Catholic World Report

Pelosi says she’s ‘pleased’ with Vatican letter to U.S. bishops on Communion

By Matt Hadro for CNA

Michael Candelori/Shutterstock
Washington D.C., May 13, 2021 / 16:00 pm America/Denver (CNA).

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday said she was “pleased” with the Vatican’s recent letter to U.S. bishops on Communion for pro-abortion politicians.

Pelosi, who is Catholic, was asked by EWTN News Nightly correspondent Erik Rosales about the topic of Communion on Thursday.

“I think I can use my own judgment on that,” Pelosi said of receiving Holy Communion.

The Speaker has long supported legal abortion and has advocated for taxpayer-funded abortion by repealing the Hyde Amendment. She has also supported the Equality Act, legislation that the U.S. bishops’ conference (USCCB) has warned would “punish” religious groups opposed to the redefinition of marriage and transgender ideology

Pelosi added that she was “pleased with what the Vatican put out on that subject” of Communion for pro-abortion Catholic politicians, claiming that the Vatican’s statement “basically said ‘don’t be divisive on the subject’.”

The Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) wrote the head of the U.S. bishops last week regarding admission to Communion.

The bishops’ conference was reportedly planning to consider a statement on the Eucharist this year, either at their spring meeting in June or at their fall meeting in November. They were planning to address the topic of admission to Communion of Catholics in public office who support permissive legislation on intrinsic evils such as abortion or euthanasia.

However, the bishops had planned to frame any statement on Communion within the larger context of general worthiness to receive Holy Communion.

The Vatican’s statement, from Cardinal Luis Ladaria, exhorted the bishops to “serene” dialogue among themselves, to ensure that they “agree as a Conference that support of pro-choice legislation is not compatible with Catholic teaching.” Then the bishops should dialogue with Catholic politicians who support legislation not compatible with Church teaching.

After this, Ladaria said, the bishops should consider the next step. If they decided to issue “a national policy on worthiness for communion,” they would need to do so as a unified conference, respecting the rights of local ordinaries, and framing their statement “within the broad context of worthiness for the reception of Holy Communion on the part of all the faithful, rather than only one category of Catholic.”

They should also should not appear to say that “abortion and euthanasia alone constitute the only grave matters of Catholic moral and social teaching that demand the fullest level of accountability on the part of Catholics,” Ladaria continued.

The matter of Communion for pro-abortion politicians has resurfaced recently. President Joe Biden, a Catholic, supports taxpayer-funded abortion, as does Pelosi.

In January, Pelosi criticized pro-life voters on a podcast with former U.S. senator Hillary Clinton. Pelosi’s ordinary, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco, responded that “No Catholic in good conscience can favor abortion.”

Appearing on EWTN Pro-Life Weekly the following week to discuss his statement to Pelosi, the archbishop was asked about the matter of denying Communion. Catholics, he answered, need to rediscover the Church’s teaching on worthiness to receive Communion in order “[f]or that kind of action [denial of Communion] to make sense to a lot of people.”

Regarding denial of Holy Communion, Canon 915 of the Code of Canon Law states that Catholics who are “obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to holy communion.”

In a 2004 memo to U.S. bishops, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger wrote that a Catholic politician who is “consistently campaigning and voting for permissive abortion and euthanasia laws” is engaging in “formal cooperation” in grave sin, cooperation that is “manifest.”

These Catholics should not present themselves for Communion, and if they persist in their errors despite the admonition of their pastor, they must be denied Communion, he wrote.


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63 Comments

  1. The sheer arrogance of Pelosi’s statement that she can “Use my own judgement” tells us how poorly the church has done in trying to exercise control over dissonant elements in the church. I think this is what I believe, so “anything goes”, is not the way to expound on Church teachings or keep wild and incorrect elements from having their say at the expense of church doctrine. Pelosi and her kind will try to maintain control no matter what element of the world they are operating in. It may work for her personally, but it bodes badly for the future of the church. A church that has no standards,sways in the wind, and perforce means nothing to the wider world..

    • May 14th: Yes Pelosi is arrogant but the Priests who would still give her the Blessed Sacrament are more responsible for her attitude than she is. She has said before that there are Priests who will give her Communion no matter what – will there be consequences for those Bishops and Priests? There should be.

