Archdiocese of San Francisco / Facebook (Left), The White House / Flickr (Left)
CV NEWS FEED // Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone responded to Nancy Pelosi’s statement that she is continuing to receive Communion, despite his instructions for her to stop receiving until she repents of her support for abortion.
As CatholicVote previously reported, Pelosi told the National Catholic Reporter in an interview, “I received Communion anyway. That’s his problem, not mine. My Catholic faith is, Christ is my savior. It has nothing to do with the bishops.”
The Archbishop responded in a Dec. 10 statement: “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.”
Archbishop Cordileone then quoted Ezekiel 3:20-21 as the inspiration for his own conduct, in which the Lord tells the Ezekiel if a sinner dies without receiving an admonition to repent, “I will, however, hold you responsible for their blood.”
“As a pastor of souls, my overriding concern and chief responsibility is the salvation of souls,” the Archbishop wrote. “And as 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 then invited Pelosi to engage with open, honest dialogue, writing that such dialogue “can dispel misperceptions and melt away hostilities, and build new bonds of friendship.”
He continued, “I ask this not only 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.”
The Archbishop concluded, “This should not be a problem, as Catholics are not afraid of the truth.”
