Archbishop of San Francisco says Pelosi can't receive communion over efforts to protect abortion rights

The archbishop of San Francisco said Friday that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is Catholic, can no longer receive the sacrament of communion because she has declined to back down from her push for abortion access.

Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone wrote in a public post Friday that his "many requests" have not been accepted to speak with Pelosi, who is from San Francisco, since she vowed to keep Roe v. Wade. The archbishop said he communicated to Pelosi on April 7 that, should she not publicly repudiate her "advocacy for abortion 'rights" or refrain from referring to her faith in public, he would have no choice but to deny her communion. The archbishop's reprimand is the latest development in political and religious debate as some leaders in the Catholic Church speak out against Catholic politicians who support abortion. 

The archbishop referred to the Catholic Church's Cannon 915, which says that, "Those who have been excommunicated or interdicted after the imposition or declaration of the penalty and others obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to holy communion." The Chatecism of the Catholic Church is against abortion.