  2. Some things are intrinsically evil. The Church has long excluded those known to be in a state of mortal sin from receiving the Eucharist to protect them from committing sacrelege as well as to protect the Eucharist from being profaned. It is pretty clear that the Church has failed to educate its “faithful” adequately as to the nature of the Eucharist: it is, in effect, God put at our mercy. That the bishops and Rome itself don’t seem to grasp this fundamental dogma is profoundly troubling.

  3. What about excommunication? This woman (Pelosi) openly and often flouts her beliefs in killing and hatred and then poses as a Catholic. She is in total defiance of Church teachings and in a position of power. To let her continue is confusing to the flock.
    These are just my thoughts.

  4. How revealing that Mrs. Pelosi relies on “her own judgment” when she has not even grasped, let alone discerned, the totality of the Vatican message.
    All the civil discourse on the subject of worthy reception of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity will not save any soul that persists in mortal sin. Moreover, while abortion and other offenses against sexual integrity are not the only “capital” sins, they still warrant condemnation—and tragically, lacking repentance, self inflicted damnation.
    Praying that Mrs. Pelosi is awakened before it is too late, and she meets authentic judgment, as will we all.

  5. ‘pleased’ should be related to whether her latest designer ice cream flavor is acceptable or not, not whether the first life line to a new soul is cut on purpose.

  6. This is the proof of the pudding on the motivations behind the CDF’s rationalizations. It is a scandal of gargantuan proportions. The Holy Eucharist, the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, True God and True Man. is being given to those who hold it only substantially significant for the purpose of their own false consolation — but even far more to bolster their public profile.
    Talk about politicizing the Eucharist? And all with the enthusiastic enabling of an episcopate unrecognizable as Catholic.
    It is sickening.
    We are sheep without temporal shepherds. They have trashed any credence which they retained. It is as if they don’t exist, but they do, and only to entice the flock off a cliff.

  7. “In the midst of this struggle we mustn’t forget the infallible certainty of Our lord’s promise that the gates of Hell will not prevail against the Church He built on Peter. Holy mother church is not responsible for the sins and heresies of churchMEN. She subsists pure and undefiled, in grace and in truth, in the person of Our Lady, the Church’s Mother and supreme model. In the end the Immaculate Heart of Mary will triumph. Let us take refuge in the writings of the martyr Pope, Benedict XVI, whilst the unnatural C6 Sankt Gallen Mafia and the strange second bishop in white fulfill their mission in salvation history, for without Judas the Pascal Mysteries would be incomplete.

  8. It is more than disappointing, but not unexpected, that Nancy Pelosi would make a statement like this. I am sure that President Biden would say nearly the same if asked that same question. I understand that denying the Eucharist to the likes of Biden/Pelosi is, theoretically, a slippery slope. If we carry this action to its logical extreme, we would have to have ‘monitors’ at the church doors giving ‘star’ stickers to those who are worthy to receive Communion. And, although abortion is the more emotional issue, should we not also focus on those who ardently support the death penalty? (Catholics are, after all, Pro Life from conception to natural death). Then, you have to weigh the question of “when/where does it all stop?” The underlying problem is that no matter what actions the Bishops may take in June, it will have no effect on those like Biden/Pelosi who aggressively act to expand and promote abortion in the USA and around the world. It is sad and sickening. Pray, pray, pray! And, may God save America.

    • I believe that the Eucharist is denied only to those who PUBLICLY stand against Christ and His Church and the the teachings of the Church, especially those who urge others to do the same as Nancy Pelosi has done. It’s time for our Bishops and Priests to realize that ordinary Catholics who strive to live their faith with honor and integrity are confused at the different standards for public figures.

  9. If it is up to the Bishop to decide about the politicians in their diocese then when will AB Cordileone of San Francisco stand up to Pelosi? More talk and no action. And the poor excuse of the USCCB doing nothing but talking and now putting off till the Nov meeting any decision in so serious a matter of Christ’s teachings. Didn’t He say something about being lukewarm He would spit you out of His mouth?

