Catholic bishop bars communion to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi over abortion rights support

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaks at the start of a discussion with historians on how to “establish and preserve the narrative of January 6th” on the one-year anniversary of the attack on the Capitol in Washington, January 6, 2022.

The Roman Catholic archbishop of San Francisco ordered priests to deny communion to Nancy Pelosi because of her support for abortion rights.

The Supreme Court is expected to overturn the constitutional right to abortion within weeks, which is why the archbishop wants to bar Pelosi from receiving the Eucharist in her home district.

The Roman Catholic Church considers abortion to be a grave sin.

I have determined that she is not to be admitted to Holy Communion because of the grave evil she is perpetrating, the scandal she is causing, and the danger to her own soul she is putting at risk.

Most Catholic bishops don't want to deny communion to politicians who support abortion rights.

The order only applies to priests in his diocese. Pelosi can still receive communion in a church outside of San Francisco.

According to the Catholic News Agency, Cordileone told Pelosi that she would not be admitted to the church if she presented herself for communion because she supports legal abortion.

In a letter to priests in the archdiocese Friday, Cordileone wrote, "There are those who speak of such actions as I am taking as weaponizing the Eucharist."

The accusation of weaponizing is based on the application of Church teaching.

He said that his motive is pastoral, not political.

Pelosi said last month that the controversy over her support for abortion rights gets her burned up, because she is very Catholic and practicing. They want to throw me out. I don't want to make their day.

In a 2008 interview with C-SPAN, Pelosi said that she was a regular believer and that it would be a severe blow if she were denied communion because of her views.

CNBC reached out to Pelosi's office to inquire about the announcement denying her communion.

It is important for Catholics to receive communion. It is believed that it is the body of Jesus Christ. He shared bread and wine with his apostles at the supper before he was crucified, and the words he spoke were similar to the ones that were in the sacrament.

The Vatican warned the U.S. bishops against denying communion to President Joe Biden, a Catholic who supports abortion rights.

The leader of the Church, Pope Francis, implied in September that priests should not deny communion to anyone.

Francis said at the time that he had never refused the eucharist to anyone.

The pope said that if we looked at the history of the church, we would see that every time the bishops have not managed a problem as a pastor, they have taken a political stance on a political problem.

Francis asked what the pastor must do. He is also a pastor for the excommunicated.

The U.S. bishops did not pass a declaration that politicians who support abortion rights should be denied communion.

The statement that was approved by the bishops said they are responsible for remedying situations that involve public actions that are not in line with the Church and the moral law.