conducted in June, similarly suggests that two-thirds of U.S. adults overall say the country should prioritize developing renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar, over the expansion of the production of oil, coal, and natural gas. That same survey found that just 3 in 10 adults (31%) say the U.S. should completely phase out oil, coal, and natural gas. The Yale study found that 77% of U.S. adults support at least the funding of research into renewable energy sources.
Broken down by party affiliation, Pew found that a large majority of Democratic and Democratic-leaning independents — 90% — favor alternative energy sources, while just under half, 42%, of Republicans and Republican-leaning adults think the same. Within the Republican cohort, however, 67% of Republicans under age 30 prioritize the development of alternative energy sources, compared with the 75% of Republicans ages 65 and older who prioritize the expansion of oil, coal, and natural gas.
In terms of the expansion of alternative energy sources, two-thirds of Americans think the federal government should encourage domestic production of wind and solar power, Pew reported. Just 7% say the government should discourage this, while 26% think it should neither encourage nor discourage it.
How do America’s Catholics feel about climate change?
Surveys suggest that Catholics in the United States are slightly more likely than the U.S. population as a whole to be skeptical of climate change, despite the pope’s emphatic words in 2015 and since.
A separate Pew study suggests that 44% of U.S. Catholics say the Earth is warming mostly due to human activity, a view in line with Pope Francis’ stance. About 3 in 10 (29%) said the Earth is warming mostly due to natural patterns, while 13% said they believe there is no solid evidence the planet is getting warmer.
According to the same study, 71% of Hispanic Catholics see climate change as an extremely or very serious problem, compared with 49% of white, non-Hispanic Catholics. (There were not enough Black or Asian Catholics in the 2022 survey to analyze separately, Pew said.)
One 2015 study from Yale did suggest that soon after Laudato Si’ was released, U.S. Catholics were overall more likely to believe in climate change than before. That same study found no change, however, in the number of Americans overall who believe human activity is causing global warming.
Pope Francis’ climate priorities
Beyond his groundbreaking writings, Pope Francis has taken many actions during his pontificate to make his own — admittedly small — country, Vatican City, more sustainable, including the recent announcement of a large order of electric vehicles, construction of its own network of charging stations, a reforestation program, and the continued importation of energy coming exclusively from renewable sources.
Francis has often lamented what he sees as a tepid response from developed countries in implementing measures to curb climate change. In Laudate Deum, he urged that new multinational agreements on climate change — speaking in this case specifically about the COP28 conference — be “drastic, intense, and count on the commitment of all,” stating that “a broad change in the irresponsible lifestyle connected with the Western model would have a significant long-term impact.”
The pope lamented what he sees as the fact that when new projects related to green energy are proposed, the potential for economic growth, employment, and human promotion are thought of first rather than moral considerations such as the effects on the world’s poorest.
“It is often heard also that efforts to mitigate climate change by reducing the use of fossil fuels and developing cleaner energy sources will lead to a reduction in the number of jobs,” the pope noted.
“What is happening is that millions of people are losing their jobs due to different effects of climate change: rising sea levels, droughts, and other phenomena affecting the planet have left many people adrift. Conversely, the transition to renewable forms of energy, properly managed, as well as efforts to adapt to the damage caused by climate change, are capable of generating countless jobs in different sectors.”
‘Leave God’s creation better than we found it’
Dr. Kevin Roberts, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Heritage Foundation think tank, told CNA that he has noticed a theme of frustration and confusion among many Catholics regarding the Holy Father’s emphasis on climate change.
A self-described outdoorsman and former president of Wyoming Catholic College, Roberts spoke highly to CNA of certain aspects of Laudato Si’, particularly the pope’s insights into what he called “human ecology,” which refers to the acceptance of each person’s human body as a vital part of “accepting the entire world as a gift from the Father and our common home.”
Dr. Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation. Courtesy of Heritage Foundation.
“I like to think [Pope Francis] personally wrote that, because I could see him saying that,” Roberts said of the passage, which appears in paragraph 155 of the encyclical. Roberts said he even makes a point to meditate on that “beautiful and moving” passage during a retreat that he does annually.
That portion of Laudato Si’ notwithstanding, Roberts said he strongly believes that it detracts from other important issues, such as direct ministry to the poor, when Pope Francis elevates care for God’s natural creation as “seemingly more important than other issues to us as Catholics.” He also said he disagrees with Pope Francis’ policy prescriptions, such as a complete phasing out of fossil fuels, contained in Laudate Deum.
“We of course want to pray for him. We’re open to the teaching that he is providing. But we also have to remember as Catholics that sometimes popes are wrong. And on this issue, it is a prudential matter. It is not a matter of morality, particularly when he’s getting into the scientific policy recommendations,” Roberts said.
