'It's Never Morally Permissible to Kill Innocent Human Life'
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The archbishop of San Francisco is trying to save Nancy Pelosi's soul.
The California congresswoman indicated this week that she continues to receive Holy Communion despite Abp. Salvatore Cordileone's counsel against her doing so due to her radical abortion stance.
In an interview with the left-leaning National Catholic Reporter (NCR), Pelosi said she has actively ignored the prelate's instruction issued in 2022.
"I received Communion anyway. That's his problem, not mine," she flouted.
Doubling down on her disregard of ecclesiastical authority, she added: "My Catholic faith is, Christ is my savior. It has nothing to do with the bishops."
On Dec. 10, the same day the NCR report was published, Cordileone issued another statement, urging prayers for the 84-year-old politician's conversion.
"First and foremost, I would like to renew my request for prayers for the Speaker's conversion on the issue of human life in the womb, that it be consistent with the respect for human dignity she displays in so many other contexts," he wrote.
The spiritual leader of the city named in honor of St. Francis of Assisi explained his moral obligation to speak up on the matter, citing the prophet Ezekiel.
"[A]s Ezekiel reminds us, for a pastor to fulfill his calling, he has the duty not only to teach, console, heal and forgive, but also, when necessary, to correct, admonish and call to conversion," he said.
"If the just turn away from their right conduct and do evil when I place a stumbling block before them, then they shall die. Since you did not warn them about their sin, they shall still die, and the just deeds that they performed will not be remembered on their behalf. I will, however, hold you responsible for their blood. If, on the other hand, you warn the just to avoid sin, and they do not sin, they will surely live because of the warning, and you in turn shall save your own life." (Ez 3:20-21)
Cordileone ended the statement by extending an invitation to the California Democrat "to dialogue in areas of disagreement, such as if and when it can ever be morally permissible to kill innocent human life, but also in other critical areas where our views on behalf of human life and dignity are aligned. ..."
"This should not be a problem, as Catholics are not afraid of the truth," he concluded.
Two years ago, Cordileone put the then-Speaker of the House of Representatives on official notice regarding the moral conflict between her well-known – and influential – radical support of abortion and her reception of the Blessed Sacrament.
"I am hereby notifying you that you are not to present yourself for 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," the churchman stated.
He cited Canon Law, the code of ecclesiastical laws governing the Catholic Church, that mandates his pastoral responsibility to exhibit "concern for all the Christian faithful entrusted to his care" (can. 383, §1).
Cordileone did not specifically cite, but is no doubt aware of, Canon 915, which states that those "obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to holy communion."
Just a month after Cordileone's 2022 notification, Pelosi made a highly-publicized trip to Rome to meet with Pope Francis. According to witnesses, she received Communion during a papal Mass in St. Peter's Basilica, having beforehand received the pope's blessing.
Three months after, in August, Pelosi hijacked the moral language of the Church, calling restrictions on abortion "unjust" and "sinful" at a "reproductive health" roundtable discussion at the University of California, San Francisco Mission Bay campus.
Texas Bishop Joseph Strickland applauded Cordileone's recent statement, saying it demonstrates the archbishop's staying true to his "chief responsibility" of tending to "the salvation of souls."
"Thank you, Archbishop, let us pray that Ms. Pelosi's heart will be drawn back to the Truth of the Sanctity of Life which flows from the Sacred Heart of Christ, Truth Incarnate," Strickland posted on X.
Lay people also reacted to Cordileone's recent pastoral statement on social media, with many thinking it didn't go far enough:
"Why is she not excommunicated? Clearly she thinks she can make up all her own rules and has spit in the face of our faith. But until they take action she and the 'Catholics for choice' group will continue to do harm to all of us." – online comment
"Time to Excommunicate. Maybe that would wake her up, to save her soul." – online comment
"Priests need to be on board with Archbishop." – online comment
"Likely to have the Pope's cell number. The left defiles our church on a daily basis." – online comment
"At what point does the archbishop finally say: You are excommunicated? How many more decades of sacrilegious communions, how much more mockery of the Faith, all while holding forth as a 'practicing' Catholic?" – online comment
Many others note that Pelosi's remarks to NCR indicate she positions herself above Church laws to which faithful Catholics adhere.
They also note that the sense of superiority that worked during her decades-long career in DC, thanks to Deep State cover, will not work for her in eternity.
Still others see a demonic connection between her blasé approval of the murder of unborn babies as a necessary corollary to the nonchalant and reckless manner of her reception of the Body and Blood of Christ.
The reception of Our Lord Jesus in Holy Communion, one of the most sacred practices of Christianity, requires a humble and contrite heart.
Dr. Barbara Toth has a doctorate in rhetoric and composition from Bowling Green State University. She has taught high school in Poland and Oman and at universities in the US, China and Saudi Arabia. Her work in setting up a writing center at Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahmen University, an all-women's university in Riyadh, has been cited in American journals. Toth has published academic and non-academic articles and poems internationally.
And shortly after her smug defiant quip, "It's his problem, not mine." God permitted her to fall down a flight of stairs causing her a broken hip. I call that a metaphor for what may await her after she passes into the afterlife. Red wine plus arrogance (and a starcase) are a spiritual disaster waiting to happen. At least maybe Ol' Joe will pardon her.....