Nancy Pelosi is in serious trouble. And not the kind of trouble associated with such petty, earthly concerns like her party losing its majority in a humiliating and historic fashion this coming November. And with that loss, her loss of the speakership for the second time in a dozen years.
No, Nancy Pelosi has some serious trouble with the disposition of her soul. And she needs our prayers, even if she doesn't believe it herself.
Last week, her Archbishop, the aptly named Salvatore Cordileone, notified Pelosi that she should no longer present herself for the Holy Eucharist when attending Mass.
This is a completely reasonable and proper ruling that is entirely in keeping with the Catholic Church, the Catechism, and the Church's tradition.
It's detailed in Paragrah 1457, to be precise: "Anyone who is aware of having committed a mortal sin must not receive Holy Communion, even if he experiences deep contrition, without having first received sacramental absolution, unless he has a grave reason for receiving Communion and there is no possibility of going to confession."
If Pelosi tries to claim she was unaware that she was in a state of mortal sin, the Archbishop's proclamation should make it perfectly clear.
For any non-Catholic (or Pelosi/Biden-type Catholic) who has an issue with the Catechism's position on receiving the Eucharist, the Scriptural basis is very clear.
St. Paul laid it out in 1 Corinthians 11:27: "Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself."
It couldn't be any clearer. And, Bishop Cordileone made it very clear... it is on Pelosi to not present herself for communion. If she does, priests in San Francisco are now under orders to deny her the Blessed Sacrament.
Naturally, Pelosi has arrogantly fought the announcement and is "pushing back" against her Church. She's treating this like some political power play where she believes she can sway public opinion, whip enough votes and win the day as if it were an exercise in the kind of bully politics she's practiced from observing her father run Baltimore like the "mafia-adjacent" thug-like mayor that he was.
This will not work out well for the speaker.
Pelosi pled her case on MSNBC, where all good Christians go to testify to the Lord, and made a remarkable concession in her defense of abortion on demand.
“I wonder about the death penalty, which I am opposed to,” she said. “So is the Church, but they take no action against people who may not share their view.”
First of all, thank you Madam Speaker. By equating abortion with the death penalty you have inadvertently conceded an important point: Both of these issues involve extinguishing a human life.
There are a few important differences, though. Some very important differences.
First, it is true that in recent decades the Catholic Church has moved away from permitting the death penalty and in the recent version of the Catechism it was ruled "inadmissible." This is very different, however, to how the Church has and always will judge the act of abortion.
Abortion is intrinsically evil. This means it has always been evil under every circumstance and it always will be.
The death penalty is not intrinsically evil. We know this because the Church, herself, has utilized the death penalty at times in her history, and biblically, we know that God Himself has used the death penalty as punishment.
This means there are certain circumstances where the death penalty is permitted and even just. Not so with abortion.
Second, abortion kills an innocent person. The most innocent of all persons, one who has not even been born. The death penalty kills a guilty person... a person found guilty of the most heinous crimes.
Finally, there is a question of scale. In 2021, 11 convicted murderers were put to death via capital punishment in America. In 2020, there were approximately 908,000 abortions performed.
Pelosi's "Oh, but what about the death penalty" defense is paltry and morally bankrupt.
Does anyone think she would agree to outlaw abortion if the bill also outlawed the death penalty? Seriously, anyone?
Nancy Pelosi is 80-years-old. Her time to repent is running out. She is on the wrong side of American history on this issue and, more importantly, on the wrong side of salvation.
She needs to repent, and her time is seriously running out.
She needs to pray, and she needs our prayers as well.