  10. Pelosi relies on her “own judgment” when presenting herself for Communion. Chairman Joe relies on the rosary in his pocket. The members of the USCCB argue amongst themselves about the meaning of Canon 915 in the Code of Canon Law, even though it and the Catechism of the Catholic Church are clear on this issue. The problem is that too many of the bishops are spineless and wishy-washy when it comes to Church teaching. There is simply no room for individual interpretation of either Canon 915 or the Catechism. The Church should lead, not follow, politicians who disagree with the teachings. Pelosi, Chairman Joe and others must not believe that God was serious when He said, “Thou shalt not kill.” Disagreeing with God and following one’s own ill-formed conscience have consequences. The bishops should take their teaching role seriously and develop backbones to support the teaching of the Church!

  11. Therein the imminent danger of furthering Catholics’ collective sense of disbelief in the Real Presence, and requirement we repent of our sins as the condition of receiving Him in the Eucharist. Dialogue among bishops then with politicians on their home ground a long drawn out process with little expectation of hardened pro infant death politicians as well as pro infant death pro transgender prelates Cardinals Cupich, Tobin, Gregory [the Pontiffs favorites implanted in the USCCB to follow orders] coming to agreement on what? Conversion to the faith? Most likely an accommodating compromise based on their false conscience which spells victory for apostasy and defeat for the faithful. If abortion and deviate sexuality are deemed permissible conscientiously then a doctrine of impermissiblity has no force or value. Regardless whether as alleged by G Weigel Cardinals Cupich and Tobin flew to Rome and bushwhacked Cardinal Ladaria Ferrer compelling him to send the infamous letter focused on an infamous note it’s naive to think what’s transpiring is not driven by His Holiness. Truth is truth here a long held Catholic doctrine on receiving the Eucharist reaffirmed by John Paul II and then CDF prefect Cardinal Ratzinger. Either we witness this truth or we betray its Author. As former Bishop Hastrich urged me when confronted with ethical impropriety at a medical center, Cardinals and bishops in favor of witnessing this truth have every right, as well as obligation to ‘stick to their guns’.

  12. I agree with Catholic teaching 0n abortion, but do they? The cover-ups on the sex scandals, the belief in the real presence, what else is there. Their answer is governed by politics before Christ

  13. What a difference a few millennia can make:

    On Mount Sinai God tells Moses to remove the soles from his feet because he is standing on holy ground. Today, on the Hill, Nancy Pelosi tells the world to remove late-term/pre-born children from their souls–that dismemberment by partial-birth abortion is sacred ground: ““As a practicing and respectful Catholic, this is sacred ground…” (June 26, 2013).

    The puppet-master for the “devout” hand puppet Biden has spoken (now he also “respectfully disagrees” with the Church, and with the evidence before his own sleepy-Joe eyes).

  14. We all need to pray for the bishops that they get this right. Biden and Pelosi are an insult to the Catholic faith grounded in Christ’s teaching. Regardless of their positions in the current government, the teachings of the Church have not and will not change. Their faith is not first in their agenda, their positions in politics is and a disgrace to God and His followers.

  15. She should be happy with it. Its a big win for her (and for Biden, not to mention for Cupich, Tobin, McElroy, et al). No matter what the other US Bishops might say, they can rest calmly in the knowledge that the PF and the CDF have their back.

  16. Whether abortion is a “single” political issue or one of “many” political issues is besides the point. What is abortion? It is the killing of unborn innocent human beings. Speaker Pelosi, “Why do you support killing unborn innocent human beings?” Until you stop supporting and funding the killing of innocent people you cannot be offered communion and should not present yourself for it. Not complicated.

  17. “The Vatican’s statement, from Cardinal Luis Ladaria, exhorted the bishops to “serene” dialogue among themselves, to ensure that they “agree as a Conference that support of pro-choice legislation is not compatible with Catholic teaching.” Then the bishops should dialogue …”

    Whoa whoa whoa slow down there. I think you skipped a few steps. First the Bishops should dialogue amongst themselves to see if they agree that Jesus rose from the dead. For “if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith also is in vain.” Then they should discuss whether they believe “in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church” and only after that they can see whether they agree that statutes promoting the murder of innocents are contrary to the teaching of that Church.

  18. ““I think I can use my own judgment on that,” Pelosi said of receiving Holy Communion.”

    She is old. It will not be many years before she has to look God in the face and tell Him that her judgment was more reliable than that of His Church. Pray that she will be given the grace to repent before then.

