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Who is Salvatore Cordileone? San Fransisco Archbishop BANS communion for Nancy Pelosi over Roe v Wade

The Catholic church has always considered abortion evil and the Catholic teachings clearly prohibit abortion

Salvatore Cordileone, the Archbishop of San Francisco’s Roman Catholic church has banned House Speaker Nancy Pelosi from receiving Holy Communion during mass until she backs away from her support for abortion. “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,” Cordileone wrote in the letter to priests of the Archdiocese of San Francisco Friday, May 20.

"After numerous attempts to speak with her (Pelosi) to help her understand the grave evil she is perpetrating, the scandal she is causing, and the danger to her own soul she is risking, I have determined that the point has come in which I must make a public declaration that she is not to be admitted to Holy Communion unless and until she publicly repudiates her support for abortion 'rights' and confesses and receive absolution for her cooperation in this evil in the sacrament of Penance." Cordileone in his letter insisted that his decision was 'pastoral' and not 'political' states a report in the Daily Mail.

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Earlier on March 22, 2022, Pelosi spoke about being a “devout” Catholic in an on-stage discussion, while defending her staunch support of legalized abortion and arguing that the Supreme Court should not overturn Roe v Wade — positions that place her sharply at odds with Church teaching. When asked about the future of Roe v Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision which legalized abortion nationwide, Pelosi praised the House’s success in passing a bill for the codification of Roe.

Pelosi made a clear statement that abortion access is fundamental to respect for women and families and questioned why “somebody in Washington D.C. should be deciding the size and timing of your family and the rest.” In response to the leaked draft opinion of the Supreme Court decision that may overturn Roe v. Wade, Pelosi wrote a letter to colleagues on Monday, May 9 stating that the draft is “the culmination of Republicans’ decades-long crusade against women’s fundamental freedoms.” "With this draft ruling striking down the nearly fifty-year-old precedent of Roe v. Wade and undermining the Constitutional right to privacy, Republicans would rip away women's right to make the most intimate and personal decisions,” the California Democrat wrote. “If handed down, this decision by GOP-appointed Justices would mean that, for the first time in our history, America’s daughters will have less freedom than their mothers,” she added.

Who is Salvatore Cordileone?

Salvatore Cordileone, the archbishop has headed the San Francisco archdiocese since 2012, after four years as Bishop of Oakland across the San Francisco Bay. Cordileone’s educational background includes seminary studies at the Pontifical North American College in Rome, an undergraduate degree in sacred theology, and a doctoral degree from the Pontifical Gregorian University. Before he was named a bishop, he spent seven years in Rome as an assistant at the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, the Church’s “supreme court” on matters of canon law.

Cordileone may want to chastise Pelosi but he has some skeletons of his own which make his ban on Pelosi sound quite presumptious. In 2012, Cordileone was charged and arrested for the case of drunk driving. In October 2018, a law firm named 135 priests linked to the Catholic diocese in San Francisco who were accused of sexual abuse, and Cordileone was expected to release a list of sex abusers mentioning the names of the priests. However, Cordileone publicly refused to release an official list of clergy known to be credibly accused of child sexual abuse.

The Catholic church has always considered abortion evil and the Catholic teachings clearly prohibit abortion. This stance of theirs has not changed and remains unchangeable. The Church also disagrees with abortion as it goes against natural law, which is an act that goes against what nature intended. The Church takes an absolutist stance on this and believes that abortion is wrong in all situations.

Cordileone had tweeted about his decision: "After numerous attempts to speak with Speaker Pelosi to help her understand the grave evil she is perpetrating, the scandal she is causing, danger to her own soul she is risking, I have determined that she is not to be admitted to Holy Communion", he tweeted.

Social media, however, wasn't too impressed with the SF Archbishop's ban and took to slam him on the social media website. "You don’t get that power, thankfully. Talk to the Pope," a user replied. In October 2021, Pelosi had met with Pope Francis at the Vatican. Recently, The National Catholic Reporter wrote Pope Francis was asked about abortion rights and said he would "never" deny anyone Communion.

One slammed the archbishop for being an attention-seeker, "Jesus wouldn't agree but of course, you being such a holy, holy person you'd know best. And of course it's not political at all, right Sal? Stop with the drama. You're just looking for attention." One social media provided a list of the clergy accused of sex scandals and questioned the archbishop about which was more 'evil'.