Pelosi’s Archbishop Asks Catholics To Pray, Fast For Speaker’s Soul Over Abortion Support | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of the The Daily Wire. The author of this post is Amanda Prestigiacomo.

    Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, the archbishop of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-CA) home diocese in San Francisco, California, has called for all Catholics and people of good will to pray and fast for Pelosi's "conversion of heart" on the issue of 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," Cordileone said in a statement, referring to the issue of abortion.

    "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.

    Cordileone noted Pelosi's "maternal heart," referring to her lovingly speaking 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 added.

    Moreover, Cordileone is asking Catholics to sign up for a "Rose and Rosary for Nancy" campaign. The effort delivers a rose to Pelosi's office as a "symbol of your prayer and fasting," Catholic News Service detailed, adding, "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.

    Last month, in an essay for The Washington Post, the archbishop said excommunication from the Catholic Church remains an option for those Catholic politicians who insist on being publicly supportive of abortion in violation of Church teachings, The Daily Wire reported:

    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."

    Archbishop Cordileone went on to suggest that today's Church leaders follow in the footsteps of Catholic leaders during the Civil Rights movement, who used excommunication and the threat of excommunication as a way of driving home how unacceptable it was to support racism.

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