Presumably because of her role in Sister Act, Whoopi Goldberg feels an expertise in Catholicism. This morning on The View, she weighed in on the Nancy Pelosi Communion issue.
Whoopi: "The archbishop of San Francisco is calling for speaker Nancy Pelosi to be denied receiving Communion because of her pro-choice stance … this is not your job, dude. That is not up to you to make that decision." pic.twitter.com/TCSe0t6XLY
— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) May 23, 2022
She told San Francisco archbishop Salvatore Cordileone that it’s not his job to tell her not to present herself for Communion. Except that is his job. He’s the pastor of the souls in his care. Goldberg went on to say that Communion is bread for sinners.
First of all, Catholics believe that bread becomes the Body of Christ during the consecration of the Mass. So that ups the stakes of what we are talking about — God Himself. Pelosi has written previously about how it is hard to believe what the Church teaches about the Eucharist — even going so far as arguing with her granddaughter about it on her First Communion day. Which suggests Pelosi is more Protestant in thinking about Communion — and she wouldn’t be alone. But the Real Presence is Catholic doctrine. And a lot of the things we Catholics spend time doing in the Church (Eucharistic adoration I’m about to head to; why some of us were in agony not being present at Mass during the Covid shutdown) don’t make sense if that isn’t true.
Secondly, Catholics are supposed to be in the state of grace when we present ourselves for Communion — no mortal sins on our souls. And to receive the grace of reconciliation in Confession, we need to be truly sorry and seek not to sin again. After Confession — as has been my experience as a human being — I will sin again, but I actually really don’t want to. Which is why I need God’s grace to do better; to change.
Pelosi is in the position where not only is she supporting legal abortion and confusing people by saying that’s quite fine for a Catholic, she’s now pushing for more abortion. By everything we can see in her public positions, she isn’t looking to be forgiven and stop what she’s doing on this front. Which is why her archbishop felt he had to do something.
In an interview with Gloria Purvis for America magazine, Cordileone spoke with great reverence about the person and soul of Nancy Pelosi. The pastor is doing his job. Much of the politics and commentary around this is hurting, not helping, people hurting and confused and miserable and angry because of legal abortion.