Roberts said the Heritage Foundation’s research and advocacy has focused not on high-level, multinational agreements and conferences to tackle the issues posed by climate change but rather on smaller-scale, more community-based efforts. He said this policy position is, in part, due to the historical deference such multinational conglomerates of nations have given to China, the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases overall.
He said agreements within the U.S. itself, with businesses and all levels of government working together, have produced the best results so far when it comes to improving the environment. He also pointed to examples of constructive action that don’t involve billions of dollars, such as families making the choice to spend more time outdoors or engaging in local activities that contribute to environmental conservation and community life, such as anti-litter campaigns and community gardening. The overarching goal, he said, should be to “leave God’s creation better than we found it.”
Roberts — who said he personally believes humans likely have “very little effect” on the climate — said he was discouraged to read other portions of Laudato Si’, as well as Laudate Deum, that to him read as though they had come “straight out of the U.N.” Despite his criticisms, Roberts urged his fellow Catholics to continue to pray for the Holy Father and to listen to the pope’s moral insights.
“I just think that the proposed solutions are actually more anti-human and worse than the purported effects of climate change,” he added.
‘A far more complex issue’
Greg Sindelar, a Catholic who serves as CEO of the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF), a conservative think tank that studies the energy industry, similarly expressed concerns to CNA about the potential impact of certain climate change mitigation policies on human flourishing.
Like Roberts, Sindelar spoke highly of certain aspects of the pope’s message while expressing reservations about some of the U.N.-esque solutions proposed in Laudate Deum.
“I think the pope is right about our duty as Catholics to be stewards and to care for the environment. But I think what we have to understand — what we have to balance this with — is that it cannot come at the expense of depriving people of affordable and reliable energy,” Sindelar said in an interview with CNA.
“There’s ways to be environmentally friendly without sacrificing the access that we all need to reliable and affordable energy.”
Greg Sindelar is CEO of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a think tank in America’s leading energy-producing state. Courtesy of Texas Public Policy Foundation
Sindelar said TPPF primarily promotes cheap, reliable access to energy as a means of promoting human flourishing. The free-market-focused group is skeptical of top-down governmental intervention, both in the form of regulation and incentives or disincentives in certain areas of the energy sector.
When asked what he thinks his fellow Catholics largely think about the issue, Sindelar said many of the Catholics he hears from express the view that government policies and interventions rarely produce effective solutions and could potentially hinder access to energy for those in need.
“I think it’s a far more complex issue than just saying we need to cut emissions, and we need to transfer away from fossil fuels, and all these other things. What we need to do is figure out and ensure ways that we are providing affordable and reliable electricity to all citizens of the world,” he reiterated.
“When the pope speaks, when the Vatican speaks, it carries a lot of weight with Catholics around the world, [and] not just with Catholics … and I totally agree with him that we need to be thinking about the most marginalized and the poorest amongst us,” Sindelar continued.
“[But] by going down these policy prescription paths that he’s recommending, we’re actually going to reduce their ability to have access to that,” he asserted.
Sindelar, while disagreeing with Pope Francis’ call for an “abandonment of fossil fuels,” said he appreciates the fact that Pope Francis has spoken out about the issue of care for creation and has initiated so much public discussion.
“I think there is room for differing views and opinions on the right ways to do that,” he said.
Effective mitigation efforts
Susan Varlamoff, a retired biologist and parishioner at St. John Neumann Catholic Church in the Atlanta area, is among those Catholics who are committed to Pope Francis’ call to care for creation and to mitigate the effects of climate change. To that end, Varlamoff in 2016 created a peer-reviewed action plan for the Archdiocese of Atlanta to help Catholics put the principles contained in Laudato Si’ into action, mainly through smaller, more personal actions that people can take to reduce their energy usage.
Retired biologist Susan Varlamoff. Photo courtesy of Susan Varlamoff
The Atlanta Archdiocese’s efforts have since garnered recognition and praise, Varlamoff said, with at least 35 archdioceses now involved in an inter-diocesan network formed to exchange sustainability ideas based on the latest version of the plan from Atlanta.
“It’s fascinating to see what everybody is doing, and it’s basically based on their talents and imaginations,” Varlamoff said, noting that a large number of young people have gotten involved with their efforts.
As a scientist, Varlamoff told CNA it is clear to her that Pope Francis knows what he’s talking about when he lays out the dangers posed by inaction in the face of climate change.
“He understands the science, and he’s deeply concerned … he’s got remarkable influence as a moral leader,” she said.
“Part of what our religion asks us to do is to care for one another. We have to care for creation if we’re going to care for one another, because the earth is our natural resource system, our life support, and we cannot care for one another if we don’t have that life support.”
Responding to criticisms about the financial costs associated with certain green initiatives, Varlamoff noted that small-scale sustainable actions can actually save money. She offered the example of parishes in the Atlanta area that have drastically reduced their electric bills by installing solar panels.
