Nancy Pelosi defends abortion stance on MSNBC, hits back at archbishop by referencing the Bible
Pelosi knocked the Catholic Church over the death penalty, citing the Gospel of Matthew
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., attempted to defend her Catholic faith and how it squares with her pro-choice beliefs on MSNBC after a San Francisco archbishop barred her from receiving Holy Communion.
During a Tuesday appearance on "Morning Joe," Pelosi said the issue of abortion is not just about terminating a pregnancy because the people criticizing its legality and morality are the same people who are against contraceptives, family planning and in vitro fertilization.
"It’s a blanket thing, and they use abortion as the frontman for it while they try to undo so much," Pelosi said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Pelosi also criticized the Catholic Church for its inaction against death penalty backers.
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi talks to reporters during her weekly press conference at the Capitol, Jan. 13, 2022. (AP Photo/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades)
"I wonder about the 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."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}She also said the Gospel of Matthew was the "agenda" of the Church, a position that she claimed is rejected by many who side with them on the termination of pregnancies.
Pelosi, who noted she comes from a pro-life Italian-American family, said she respects the beliefs of all of the above, but does not respect forcing it onto others.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}She then turned her attention to San Francisco archbishop who denied her communion, who she claimed has previously been "vehemently" anti-LGTQ.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was barred by the San Francisco archbishop from receiving Communion due to her pro-choice abortion stance. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
"This decision taking us to privacy and precedent is very dangerous in the lives of so many American people and again not consistent with the Gospel of Matthew," Pelosi added.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Pelosi, in the MSNBC interview, was likely referencing San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, who had written to the California Democrat, informing her that she should not present herself for Holy Communion at Mass, and that priests will not distribute communion to her if she does present herself.
"A Catholic legislator who supports procured abortion, after knowing the teaching of the Church, commits a manifestly grave sin which is a cause of most serious scandal to others. Therefore, universal Church law provides that such persons ‘are not to be admitted to Holy Communion,'" he said in the letter.
In the wake of the leaked opinion this month suggesting that the Supreme Court could soon overturn Roe v Wade, Pelosi has not talked about reducing abortion, but she has continued to claim that her pro-choice stance is in line with Catholic teaching.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"This [topic] really gets me burned up in case you didn't notice, because again I'm very Catholic, devout, practicing, all of that. They would like to throw me out. But I'm not going because I don't want to make their day," she said earlier this month.
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Fox News' Adam Shaw contributed to this report.