Pope Francis speaks on resignation plans, Roe v. Wade, and pro-abortion politicians

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Bp. Strickland to Pope Francis: Denying Communion to Nancy Pelosi is ‘pastoral care’
‘Pastoral care for Mrs. Pelosi is to tell her that she should not receive the Body of Christ until she stops advocating the murder of unborn children,’ wrote the Texas bishop.



Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas.

Tue Jul 5, 2022
TYLER, Texas (LifeSiteNews [adapted]) – Bishop Joseph Strickland told Pope Francis pro-abortion and self-acclaimed “Catholic” Nancy Pelosi should be denied Holy Communion. 

In a July 4 tweet responding to Pope’s Francis’ criticism of denying pro-abortion politicians Communion, Strickland stated that denying pro-abortion U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is treating her with “pastoral care.”

I thank Pope Francis for his clear message that abortion is murder & that politicians should be treated with pastoral care. Pastoral care for Mrs Pelosi is to tell her that she should not receive the Body of Christ until she stops advocating the murder of unborn children.

— Bishop J. Strickland (@Bishopoftyler) July 5, 2022

“I thank Pope Francis for his clear message that abortion is murder & that politicians should be treated with pastoral care,” he tweeted. “Pastoral care for Mrs. Pelosi is to tell her that she should not receive the Body of Christ until she stops advocating the murder of unborn children.”

This statement comes after Pope Francis recently criticized denying Communion to pro-abortion politicians during an interview following the reversal of Roe v. Wade. 

The Pope was questioned on the controversial issue of Catholic politicians receiving Holy Communion while openly supporting the “right” to kill children in the womb, especially considering that Pelosi regularly receives the Eucharist. 

Pelosi has advocated abortion and subsequently been barred from Holy Communion by her local bishop, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco.

However, while Pope Francis did condemn abortion, he suggested that, “the Church loses its pastoral nature” when Communion is denied to pro-abortion politicians who profess to be Catholic and that, “it causes a political problem.”

Last week, Nancy Pelosi received Holy Communion during a Mass presided over by the Pope, after she had been denied the sacrament by American bishops.

In May, Strickland banned Pelosi from Holy Communion until she “stops advocating the murder of children.”

The Catholic Church teaches that the Eucharist is the literal Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ. The Church teaches that no Catholic who has committed a mortal sin is to present himself or herself for Holy Communion until he or she has confessed that sin in the Sacrament of Confession. 

Canon 915 of the Church’s Code of Canon Law instructs 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.” 

Furthermore, in Evangelium Vitae, Pope St. John Paul II employed his full papal authority to publicly condemn abortion as a grave sin, “since it is the deliberate killing of an innocent human being.” 

While Pope Francis argues that the Church “loses its pastoral nature” by denying Communion, a person receiving Holy Communion while in a state of mortal sin commits another mortal sin by receiving Our Lord in an unworthy manner and is thereby further distanced from the Church and God.