“[But,] it’s not just about saving money. It’s also about reducing fossil fuels and greenhouse gas emissions, and protecting the natural resources for future generations,” she said.
Moreover, Varlamoff said, the moral imperative to improve the natural environment for future generations is worth the investment. “When [Catholics] give money, for example, for a social justice issue like Walking with Moms in Need or special needs, the payback is improving lives. We’re improving the environment here,” she emphasized.
Washington D.C., Dec 8, 2017 / 02:00 pm (CNA).- A report from the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that abortion rates in the country are at a historic low since the nationwide legalization of abortion in 1973.
Archbishop Corlione is the worst kind oh hypocrite. Instead of judging others maybe the Catholic Church should clean up its own messes. So many of my friends and family have left the church because you preach but take no responsibility for the horrific deeds priests have committed. At least Senator Pelosi has integrity. Oh and I know you won’t print this because you don’t accept different points of view.
Kelly Greelis Green, Grateful Episcopalian.
the catholic church is a private institution and as long as it understands that personal private volition has nothing to do with individual liberty and public policy it is free to be as deluded as it pleases about the meaning of an afterlife –
Negative liberties represent protections , independence and individualism .
Positive liberties represent endowments , dependence and collectivism .
e pluribus unum means individualism and democracy against individualism conspires tyranny by majority .
Catholic and Lutherin charities should NOT be entitled to federal subsidies to inundate the us with illegal migrants . NOTORIOUS for facilitating POVERTY by prohibiting birth the control , in answer to their foolishness , the holier than thou excuse is they are communists .
The Catholic Church has a responsibility to God’s truth even if it offends others. Jesus Christ word offended others because they did not want to accept the truth. Abortion is murder , if that offends anyone then you are blind with ignorance!
Face it, the church doesn’t have a whole lot of arrows in its quiver when dealing with the government. But the archbishop did finally seem to find his backbone and took the time to call Pelosi the hypocrite that she is.
The real question is will she abide by the letter & repent or will she just ignore it, continue her political posturing, and continue on with her life as if it never happened?
If she chooses the former, then the archbishop has helped to stop the wanton slaughter of innocents.
If she chooses the latter, then her motives for all these years are highlighted in sharp contrast to her words.
Either way, the Democrats lose and so I thank the archbishop for finally standing on his convictions. I won’t even ask him what he’s been waffling on for all these years?
As for the rest; I was raised catholic, I refused confirmation, and asked to be excommunicated by the RC church (which they declined to do). So I testify before you as a simple atheist aka “the natural man” (1 Corinthians 2:6-16).
However, given the option of aligning with anything on the Democrat political platform and standing shoulder to shoulder with the church, I’ll stand with the church, because the Democrats are depraved in ways too gruesome to discuss in matters that have nothing to do with spirituality or human dignity.
Archbishop Cordileone is not ‘dealing with the government.’ He is counseling one individual who claims she is Catholic. Ms. Pelosi is an individual servant-representative of the people of the democratic republic of the U.S. The citizens pay her salary.
I thank God you are honest enough to recognize and not hold the hypocritical position (as does Pelosi) of claiming Catholicism as your faith which acting in opposition to its teaching. Good for you that you recognize the Democrat party positions as depraved more often than not. As a Catholic, I believe that depravity affronts human dignity and spirituality.
(You probably lean more Catholic than you realize…)
Worth notice is the failed attempt at literacy and reason with which the pro-abort proponents advertise themselves here. It’s amazing that they didn’t learn in the start of kindergarten that such stuff doesn’t stick.
Once again, I am gravely disappointed in the Church. Rather than take a proactive position to prevent unwanted pregnancies, the Church seeks to blame those who have taken an oath upholding separation of Church and state. The hypocrisy of a public repudiation, contrition, and penance is laughable after years of first denying and then protecting (and still protecting) pedophile priests. The Archbishop needs look no further than his mirror to find a culprit, cococonspirator, and accomplice. Rather than strengthen the dialogue, the archbishop has thrown a bomb that will only spread animosity and suspicion. If the Church has its way on this, what is next? Griswold (contraception), IVF, gay marriage? The archibishp’s actions will only force women and the electorate to think twice about voting Catholic or, for that matter, confirming Catholic justices.
Your 5/20/22.
1) It’s spelled ‘Cordileone’.
2) Who is Senator Pelosi?
3) Life begins at conception and that which has been conceived begins to grow and so this conclusion is entirely reasonable – if it’s growing it’s alive.
This is disgraceful politicking, and rather hypocritical. I don’t recall seeing a single priest involved in molesting minors suffering this fate. To quote His Holiness Pope Francis, “Holy Communion is the bread of sinners, not a feast for saints” and you are using your position to engage in political action. Beware the consequences.
