Nancy Pelosi receives Eucharist in Washington DC after San Francisco ban

Thursday, May 26th, 2022

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reportedly received the Eucharist in Washington DC two days after the archbishop of San Francisco announced he would bar her from receiving the sacrament in his diocese.

Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco, who is known for his conservative views, said he would bar Pelosi from taking Communion in her home city due to her stance on abortion rights.

According to Politico’s Playbook, Pelosi received Communion on Sunday (May 22) during Mass at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Georgetown, a parish where President Joe Biden has also attended services.

Footage from the church’s livestream of the service shows a person in an orange jacket resembling Pelosi coming forward as the Eucharist is being distributed and walking away behind other worshippers.

According to the Rev John Beal, a canon lawyer and professor at the Catholic University of America, Cordileone’s ban is not believed to affect Pelosi’s ability to take Communion outside of churches under the archbishop’s purview.

“It applies only to ministers, ordained and non-ordained, in the Archdiocese of San Francisco,” Beal told Religion News Service. He noted that it applies to diocesan leaders as well as those who belong to a religious order. “It does not apply outside the Archdiocese.”

Several conservative bishops voiced support for Cordileone’s decision after his Friday announcement.

However, Cardinal Wilton Gregory, the leader of the Archdiocese of Washington, is one of several who have signalled that they don’t have any plans to deny Communion to politicians dissenting from church teaching.

In 2020, when bishops and other Catholics were debating whether to deny Communion to President Joe Biden, who backs abortion rights, Gregory said he would continue to offer the president the sacrament.

After Pope Francis met with President Biden at the Vatican in October, the president said the pope told him to “keep receiving Communion” despite heated debate about the issue among US bishops.