OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
The Catholic archbishop for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s home diocese in San Francisco has called on the faithful to pray for the California Democrat and to fast for her “conversion of heart” regarding her support for abortion.
“A conversion of heart of the majority of our congressional representatives is needed on this issue, beginning with the leader of the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi,” Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone noted in a statement, referring to the issue.
“I am therefore inviting all Catholics to join in a massive and visible campaign of prayer and fasting for Speaker Pelosi: Commit to praying one rosary a week and fasting on Fridays for her conversion of heart,” he said.
The archbishop went on to note Pelosi’s “maternal heart,” a reference to how she speaks lovingly of her children and grandchildren.
“Pope Francis has called abortion murder, the equivalent of hiring a hitman to solve a problem,” the archbishop said. “The solution to a woman in a crisis pregnancy is not violence but love.”
“Please join me in praying the rosary and fasting for a conversion of Speaker Pelosi’s maternal heart to embracing the goodness and dignity of human life not only after birth, but in the womb as well,” he continued.
The archbishop is also asking Catholics to sign up for a “Rose and Rosary for Nancy” campaign, which involves the delivery of small roses to Pelosi’s congressional office as a “symbol of your prayer and fasting,” Catholic News Service reported, noting further, “The rose is a symbol of St. Therese of Lisieux, the ‘Little Flower,’ and of Mary, the ‘mystical rose.’”
“At this particular moment in the history of our nation, we need more than ever the intercession of our Blessed Mother, St. Therese and all other saints who have shown us the path to life,” Cordileone said.
“Pelosi has been a strong advocate of legal abortion and is a leader on the Women’s Health Protection Act, which codifies the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion nationwide,” the Daily Wire reported.
Early last month after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to block a Texas law from taking effect that bars abortions after fetal heart tones are detected — or about six weeks of pregnancy — Pelosi said regarding the legislation, “Upon our return, the House will bring up Congresswoman Judy Chu’s Women’s Health Protection Act to enshrine into law reproductive health care for all women across America.”
“The Supreme Court’s cowardly, dark-of-night decision to uphold a flagrantly unconstitutional assault on women’s rights and health is staggering,” Pelosi added.
“The Women’s Health Protection Act would guarantee a pregnant person’s right to access an abortion, along with providers being able to perform abortions. It would codify into law protections provided under the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized abortion across the country in 1973. Chu’s bill would do this by establishing a statutory right to perform or receive the procedure, free from restrictions that single out abortion care,” USA Today reported at the time.
In an op-ed for the Washington Post last month, Cordileone argued that excommunication is a real option for Catholic politicians who support abortion, including Pelosi and President Joe Biden:
The archbishop said, plainly, in his appeal to Catholic politicians to resist support for abortion, particularly in light of abortion restrictions taking effect in places like Texas, that “[y]ou cannot be a good Catholic and support expanding a government-approved right to kill innocent human beings.”
“This summer, we provoked an uproar by discussing whether public officials who support abortion should receive the sacrament of the Eucharist,” Cordileone wrote. “We were accused of inappropriately injecting religion into politics, of butting in where we didn’t belong.”
“I see matters differently,” the archbishop continued. “When considering what duties Catholic bishops have with respect to prominent laymen in public life who openly oppose church teachings on abortion, I look to this country’s last great human rights movement — still within my living memory — for inspiration on how we should respond.”
