PELOSI'S ARCHBISHOP IS A POLITICIAN IN ROBES

It's an election year, so certain showboating Catholic priests are doing this again:

Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone announced on Friday that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi should not be admitted to Holy Communion in the Archdiocese of San Francisco, nor should she present herself to receive the Eucharist, until she publicly repudiates her support for abortion.

Cordileone said on May 20 that the step was “purely pastoral, not political” ...

If you believe that, I have a world-famous fog-shrouded bridge to sell you.

Cordileone has been the archibishop of San Francisco since 2012. Why does he say he's doing this now?

“This is the fruit of years of prayer, fasting and consultation with a broad spectrum of Church leaders whom I respect for their intelligence, wisdom and pastoral sensitivity, and it continues my efforts to invite the Speaker down the path of conversion,” Cordileone wrote. “I have debated within my conscience for years what the right thing is to do and, although unpleasant, I’m at peace in my conscience with this decision.”

The election cycle and the impending overturn of Roe v. Wade have nothing whatsoever to do with this!

Not that this is the bishop's first attack on Pelosi.

The archbishop launched a prayer campaign in September 2021 aimed at inspiring “a conversion of heart” among politicians supporting abortion, “beginning with the leader of the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi.”

Cordileone urged Catholics to sign up for the “Rose and Rosary for Nancy” campaign, which delivered thousands of roses to the speaker as a symbol of prayer and fasting for the 82-year-old mother of five.

Cordileone accused Pelosi of participating in a "culture of death" in the $50,000 online ad campaign -- your collection plate dollars at work!



At the time, SFist noted,

The campaign also says that if you sign their online petition, “a rose will be sent to her as a symbol of your prayer and fasting for her."

Yeah, about that. Even the hard-right Daily Caller admits that the campaign cannot get enough roses to match the signature count. When the petition hit 3,500 signatures on October 1, the campaign’s executive director told the Daily Caller, “We couldn’t locate 3,500 roses to send today but we will get them to her.” (They did deliver 1,000 roses.)

Cordileone is a full-service right-winger. In 2008, when he was the auxiliary bishop of San Diego, he helped draft and raise funds for California's Proposition 8, which amended the state's constitution to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Four years later (and just after a DUI), Cordileone barred an Episcopal bishop who had opposed Prop 8 from his installation as archbishop.

In 2018, Cordileone defended Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, the highest-profile antagonist of Pope Francis, when he called on the pope to resign.

In 2020, Cordileone began railing against COVID health restrictions on indoor worship; a church in his archdiocese that conducted an indoor wedding in violation of the restrictions became the center of an outbreak. (Late last year, Cordileone announced that he's not vaccinated.)

And in 2020, Cordileone performed the rite of exorcism in response to the removal of statues of Junípero Serra, the Franciscan missionary, who was guilty of brutal treatment of Natives in California.

Pope Francis doesn't believe in withholding Communion. But that's not Cordileone's approach -- especially in an election year.