    • And when the time comes, and Ms. Pelosi is sharp-elbowing her way to the front of that Heavenly line, she will be so shocked when St. Peter sadly shakes his head and points out the line for the down elevator.

    • Pray that she will be given the grace to repent before then.(sic)

      Pray that she accepts the grace already available to her to repent prior to her death.

  19. Liars, cheats and thieves like Pelosi, Biden or McCarrick can abuse the Eucharist all they want because of free will but they can never harm the resurrected body and blood of Jesus Christ. St. Augustine pray for our nation and our American Catholic leadership. Nations rise and fall but the Catholic Church has held because of the truth of the Eucharist. But current cancer on our holy Mother Church as it relates to the heart, organs as well as all its muscles that the American Church represents can only be stopped by it’s doctors – they know this cancer is spreading. How do you give a diagnosis from several thousand miles away without knowing, seeing or trying to understand symptoms the patient? Yet another example of European arrogance in believing only the head counts.

  20. Well just the fact that Ms. Pelosi is ‘pleased’ should scare the ‘hell’ out of all faithful children of God. We need to pray earnestly for all these political leaders who have sold their souls for fame and fortune.

  21. Many who consider themselves Catholic haven’t been catechized to realize the gravity of Pelosi and Biden receiving the Eucharist while supporting and enabling abortion in the U.S. and globally. If President Biden calls himself a devout Catholic many believe him. They are being “catechized” by a politician! The bishops must make the Church’s true teaching known in a big way. More serene discussion won’t even be noticed by everyday Catholics or devout politicians who play by their own rules.

  22. Why do Catholics go after politicians about the abortion problem? Politicians do not make the decision for a woman to have an abortion. The pregnant woman makes the decision to have an abortion. Our time and resources should be spent addressing these pregnant women. Maybe if we should try to fill our churches with all the pregnant women so they can hear the Word of God. You believe abortion is murder because you listen to the Word of God. The Catholic Church must distance itself from the man-made government in Washington—-this relationship is destroying the Church. God created a Church on earth to change the world. God did not create a government.

    • The proper question is: “Why do Catholics care about the sacraments and how Catholics act in relation to them?” The answer(s) to that should be fairly obvious.

  23. May God have mercy upon her and others who believe as she believes and then fosters that belief. Abortion itself is mortal sin as is the scandal that occurs when one receives the Eucharist sacrilegiously; ie. receiving it when it has been denied for the position one holds on abortion.

  24. Pelosi may be arrogant. On the other hand, she may just be well-catechised by the Church of Nice of the last 50 or 60 years. Cupich and Tobin too.

  25. The Church is infested with schismatics, heretics, and apostates. The only remedy is the one demanded by Archbishop Vigano. Scrap the illegitimate Vatican ll, because it is well documented it was illegitimate. Bring to us the real Council of St. John XXlll, the one Modernists at the beginning of the Council, with no authority nor right voted out the “second Holy Vatican Synod” (Vatican ll) of St. Pope John XXlll. The Council Pope John said would open the windows of the Church to let the fresh air in, his Council that promised a New Springtime for the Church. By Modernists aborting St. Pope John XXlll’s Council, God has given his Church only a pall of darkness.

    • The only remedy is the one demanded by Archbishop Vigano. Scrap the illegitimate Vatican ll, because it is well documented it was illegitimate.

      The only remedy? Well, if that’s true, I’m no longer going to be Catholic. Fortunately, that’s hogwash.

      • Carl E. Olson, The door to leave is open, you can exit at any time. What I said is not “hogwash”. It is factual truth unless Pope Benedict XVl tells lies in his Biography. The part about the Council. Read it, then call it “hogwash” if you wish. If you decide to read it you will understand why Traditionalists have long said the Council was hijacked. Those who hijacked the Council underestimated God’s Justice. Instead of a New Springtime God gave us darkness that is getting darker by the day.

