Strickland, for his part, said in an email to Religion News Service that he is less concerned with the canonical question, referring to it as “a question of jurisdiction” and acknowledging “interpretations of Canon Law will differ.” But he insisted his own ban arose primarily from his “desire was to emphasize that what Archbishop Cordileone is doing is considered to be ‘medicinal’ for the state of Mrs. Pelosi’s soul.”
Asked about the new bevy of bans levied against Pelosi, a spokesperson for the Diocese of San Diego replied, “We don’t really go out of our way to comment on what’s going on in other dioceses.”
On Sunday, two days after Cordileone’s public letter, Pelosi received Communion at a Jesuit church in Washington, where Cardinal Wilton Gregory, the archbishop of Washington, has signaled his opposition to the idea of barring politicians from Communion because of their views on abortion.
Later, Pelosi rebuked Cordileone on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” show, railing against the archbishop’s anti-abortion advocacy and his resistance to LGBTQ rights, noting his role in facilitating California’s since-defunct ban on same-sex marriage.
She also questioned why the bishops had not refused the Eucharist to politicians who dismiss other Catholic teaching on life issues. “I wonder about death penalty, which I am opposed to,” Pelosi said. “So is the church, but they take no action against people who may not share their view. … So, we just have to be prayerful. We have to be respectful. I come from a largely pro-life Italian American Catholic family, so I respect people’s views about that. But I don’t respect us foisting it onto others.”
RELATED: Pray, Fast for Nancy Pelosi’s Heart to Change on Abortion, Says Her Archbishop
During last year’s debate on giving the Eucharist to politicians who support abortion rights, Bishop Kevin Rhoades, then-chair of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Doctrine, suggested denying Communion could be extended to issues beyond abortion.
“Even though a lot of the publicity has been about pro-abortion politicians, I think we would also look at, let’s say, someone who’s involved in human trafficking,” Rhoades said. “The scandal that would be created if someone publicly was involved in that, or was a leader in a white supremacist group or whatever, going up and receiving Holy Communion — obviously that would be problematic.”
In the wake of a mass shooting that took place this week in Uvalde, Texas — where 19 children and 2 adults were killed by a gunman — some Catholics have asked whether bishops should also withhold Communion from politicians who don’t support legislation to curb gun violence.
“Will any bishops ban politicians who don’t support gun control laws from receiving Communion? We protect the lives of the unborn,” read a tweet from the Rev. James Martin, an author and consultor to the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication. “How about, as Pope Francis said, ‘those already born‘?”
This week, Cordileone came out strongly in favor of measures to curb gun violence, tweeting, “There have to be sensible gun regulations to help stem the pandemic of gun violence, such as stronger background checks, restrictions on AR-15s, and raising the age of purchasers to 21.”
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RNS asked the Archdiocese of San Francisco if Cordileone would also support barring people from Communion who refuse to support gun control legislation, but did not receive a reply.
This article originally appeared here.
