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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi got the Eucharist at a papal Mass at the Vatican, even though she publicly supports abortion rights and can't get Communion in her home town because of it.
The California Democrat, who is a practicing Catholic, was given Holy Communion at St. Peter's Basilica on Wednesday, according to two witnesses who told the Associated Press that Pelosi was sitting in a VIP diplomatic section of the church.
Pope Francis was in charge of the Mass, which was held to honor Sts. Peter and Paul, but he did not give Pelosi Communion. Instead, one of the many priests in the service gave it to her.
She did, however, meet with the pope earlier in the day and get a blessing from him.
Pope Francis does not often give Communion because he has tried to keep the sacrament away from politics.
The Mass on Wednesday comes more than a month after Salvatore Cordileone, the Roman Catholic archbishop of San Francisco, told Pelosi that she couldn't receive Communion until she changed her public pro-choice stance.
Cordileone wrote in a public notice that a Catholic lawmaker who supports abortions that are paid for, even though they know what the Church teaches, commits a "clearly grave sin" that makes others very upset. "Because of this, all Church laws say that these people "are not to be admitted to Holy Communion.""
"I'm telling you that you can't come to Holy Communion, and if you do, you won't be let in, until you publicly apologize for supporting abortion and confess and get forgiven for this grave sin in the sacrament of penance," he said.
Almost immediately, several other Roman Catholic archbishops from around the country did the same thing and banned the speaker.
Pelosi has been a public supporter of federal abortion rights for a long time. Before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on June 24, she tried to make it a law.
Last week, Pelosi said that the ruling being overturned was "outrageous and heartbreaking."
The speaker was asked about Catholic and social beliefs earlier this month, because both the late Pope John Paul II and the current Pope Francis have said that abortion is the same as murder in the eyes of the Catholic Church.
“Do you agree with Pope Francis and Pope John Paul II that abortion is murder?” a reporter asked.
“What I agree on is that whatever I believe, agree with the pope on, is not necessarily what public policy should be in the United States as people make their own judgments, honor their own responsibilities, and attend to the needs of their families,” Pelosi responded.
When pressed further, Pelosi blasted the politicization of the issue, calling it “uniquely American.”
“Let me just say this, a woman has the right to choose, to live up to her responsibility,” Pelosi said. “It’s up to her, her doctor, her family, her husband, her significant other, and her God. This politicizing all of this, I think it’s something uniquely American and not in other countries.
“Ireland, Italy, Mexico has had legislative initiatives to expand a woman’s right to choose — very Catholic countries,” she added.
“I’m a very Catholic person, and I believe in every woman’s right to make her own decisions,” Pelosi said.
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