      • Carl E. Olson, St. Pope John XXlll said he wanted a Council in the tradition of “Nicaea, Trent, and the First Vatican Council”. He called for the “second Holy Vatican Synod” (Vatican ll) on Jan 25, 1959. The Council officially began on Pentecost May 17, 1959. There were over 850 Scholars and thousands of theologians. All drafts were sent to all the Bishops of the world, for their input, suggestions, and corrections. All the Bishops of the world were called to Rome for Oct, 11,1962 to start the finalization of the Council by signing the 70 Decrees of the Council. From the Council, we had already gotten the reformed Liturgy called the Missal of 1962. Right before Oct, 11 St. Pope John XXlll said, “It’s a done deal now we can move fearlessly ahead”. Modernists were plotting to overthrow the Council of St. Pope John XXlll and they met until the day before Oct, 11. they malevolently managed to garnish votes in order to throw out the actual prepared and finished Council of Pope John XXlll. And they made their own Council. Full of errors, bearing no good fruit, a Council forsaken by the Just God. Because of the Council, sacrileges communions are being allowed. Let’s look at our Catholic Faith, if something does not bear good fruit then it is not from God or it is rejected by God. Jesus made it clear with the cursing of the fig tree.

        • Angelo there are places that refuse communion in keeping with VATICAN II and you have no explanation for it nor have YOU any VATICAN II basis to support it. Why should I believe you? You want to be around for a long time getting accolades for conquering VATICAN II but I will not be able to give them to you, Don Quixote! What do you expect me to do about that.

          • Elias Galy, I would expect you to obtain a copy of the Biography of Pope Benedict XVl. Jump to the Chapter on “Council”. There you will find that I am only mostly repeating what Pope Benedict XVl said. They are his words not my own.

          • Don Quixote didn’t understand himself. Angelo, I feel you are like that. The windmills drive the pumps for irrigation and dyke; and they push the mill-stones. So Cervantes is telling you how misdirected and out of reason you can become “even when your heart is in the right place”. And when you add the vigour of honour and valour it exhausts you to the bone. Be careful because you become quite mad and there is no assurance you will be able to dream your way out of it or otherwise escape. It is no wonder to me that following the ideas of the times, people continue misreading the Cervantes fable; as happened in the period of the French Revolution and as it is going today. No, VATICAN II is just what it says, the City on the Hill shining out in the darkness. Your chivalry trying to bring it down is like Don Quixote’s in another respect: the false witness you make of the whole thing. It’s a big sin. This is why I undertook to pray for you at the start rather than sit with you beside the bucolics and extemporate or try the poisoned Fierabras or drag nostalgias everywhere to find the right blessing.

  26. A tip of the Biretta to Father Zuhlsdorf for posting the following at his blog.

    To all bishops and priests about Communion for manifest sinners from St. John Chrysostom

    “I speak not only to the communicant, but also I say to the priest who ministers the Sacrament: Distribute this gift with much care. There is no small punishment for you, if being conscious of any wickedness in any man, you allow him to partake of the banquet of the table: ‘Shall I not now require his blood at your hand?’ (2 Sam. 4:11). If some public figure, or some wealthy person who is unworthy, presents himself to receive Holy Communion, forbid him. The authority that you have is greater than his. Consider if your task were to guard a clean spring of water for a flock, and you saw a sheep approach with mire on its mouth–you would not allow it to stoop down and pollute the stream. You are now entrusted with a spring, not of water, but of blood and of spirit. If you see someone having sin in his heart (which is far more grievous than earth and mire), coming to receive the Eucharist, are you not concerned? Do you try to prevent him? What excuse can you have, if you do not?

    “God has honored you with the dignity of priesthood, that you might discern these things. This is not to say that you should go about clothed in a white and shining vestment; but this is your office; this, your safety; this your whole crown.

    “You ask how you should know which individual is unworthy to receive? I am speaking here not of some unknown sinner, but of a notorious one.

    Shall I say something more fearful. It is not so grievous a thing for the energumens [demon possessed] to be within, as for such as these, whom Paul affirms to trample Christ under foot, and to account the blood of the covenant unclean, and to do despite to the grace of the Spirit. For he that has fallen into sin and draws near, is worse than one possessed with a devil. For they, because they are possessed are not punished, but those, when they draw near unworthily, are delivered over to undying punishment. Let us not therefore drive away these only, but all without exception, whomsoever we may see coming unworthily.

    Let no one communicate who is not of the disciples. Let no Judas receive, lest he suffer the fate of Judas. This multitude also is Christ’s body. Take heed, therefore, you that ministerest at the mysteries, lest you provoke the Lord, not purging this body. Give not a sword instead of meat.