As far as I know, no priest ever spent 30 years openly abusing minors while nothing was done to him while claiming that what he was doing was perfectly good and wonderful. But numerous guilty priests have been defrocked and more than a few have gone to prison. All of these desperate attempts at playing the hypocrisy card just reveals the actual hypocrisy on the part of the culture of death crowd.
I am infuriated at forbidding Pelosi to take Communion. Jesus ministered to sinners with love. He allowed Peter and Judas to come to the Last Supper. This is a political act, not the act of a pastor and shepherd to his people. Even the Pope has said that denying Communion is wrong. I wish he would reconsider but know that he thinks he is above the Pope and does not have to act as Jesus would with his flock: with love and compassion. But he gives Communion to priests who have defiled children nonetheless. Truly hypocritical.
Could it be you have no memory? Could it be you are blind?
Denial of Holy Communion due to persistent obstinate manifest grave sin is not a fate to be feared and hated but an act of truth in charity for which gratitude is the only appropriate response.
Thankyou Archbishop Corlione I am very greatful for your actions, it is right and just. I can only imagine what the prince of lies will be throwing at you, I will be adding your name to my prayers for priests. Again Thankyou if you have the time I would be glad to hear from you and recieve blessings and or advice.
I applaud Archbishop Cordileone on taking action in this situation. I think it is unfortunate that it has come to this, but the Code of Canon Law is clear on the proper procedure. Many Catholics (and other denominations, as I’ve seen from these comments) seem to have a misunderstanding of how sacred the Eucharist really is. I sincerely hope and pray that they will come to realize that it is impossible to be Catholic and assist/support the atrocity of abortion. I will pray for Speaker Pelosi that she may see the error of her ways and adjust them appropriately. I pray also for all bishops that they may have the confidence to act in the best interest of those entrusted to their care.
It is about time polosi was called out! The church should not stop here,every single politician that is pro abortion should receive the same letter right down to the local level. Politicians think they can disconnect their faith from policy.they are not politicians forever but are Catholics and part of church for life.
Yes well to put it really really simply one has to follow the rules if they claim to be part of the team. Or else find another team with different rules
May God bless the Catholic Church. May it grow into a more loving and understanding instrument of God. May the Cardinals adopt a less paternalistic approach and understand that faith is about the individual conscience, not merely about barking orders at the faithful.
Archbishop Cordileon, a true Catholic in name only. I feel sadness and disappointment that Catholic leadership continues to disparage believers- members of their own community and brotherhood- whom Christ loves unwaveringly. Clergymen and women should maintain a sense of obligation and accountability as it pertains to the teachings of Christ. They need abstain from interjecting themselves in matters of politics and law in toto, but particularly in cases in which significant harm can befall a sizeable portion of our population as a direct result. I pray our leaders can find the grace to banish the hate from their hearts and love unconditionally as the Lord intends. Restore the true meaning of the sacrament instead of diminishing it.
Ms. Pelosi’s membership in the Church is debatable. Assuming that she is/was, a bishop calling out a member of the institution in which he holds lawful authority and jurisdiction is not disparagement. He acts on behalf of the Church whose mission it is to call its members from sin and to assist them in saving their souls. He would be negligent in his duty if he allowed his members to damn themselves.
Nancy is free to worship any idol she chooses. If she wishes to worship the God of Catholicism, she does best to learn what God’s Church commands and teaches and requires her to uphold.
Teaching and counseling are not disparagement. Even if a person persisted in this obstinate error of seeing teaching and counseling and aid to saving as ‘disparagememt,’ a sin of disparagement, when compared to support for abortion, ranks far lower on any ranked scale of severity of sin. Miss Pelosi, for some 40 or so years, has aided, abetted, and supported murder. The sin of murder is MORTAL for many–the victim, the perpetrator, and the ‘legal’ enabler.
Nancy’s continued receipt of Holy Communion, the Body of Christ, while espousing the legality of murder, will continue to be considered sacrilegious in the eyes of Christ’s Church.
If Nancy is to learn anything about God and the Church in which she claims to belong, her review of God’s Law in the Sixth Commandment is the first place she should start.
Support for those who commit the sin against God’s Law in the Sixth Commandment excludes one from a place in line toward salvation. To receive the Body of Christ while supporting murder does the greatest harm and damage to the Body of Christ and thus to Ms. Pelosi’s own soul (and temporal mind).
It is about and on behalf of time – ETERNAL TIME – that Archbishop Cordileone acts. Praise God for gifting His Church with an Archbishop Cordileone.
Nelson, Nelson, Nelson! Whom did the good archbishop disparage? He made a heartfelt plea to Pelosi to repent, renounce her sin and return to the sacraments in good standing.
As any good shepherd ought.
