Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone was correct to tell House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that she is not eligible to receive Communion because of her support for abortion, Madison’s Bishop Donald Hying said.

“I fully support Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone’s prudent decision to recognize that the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, has persistently taken public positions in support of legal abortion, contrary to her professed Catholic faith, choosing to separate herself from full communion with the Catholic Church, and therefore is not to present herself for the reception of Holy Communion in the Archdiocese of San Francisco,” Hying said in a recent release. 

Cordileone of San Francisco recently made public his decision in a letter, saying it was his duty, and not something he enjoyed.

”As the Archbishop of San Francisco, I am bound to be ‘concerned for all the Christian faithful entrusted to [my] care’ (Code of Canon Law, can. 383, §1),” he wrote in explaining the decision. “This most serious duty can sometimes become unpleasant, especially when Catholics in public life explicitly promote practices that involve the direct taking of innocent human life, which is what abortion does.”

Pelosi’s adamant support for abortion has prompted a long struggle with his conscience, Cordileone wrote. 

“Unfortunately, Speaker Pelosi’s position on abortion has become only more extreme over the years, especially in the last few months,” he said. “Just earlier this month she once again, as she has many times before, explicitly cited her Catholic faith while justifying abortion as a ‘choice.’”  

Cordileone said he had spoken with Pelosi numerous times about “the grave evil” and the “danger to her own soul” of her stance.  

“I have determined that the point has come in which I must make a public declaration that she is not to be admitted to Holy Communion unless and until she publicly repudiate her support for abortion ‘rights’ and confess and receive absolution for her cooperation in this evil in the sacrament of Penance,” he wrote.

The Catholic Church has stood strongly against abortion for centuries, regardless of evolving biological theories about when exactly life begins, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has said. It referenced the Catechism, which says, "Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law" (No. 2271). 

A Gallup poll conducted last May found that the majority of Americans do not support unrestricted access to abortion. Almost half, 48%, of respondents said they believe abortion should be legal only under certain circumstances, while 19% believed abortion should be illegal in all circumstances, and 32% supported unfettered access to it.