    If someone who is not a disciple, through ignorance, comes to Communion, do not be afraid to forbid him. Fear God, not man. If you fear man, you will be scorned and laughed at even by him; but if you fear God, you will be an object of respect even to men. But if you cannot do it, bring that sinner to me, for I will not allow anyone to dare do these things. I would give up my life rather than give the Lord’s Blood to the unworthy.

    “If, however, a sinful person receives Communion, and you did not know his character, you are not to blame, however. I say the things above concerning only those who sin openly. For if we amend these, God will speedily reveal to us the unknown also; but if we let these flagrant abuses continue, how can we expect Him to make manifest those that are hidden? I say these things, not to repel sinners or cut them off, but I say it in order that we may bring them to repentance, and bring them back, so that we may take care of them. For thus we shall both please God and lead many to receive worthily. And for our own diligence, and for our care for others, we will receive a great reward. May we attain that reward by the grace and love that God gives to man through Our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory, world without end. Amen.”

    St. John Chrysostom, Sermon 82.6

  27. German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer — who went to the scaffold for his opposition to Hitler and the Nazis — warned about ‘cheap grace’, calling it — among other things — communion without confession. Are Catholics no longer required to go to confession before receiving the sacrament? Of course Bonhoeffer used that phrase not in a pro-forma way, but in the sense of a deeply searching moment that lays one emotionally and spiritually naked before God. One wonders about the earnestness of a Biden or a Pelosi “confession” in light of their support for abortion and its ‘disposal’ of 62-plus-million unborn human beings. We cannot know, nor should we, what passes in any confessional. But it’s worth asking whether any priest who has heard their confessions ever asked them about how that support rests on their conscience.

  28. Speaker Pelosi’s response can perhaps best be categorized as a masterful spin. So masterful, in fact, that it almost gives one veetigo.

  29. There are many problems in the Church and when they are added up it =The Modernist heresy condemned officially by St. Pius X.. We got a Council that only took away from us and offered nothing in return. Every error that comes to mind is justified. It was debated at the Council to change the old Theology at the Council, naming St. Thomas Aquinas by name as the old theology. They decided on permanently adopting the New Theology. This can only be defined as creating a new Church. I will not follow a different Gospel being preached. Am I a schismatic? No, I uphold only the Truth of Jesus Christ as handed down to us for 2000 years through Christ Church. I am opposed to the Modernist heretics, schismatics, and apostates. The Modernists in the Church have become a tower of babble. They all speak different languages when interpreting Christ in His Church. The problem in the Church is the Modernist heresy, instead of just thinking of the problem, let’s get rid of it.

    • On the contrary, VATICAN II is seated in Church discipline. At the very outset you fail to acknowledge it or even just recognize it and so you can not witness to it or to truth. There you go. You are bright enough and loyal enough to understand that you could need a help in these areas and yet you want to pitch and roll all over the place like the very VATICAN II heretics that were condemned before the Council and remained condemned in the Council! Haha!

      • Elias Galy, You say that like Don Quixote I don’t understand myself. Can you tell me who does understand themselves? God knows us better than we know ourselves, it is He that I am most dependant upon. In the manner, you explain Don Quixote does not understand himself, Don Quixote is a perfect description of you, or rather your chasing after windmills going round and round and getting nowhere is a better description. It is becoming more and more evident throughout the Catholic world that something went wrong at Vatican ll and the nightmare is only getting worse. You say Vatican ll “is seated in Church discipline”. How so? Please answer the question. Among all the Cardinals, Bishops, Priests, who is a shining good example of Vatican ll, who champions Vatican ll who lives Vatican ll, and could be called a living Saint? “The City on a hill shining out in the darkness” Vatican ll? You’ve got to be kidding me! The Church of Vatican ll sits in darkness with only rodents as inhabitants (And I’m speaking of the destroyed Church and not the actual Church which can never be destroyed). There are many problems in the Church today, they date back to St. Pius X’s condemnation of the Modernist heresy, that heresy is what’s happening in the Church today. It’s fair to say that the hijacked Council codified Modernism as the New Religion. Modernism is an abomination before God.

        • I may not be the best teacher; could be I do not even qualify. Nevertheless, you, as for all of us, still have to be open enough to discover what more there is that we must encounter. This too is in Aquinas. So forgive me for provoking you, by riling you up I can see you are not a computer.