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This makes no sense. Why would spiritual leaders and women only concern themselves in issues of little human consequence, while abstaining from matters where human lives are actually at stake?
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Nelson, if the Blessed Sacrament has any meaning at all — if it embodies the actual Person of Christ Jesus Himself — it must be obvious that reception of Him by an individual who is in a state of serious sin, who is obstinate in her sin and who has publicly stood in opposition to one of the Church’s most fundamental teachings for decades on end, is a desecration of the most serious kind and cannot be countenanced by our community or its leaders.
In your platitudes and your talking points, you are forgetting someone, Nelson. In fact, the millions upon millions upon millions of human beings whose lives *are* at stake here.
The lives of the children we will never know, who will never have a chance to live, to breathe, to love, to strive, to improve our world, to make their own unique, God-intended contribution to the human story. Creatures beloved by God with a chance to build lives.
(Disproportionate numbers of them minorities, by the way.)
Nelson, you may be fooling yourself with the lofty, virtuous rhetoric you spout, but you’re just exposing the unassailable fact that those on your side of this issue care nothing for either truth or human life.
I am thankful that the church is starting to call out “Catholic” pro abortion politicians. Ms Pelosi advocates for unlimited abortion rights and policies while at same time publicly talking about her Catholic Faith and receiving Communion daily. She is using her association with the church to gather political support. How can she do this ? Its brazen hypocrisy. I will pray for her – but I also think its time she stops this lie.
Cardinal Ratzinger’s comments were noticeably tilted toward a masculine target. I understand the intention and the declarations global humanistic consequence. It is a quibble that a woman was not targeted and Lord knows the Church can quibble. Personally I would like to have seen the Archbishop rightfully deny the Speakers Eucharistic graces but encourage her to approach the Sacrament for a blessing with hands crossed over the heart.
Taking a stand for abortion is one thing…, however to be fair – where is all the outrage for gun violence? Gun violence that happens daily? Gun violence in all communities within the United States of America? Why not take a stand for ALL human life?
Hopefully, standing up for HUMAN life will UNITE us, not divide us.
Last I looked, the Church’s teaching about murder and taking innocent life—whether by poison, forceps, guns, knives, or bare hands—is very clear.
Part of the problem is a confusion of categories. Just as forceps and other medical equipment are morally neutral, so too are guns. The issue is the use of such objects, while the access and available of such objects is also part of the discussion. The Church is just as much against murder by guns as she is against murder by forceps or saline.
Further, however, who is out there promoting murder by guns as a healthy and necessary action? Or saying that is Group A wants to use guns to kill members of Group B, that’s their right and personal choice?
Anyone who is against murder must logically be against abortion. And abortion is particularly vile in nature because the unborn child is completely innocent and vulnerable.
By the way, Abp Cordileone has spoken out about gun violence, saying in 2015: “We do have a gun culture in the United States and the inclination of violence easily leads to the use of firearms.”
Jesus didn’t implement the sacrament of the Eucharist as a political bargaining chip nor as as means to subvert ones free will. What Jesus also said in scripture is to separate Church from State affairs. It seems like this leader of the faith has forgotten these principles. Granted, abortion is wrong. But if you are to offer your prayers to God, pray that women make the right choice to protect their child. Pray that politicians support free will and democracy in this country. Pray that Church leaders have the responsibility to use better discernment on leaving the faithful rather than polarizing an already divided populace that needs compassion and not oppression. Stick to the teachings of Jesus rather than politicians and religious who worship power.
Unfortunately, you mischaracterize abortion as a secular event. Abortion is murder, pure and simple, and premeditated (first degree) at that. That is against a Commandment. That is a law of God, not the state.
Pelosi is perfectly free to go on promoting abortion all she wants. She’s just not free to do this AND receive Holy Communion. Problem is, she wants to have her cake and eat it too. That’s not the way reality works, dearie.
#AbortionCheapenedLife
𝙐𝙣𝙗𝙤𝙧𝙣 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙨 deserve due process.
𝕌𝕟𝕓𝕠𝕣𝕟 𝕙𝕦𝕞𝕒𝕟𝕤 have right to a day in court.
𝓤𝓷𝓫𝓸𝓻𝓷 𝓱𝓸𝓶𝓸 𝓼𝓪𝓹𝓲𝓮𝓷𝓼 are due the sine qua non of habeas corpus.🦗
Thank you for the love and truth you have revealed. It is so encouraging and support that you stood on the Spirit and word on God revealing His love for the unborn and children and morality. Also His love for Ms. Pelosi.
Archbishop Corlione is the worst kind oh hypocrite. Instead of judging others maybe the Catholic Church should clean up its own messes. So many of my friends and family have left the church because you preach but take no responsibility for the horrific deeds priests have committed. At least Senator Pelosi has integrity. Oh and I know you won’t print this because you don’t accept different points of view.
