Oakland City Wire

Michael Barber, Oakland’s bishop, has endorsed San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone’s decision last week to deny Holy Communion to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi over her stance on abortion rights.

Cordileone detailed his concern about the San Francisco Democrat’s support of abortion rights, and her vocal disagreement with the view of Pope Francis, in a May 20 letter. The archbishop struggled with the issue in his own conscience for many years, the letter said. 

“The most serious duty can sometimes become unpleasant, especially when Catholics in public life explicitly promote practices that involve the direct taking of innocent human life, which is what abortion does,” Cordileone said. 

Pelosi’s views on abortion have become more extreme in recent years, he said, noting that the speaker set herself in direct opposition to the pope when she said she knew more about having babies than he does.

“After numerous attempts to speak with her 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 receives absolution for her cooperation in this evil in the sacrament of Penance,” Cordileone said.

More than a dozen other bishops from across the nation have publicly supported Cordileone’s decision regarding Speaker Pelosi, calling it “courageous” and “compassionate.”

“Bishop Barber of the diocese of Oakland has commended Archbishop Cordileone and his pastoral leadership in handling the scandal posed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi,” Brian Burch, president of Catholic Voice, said. “... The church has no choice but to protect itself and to encourage all of its members to live in communion with its teachings. For the sake of Speaker Pelosi and the rest of the flock in his charge, Archbishop Cordileone is right to call her to return to full communion with the church. We hope and pray she will do so.”

The Catholic Church has maintained a strong stance against abortion for centuries, regardless of evolving biological theories about when exactly life begins, according to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

A Gallup poll conducted in May 2021 found that the majority of Americans do not support unrestricted access to abortion. Among the respondents, 48% said they believed abortion should only be legal under certain circumstances, while 19% thought abortion should be illegal in all circumstances. And 32% of respondents said they believed abortion should be legal in all cases.