          So here it is. The dogmatic documents renew us in hope through the mercies of God. The liturgy constitution requires holy worship and the pastoral constitution requires faithful discipleship. The nine decrees call us forth in justice and prudence according to so many varieties. The declarations are affirmations that show we will not be disappointed. And the appendix business documents remind us that the main incidentals do not get overlooked.

          Bless you Angelo. I give away all my jewels on the internet and you are the first to get a share after CWR has the spoils. Imagine that.

          • Elias Galy, If the decrees of the hijacked Council are so great? Why is the Holy Roman Catholic Church founded by Jesus Christ in shambles? People no longer believe in the Real Presence, the Nature of the Mass for most has never been heard of, the Confessional lines are short, the Communion lines long, Mass has become just a routine where those who attend can’t even explain why, the Bishops use their authority just to wield it not for Christ for sure, changes were forced upon us that caused those who love God to only squirm with horror, dying Religious Orders, Lack of vocations, all Catholic identity lost, one Bishop recently called on his flock to cease making the pre-Vatican ll sign of the Cross, It was changed after change after change and there has been no end to it. Elias Galy do you really think God wills this for His Church? All this came from the Documents of the hijacked Vatican ll. The Documents hailed as the greatest thing that has ever happened to the Church since the first Pentecost, No stone left unturned, everything about our Catholic Faith has been damaged in many ways. Today thanks to Pope Benedict XVl we see that the take over of Vatican ll was a major mistake and now we are at last free from the Modernists to fix what is broken. God Bless! Many prayers from Andrew Angelo. My good friend!

          • Surely then in those kind of situations, every good question ought to be treated with care? And so many examples are in the Gospel and in the Church and her true life? And they undergird the Council and nourish all? The same care that is from the healthfulness of the sacraments?

            I am mere layman and only a Christian novice, even for my age; but I have offered what I know that for me amount to some conviction. I can only say thank you that you took some time with what I had to say. From here I have to rely now on some of the wisdom of Cardinal Ratzinger I discovered in ON THE WAY TO JESUS CHRIST -:

            Chapter 3 where he was speaking about communication and culture,

            “The necessary intervention requires understanding, familiarity with the fruit, familiarity with the ripening process, experience and patience.”

            Chapter 5 where he has fixed Christ before our eyes,

            “When theology becomes mere knowledge about bible and history of Christianity, not associated with other existential decision, then it does not serve faith but destroys it.”

  30. I think the language used here, on the blog, is excessively polite about persons who freely support practices of the ancient Carthage, which even pagan Roman empire hated, – the practice of the mentioned civilization which routinely murdered their children.

  31. Given that Pelosi is from San Francisco and Archbishop Cordileone is the head Churchman in San Francisco, one (I) would hope that he take the logical next step – instruct his priests to deny her Holy Communion, but only after first warning her NOT to present herself for the Sacrament.

  32. “However, the bishops had planned to frame any statement on Communion within the larger context of general worthiness to receive Holy Communion.”

    Naturally, this is shimmying the berry bowl to even out the berries. Leveling the public sinner manifesting grave evil with the private sinner committing grave transgressions under the table, so to speak, is meant to inflict general guilt thereby negating the public scandal given by the said public sinner. Both should be denied communion after admonition from their pastor (if the pastor is aware of the sin), however, the public sinner manifesting grave evil on a continuing basis while also justifying their stance calls for action on the part of the bishop to instruct his ministers to deny the Holy Eucharist to the offender. If the bishop fails in his duty he participates in the propagation of grave evil including sacrilegious Holy Communions.

    Bishops are doing a “cop out” by mixing together public and private commission of grave evil. It’s like a child being called out and the child says, “Well they did it too, how come they don’t get in trouble.” Looks like the hierarchy and Ladaria are well honed on the skills of “child’s play”—-only the consequences are very grave —the scandal, the loss of souls and the sacrilegious Communions.

  33. Come on. What’s the big deal?

    So Nancy Pelosi says she decides whether she’s permitted to receive Communion. So what?

    She’s already able to decide whether people are male or female independent of their physiology and their genes.

    And which skin colors make people virtuous and which make them evil.

    Basically, all Nancy is saying is that she, not God, is the ultimate arbiter of reality. And, thanks to our media, we already knew that.

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