Kelly Greelis Green, Grateful Episcopalian.
I almost expected to read “Grateful Dead” at the end of your sad little screed.
Kelly Green wrote:
“At least Senator Pelosi has integrity.”
Um, really? Because she’s frank about being in favor of killing children?
Interesting.
So molesters are monsters but those who abet millions upon millions of murders are virtuous?
(Virtual emoji: exploding head.)
Are you sure you’re not one of those Elon Musk Twitterbots?
And integrity isn’t the only thing Senator Pelosi doesn’t have.
A seat in the Senate is another.
the catholic church is a private institution and as long as it understands that personal private volition has nothing to do with individual liberty and public policy it is free to be as deluded as it pleases about the meaning of an afterlife –
Negative liberties represent protections , independence and individualism .
Positive liberties represent endowments , dependence and collectivism .
e pluribus unum means individualism and democracy against individualism conspires tyranny by majority .
https://usmessageboard.com/threads/political-science-terminology-negative-positive-wrights-liberties-protections-endowments.707820/
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Catholic and Lutherin charities should NOT be entitled to federal subsidies to inundate the us with illegal migrants . NOTORIOUS for facilitating POVERTY by prohibiting birth the control , in answer to their foolishness , the holier than thou excuse is they are communists .
The Catholic Church has a responsibility to God’s truth even if it offends others. Jesus Christ word offended others because they did not want to accept the truth. Abortion is murder , if that offends anyone then you are blind with ignorance!
Face it, the church doesn’t have a whole lot of arrows in its quiver when dealing with the government. But the archbishop did finally seem to find his backbone and took the time to call Pelosi the hypocrite that she is.
The real question is will she abide by the letter & repent or will she just ignore it, continue her political posturing, and continue on with her life as if it never happened?
If she chooses the former, then the archbishop has helped to stop the wanton slaughter of innocents.
If she chooses the latter, then her motives for all these years are highlighted in sharp contrast to her words.
Either way, the Democrats lose and so I thank the archbishop for finally standing on his convictions. I won’t even ask him what he’s been waffling on for all these years?
As for the rest; I was raised catholic, I refused confirmation, and asked to be excommunicated by the RC church (which they declined to do). So I testify before you as a simple atheist aka “the natural man” (1 Corinthians 2:6-16).
However, given the option of aligning with anything on the Democrat political platform and standing shoulder to shoulder with the church, I’ll stand with the church, because the Democrats are depraved in ways too gruesome to discuss in matters that have nothing to do with spirituality or human dignity.
Archbishop Cordileone is not ‘dealing with the government.’ He is counseling one individual who claims she is Catholic. Ms. Pelosi is an individual servant-representative of the people of the democratic republic of the U.S. The citizens pay her salary.
I thank God you are honest enough to recognize and not hold the hypocritical position (as does Pelosi) of claiming Catholicism as your faith which acting in opposition to its teaching. Good for you that you recognize the Democrat party positions as depraved more often than not. As a Catholic, I believe that depravity affronts human dignity and spirituality.
(You probably lean more Catholic than you realize…)
Worth notice is the failed attempt at literacy and reason with which the pro-abort proponents advertise themselves here. It’s amazing that they didn’t learn in the start of kindergarten that such stuff doesn’t stick.
Once again, I am gravely disappointed in the Church. Rather than take a proactive position to prevent unwanted pregnancies, the Church seeks to blame those who have taken an oath upholding separation of Church and state. The hypocrisy of a public repudiation, contrition, and penance is laughable after years of first denying and then protecting (and still protecting) pedophile priests. The Archbishop needs look no further than his mirror to find a culprit, cococonspirator, and accomplice. Rather than strengthen the dialogue, the archbishop has thrown a bomb that will only spread animosity and suspicion. If the Church has its way on this, what is next? Griswold (contraception), IVF, gay marriage? The archibishp’s actions will only force women and the electorate to think twice about voting Catholic or, for that matter, confirming Catholic justices.
Kelly Green;
Your 5/20/22.
1) It’s spelled ‘Cordileone’.
2) Who is Senator Pelosi?
3) Life begins at conception and that which has been conceived begins to grow and so this conclusion is entirely reasonable – if it’s growing it’s alive.
This is disgraceful politicking, and rather hypocritical. I don’t recall seeing a single priest involved in molesting minors suffering this fate. To quote His Holiness Pope Francis, “Holy Communion is the bread of sinners, not a feast for saints” and you are using your position to engage in political action. Beware the consequences.
As far as I know, no priest ever spent 30 years openly abusing minors while nothing was done to him while claiming that what he was doing was perfectly good and wonderful. But numerous guilty priests have been defrocked and more than a few have gone to prison. All of these desperate attempts at playing the hypocrisy card just reveals the actual hypocrisy on the part of the culture of death crowd.
