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.”