By Ray Cardello for July 25, 2021 Season 2 / Post 41

Joe Biden got the bad news earlier this year. Nancy Pelosi got the word, too. You cannot have it both ways, said the respective Archbishops to the two Democrat Catholic Leaders. You cannot claim to be Catholic, receive the Sacraments, and support a woman’s decision to murder her unborn child by abortion.

The following is the condemnation Pelosi received this week in response to her criticism of the Hyde Amendment.

The Archbishop of San Francisco on Thursday responded to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) after she cited her Catholic faith while defending efforts to permit federal funding of elective abortions.

Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco, Pelosi’s home diocese, criticized her stance on the Hyde Amendment.

“Let me repeat: no one can claim to be a devout Catholic and condone the killing of innocent human life, let alone have the government pay for it,” he told CNA. 

“The right to life is a fundamental — the most fundamental — human right, and Catholics do not oppose fundamental human rights.”

The Hyde Amendment, a federal policy since 1976, prohibits funding of most abortions in Medicaid. The amendment has been debated since its inception. Democrats are against it, and Republicans have always supported the amendment since its inception in the 70s. The argument by Democrats is that by not affording payment for abortions via Medicaid, we are discriminating against low-income women.

There has never been a concern for the unborn infant in the Democrat’s argument, which is the issue here. The Catholic Church, as well as nearly every Republican, believes that life begins at inception. Anyone who favors abortion under almost any instance violates the belief of the Church and puts you in the position Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi find themselves today. They disavow their faith and are therefore forbidden from receiving the Sacraments of the Church.

This statement is a bold stance by the Archbishops and is long overdue. Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden have been using the label of Devout Catholic to their advantage for years. Doing so allows them to play both sides of the fence. Their belief in the right for women to have an abortion and have it paid for by the government aligns them with the Pro-Choice folks. Claiming they are True Catholics places them in good favor with the evangelicals who can overlook the abortion support. Catholics and Pro-Life supporters have always found this hypocrisy abhorrent. 

We are thrilled that someone like these two Archbishops finally dared to speak out and take on these two influential people. The question now is what is the Church going to do to support these two Church leaders? Hopefully, the Priests who serve the masses that Biden and Pelosi attend will be onboard and refuse to administer the Sacrament of Holy Communion when they approach the altar. This is the only way the condemnation has any validity. If they are still allowed to receive the Sacrament, then it is all just meaningless dialog. There is a movement in the country to tighten the restrictions on abortions which kill over 800,000 unborn infants each year in the United States. This move by the Catholic Church is overdue but still welcome by most Catholics.

To put the Abortion statistics in perspective, 2018 showed the lowest number of abortions in a year since Roe V Wade. People are appalled at the number of COVID-19 deaths, which is roughly 600,000. That was for one 15 month period. Nearly one million abortions are done every year. It may be on a decline, but it is still far too many. We on the Right hope the trend continues and welcome the Church to help continue the fight for the life of every unborn child. Amen.