I am infuriated at forbidding Pelosi to take Communion. Jesus ministered to sinners with love. He allowed Peter and Judas to come to the Last Supper. This is a political act, not the act of a pastor and shepherd to his people. Even the Pope has said that denying Communion is wrong. I wish he would reconsider but know that he thinks he is above the Pope and does not have to act as Jesus would with his flock: with love and compassion. But he gives Communion to priests who have defiled children nonetheless. Truly hypocritical.
Mr. D’Sousa, to your point, I also heard of a priest once who got a speeding ticket, and another who tended to drink too much.
But I’m not sure how they invalidate the Church’s teaching on killing babies. Could you please explain?
Are you saying that no one is accountable for any sinful act until and unless all priests are perfect?
Could it be you have no memory? Could it be you are blind?
Denial of Holy Communion due to persistent obstinate manifest grave sin is not a fate to be feared and hated but an act of truth in charity for which gratitude is the only appropriate response.
Thankyou Archbishop Corlione I am very greatful for your actions, it is right and just. I can only imagine what the prince of lies will be throwing at you, I will be adding your name to my prayers for priests. Again Thankyou if you have the time I would be glad to hear from you and recieve blessings and or advice.
I applaud Archbishop Cordileone on taking action in this situation. I think it is unfortunate that it has come to this, but the Code of Canon Law is clear on the proper procedure. Many Catholics (and other denominations, as I’ve seen from these comments) seem to have a misunderstanding of how sacred the Eucharist really is. I sincerely hope and pray that they will come to realize that it is impossible to be Catholic and assist/support the atrocity of abortion. I will pray for Speaker Pelosi that she may see the error of her ways and adjust them appropriately. I pray also for all bishops that they may have the confidence to act in the best interest of those entrusted to their care.
It is about time polosi was called out! The church should not stop here,every single politician that is pro abortion should receive the same letter right down to the local level. Politicians think they can disconnect their faith from policy.they are not politicians forever but are Catholics and part of church for life.
Yes well to put it really really simply one has to follow the rules if they claim to be part of the team. Or else find another team with different rules
May God bless the Catholic Church. May it grow into a more loving and understanding instrument of God. May the Cardinals adopt a less paternalistic approach and understand that faith is about the individual conscience, not merely about barking orders at the faithful.
Dogs bark. Cardinals barking orders? Pray tell, please give us an example of a cardinal barking an order.
Archbishop Cordileon, a true Catholic in name only. I feel sadness and disappointment that Catholic leadership continues to disparage believers- members of their own community and brotherhood- whom Christ loves unwaveringly. Clergymen and women should maintain a sense of obligation and accountability as it pertains to the teachings of Christ. They need abstain from interjecting themselves in matters of politics and law in toto, but particularly in cases in which significant harm can befall a sizeable portion of our population as a direct result. I pray our leaders can find the grace to banish the hate from their hearts and love unconditionally as the Lord intends. Restore the true meaning of the sacrament instead of diminishing it.
Ms. Pelosi’s membership in the Church is debatable. Assuming that she is/was, a bishop calling out a member of the institution in which he holds lawful authority and jurisdiction is not disparagement. He acts on behalf of the Church whose mission it is to call its members from sin and to assist them in saving their souls. He would be negligent in his duty if he allowed his members to damn themselves.
Nancy is free to worship any idol she chooses. If she wishes to worship the God of Catholicism, she does best to learn what God’s Church commands and teaches and requires her to uphold.
Teaching and counseling are not disparagement. Even if a person persisted in this obstinate error of seeing teaching and counseling and aid to saving as ‘disparagememt,’ a sin of disparagement, when compared to support for abortion, ranks far lower on any ranked scale of severity of sin. Miss Pelosi, for some 40 or so years, has aided, abetted, and supported murder. The sin of murder is MORTAL for many–the victim, the perpetrator, and the ‘legal’ enabler.
Nancy’s continued receipt of Holy Communion, the Body of Christ, while espousing the legality of murder, will continue to be considered sacrilegious in the eyes of Christ’s Church.
If Nancy is to learn anything about God and the Church in which she claims to belong, her review of God’s Law in the Sixth Commandment is the first place she should start.
Support for those who commit the sin against God’s Law in the Sixth Commandment excludes one from a place in line toward salvation. To receive the Body of Christ while supporting murder does the greatest harm and damage to the Body of Christ and thus to Ms. Pelosi’s own soul (and temporal mind).
It is about and on behalf of time – ETERNAL TIME – that Archbishop Cordileone acts. Praise God for gifting His Church with an Archbishop Cordileone.
Now let’s talk about hate. Next time?
What took soooooop long?
