ROME (AP) – U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met with Pope Francis on Wednesday and received communion during a papal mass at St. Peter’s Basilica, witnesses said, despite her position support for abortion rights.
Pelosi attended the morning Mass on the occasion of the feasts of St. Peter and St. Paul, during which Francis gave the stole of woolen pallium to the newly consecrated archbishops. She was sitting in a VIP diplomatic section of the basilica and received communion along with the rest of the congregants, according to two people who witnessed the moment.
The Archbishop of Pelosi’s home, the Archbishop of San Francisco, Salvatore Cordileone, has said he will no longer allow him to receive the sacrament in his archdiocese because of his support for abortion rights. Cordileone, a conservative, has said Pelosi should repudiate his support for abortion or stop speaking publicly about his Catholic faith.
Pelosi has done neither. He described the recent Supreme Court ruling removing constitutional protections for abortion as a “scandalous and heartbreaking” decision that fulfills the Republican Party’s “obscure and extreme goal of ripping off women’s right to take theirs.” own reproductive health decisions “.
And he has spoken openly and knowledgeably about the Catholic faith, even at a diplomatic reception at the U.S. embassy residence in the Holy See on Tuesday evening commemorating Independence Day.
Speaking to a crowd of ambassadors, Vatican officials and other Americans based in Rome, Pelosi spoke about the Catholic virtues of faith, hope and charity and the important role they play in the mission of the embassy of the United States.
“Faith is an important gift, not everyone has it, but it’s the path to so many other things,” he told the crowd.
Pelosi met with Francis Wednesday before Mass and received a blessing, according to one of those attending Mass.
After Mass, Pelosi visited the Community of Sant’Egidio, a Catholic charity close to Francis where he met with refugees helped by the group. At an event to award the charity with $ 25,000 in State Department funding, Pelosi quoted St. Francis of Assisi on the need to preach the Gospel with actions, not just words.
“We had the pleasure of attending this morning’s Mass with His Holiness and many, many church leaders,” Pelosi said. “In the spirit of St. Francis, which is the name of His Holiness and of my city of San Francisco, I thank you for preaching the Gospel, sometimes in words.”
While Francis presided at Mass, he himself did not distribute communion and Pelosi received the sacrament from one of the many priests who distributed it. Since he was archbishop in Buenos Aires, Francis has seldom distributed Communion, precisely to prevent the sacrament from becoming politicized.
Last year, President Joe Biden, another Catholic who also supports abortion rights, said after meeting with Francis that the pontiff told him to continue receiving the sacrament. Biden later received communion during a Mass in a church in Rome that is under the authority of Francis as bishop of Rome.
Pelosi’s participation in the sacrament within the Vatican during a Mass presided over by the pope was even more significant, and a sign of Francis’ reluctance to reject communion. Francis described the Eucharist as “not a prize for the perfect, but a powerful medicine and food for the weak.”
Asked about some American bishops who wanted to reject the sacrament of Biden, Francis told reporters during an air press conference in September that priests should not be politicians and condemn their flock, but should be accompanying pastors. the faithful with tenderness and compassion.
The Vatican has not ruled on the specific issue of communion and the politicians who support abortion in an important teaching document, although the church’s internal canon law says that people in a situation of persistent sin should not be able to receive communion. It has also issued guidelines for the behavior of Catholics in political life, urging them to maintain principles consistent with church doctrine.
The then head of the Vatican’s doctrine office, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the future Pope Benedict XVI, told American bishops in 2004 that priests “must” deny the sacrament if a politician is to to receive communion in spite of an “obstinate persistence in manifest manifest sin.” ”, Including the sin of constantly campaigning for permissive abortion laws.
Ratzinger wrote a confidential letter explaining the principles to American bishops in response to his question about whether to deny communion to John Kerry, who was the Democratic candidate for the presidency. In the end, the bishops ignored Ratzinger’s advice and instead voted in favor of the current policy that allowed bishops to decide for themselves whether to retain it.
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Paolo Santalucia and Alessandra Tarantino contributed.