House Speaker Nancy Pelosi received communion while attending mass at the Vatican in Rome, despite the fact the archbishop in San Francisco said she would be denied the sacrament because of her views on abortion.
Ms Pelosi, who is a devout Catholic, received the sacrament at a mass spoken by Pope Francis at St Peter’s Basillica on Wednesday. The mass was done for the feast of St Peter and St Paul.
The Pope does not give communion during such ceremonies and anyone who wishes to take communion simply has to approach one of the priests at the basillica.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a convert to Catholicism, also attended the mass. Mr Gingrich’s wife served as ambassador to Vatican during Donald Trump’s presidency. Ms Pelosi and Mr Gingrich attended an Independence Day reception at the US Embassy with Ambassador Joe Donnelly, whom President Joe Biden nominated to serve as ambassador.
Ms Pelosi receiving communion comes a month after Salvatore Cordileone, the Archbishop of San Francisco, sent a letter to the House speaker saying she would not be given communion because of her views on abortion.
“I am hereby notifying you that you are not to present yourself for Holy Communion and, should you do so, you are not to be admitted to Holy Communion, until such time as you publically repudiate your advocacy for the legitimacy of abortion and confess and receive absolution of this grave sin in the sacrament of Penance”, the letter said.
Ms Pelosi’s attendance at the Vatican comes the week after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, the 1973 decision that enshrined constitutional protections for seeking an abortion. Justice Samuel Alito, who wrote the majority opinion, is also a Catholic.
Mr Biden, who is a Catholic, received communion when he visited the Vatican last year and said Pope Francis told him he could continue receiving communion.
The pope has decried politicising communion.
“Communion is not a prize for the perfect”, he said last year. “Communion is a gift, the presence of Jesus and his Church.”