Nelson Maniscalco wrote:
<>
Nelson, Nelson, Nelson! Whom did the good archbishop disparage? He made a heartfelt plea to Pelosi to repent, renounce her sin and return to the sacraments in good standing.
As any good shepherd ought.
* * *
<>
This makes no sense. Why would spiritual leaders and women only concern themselves in issues of little human consequence, while abstaining from matters where human lives are actually at stake?
* * *
<>
Nelson, if the Blessed Sacrament has any meaning at all — if it embodies the actual Person of Christ Jesus Himself — it must be obvious that reception of Him by an individual who is in a state of serious sin, who is obstinate in her sin and who has publicly stood in opposition to one of the Church’s most fundamental teachings for decades on end, is a desecration of the most serious kind and cannot be countenanced by our community or its leaders.
In your platitudes and your talking points, you are forgetting someone, Nelson. In fact, the millions upon millions upon millions of human beings whose lives *are* at stake here.
The lives of the children we will never know, who will never have a chance to live, to breathe, to love, to strive, to improve our world, to make their own unique, God-intended contribution to the human story. Creatures beloved by God with a chance to build lives.
(Disproportionate numbers of them minorities, by the way.)
Nelson, you may be fooling yourself with the lofty, virtuous rhetoric you spout, but you’re just exposing the unassailable fact that those on your side of this issue care nothing for either truth or human life.
I am thankful that the church is starting to call out “Catholic” pro abortion politicians. Ms Pelosi advocates for unlimited abortion rights and policies while at same time publicly talking about her Catholic Faith and receiving Communion daily. She is using her association with the church to gather political support. How can she do this ? Its brazen hypocrisy. I will pray for her – but I also think its time she stops this lie.
Cardinal Ratzinger’s comments were noticeably tilted toward a masculine target. I understand the intention and the declarations global humanistic consequence. It is a quibble that a woman was not targeted and Lord knows the Church can quibble. Personally I would like to have seen the Archbishop rightfully deny the Speakers Eucharistic graces but encourage her to approach the Sacrament for a blessing with hands crossed over the heart.
Taking a stand for abortion is one thing…, however to be fair – where is all the outrage for gun violence? Gun violence that happens daily? Gun violence in all communities within the United States of America? Why not take a stand for ALL human life?
Hopefully, standing up for HUMAN life will UNITE us, not divide us.
Last I looked, the Church’s teaching about murder and taking innocent life—whether by poison, forceps, guns, knives, or bare hands—is very clear.
Part of the problem is a confusion of categories. Just as forceps and other medical equipment are morally neutral, so too are guns. The issue is the use of such objects, while the access and available of such objects is also part of the discussion. The Church is just as much against murder by guns as she is against murder by forceps or saline.
Further, however, who is out there promoting murder by guns as a healthy and necessary action? Or saying that is Group A wants to use guns to kill members of Group B, that’s their right and personal choice?
Anyone who is against murder must logically be against abortion. And abortion is particularly vile in nature because the unborn child is completely innocent and vulnerable.
By the way, Abp Cordileone has spoken out about gun violence, saying in 2015: “We do have a gun culture in the United States and the inclination of violence easily leads to the use of firearms.”
Jesus didn’t implement the sacrament of the Eucharist as a political bargaining chip nor as as means to subvert ones free will. What Jesus also said in scripture is to separate Church from State affairs. It seems like this leader of the faith has forgotten these principles. Granted, abortion is wrong. But if you are to offer your prayers to God, pray that women make the right choice to protect their child. Pray that politicians support free will and democracy in this country. Pray that Church leaders have the responsibility to use better discernment on leaving the faithful rather than polarizing an already divided populace that needs compassion and not oppression. Stick to the teachings of Jesus rather than politicians and religious who worship power.
Unfortunately, you mischaracterize abortion as a secular event. Abortion is murder, pure and simple, and premeditated (first degree) at that. That is against a Commandment. That is a law of God, not the state.
Thy shall not kill is the teaching of Jesus. Evil thrives when good men fail to act!
Pelosi is perfectly free to go on promoting abortion all she wants. She’s just not free to do this AND receive Holy Communion. Problem is, she wants to have her cake and eat it too. That’s not the way reality works, dearie.
#AbortionCheapenedLife
𝙐𝙣𝙗𝙤𝙧𝙣 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙨 deserve due process.
𝕌𝕟𝕓𝕠𝕣𝕟 𝕙𝕦𝕞𝕒𝕟𝕤 have right to a day in court.
𝓤𝓷𝓫𝓸𝓻𝓷 𝓱𝓸𝓶𝓸 𝓼𝓪𝓹𝓲𝓮𝓷𝓼 are due the sine qua non of habeas corpus.🦗
Thank you for the love and truth you have revealed. It is so encouraging and support that you stood on the Spirit and word on God revealing His love for the unborn and children and morality. Also His love for Ms. Pelosi.