Denying House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., communion was not only the correct decision by San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, but more lawmakers need to defend the unborn, according to Father Frank Pavone on Newsmax.
"It was very fair – in fact, it's a decision that numerous Catholics have been saying, 'when is this going to happen?'" Pavone told Friday's "Rob Schmitt Tonight." "And let's clarify this: This is not Archbishop [Salvatore] Cordileone only just acting on a whim or his own opinion.
"The bishops of the catholic church have taught consistently for a very long time, first of all, that there is only one Catholic position on abortion, and that it's always wrong."
Pelosi and President Joe Biden are not only defending abortion but advocating for it and expanding it, Pavone added to guest host Hogan Gidley.
"Public officials have a duty to protect the unborn," Pavone continued. "Advocating abortion – which is what Pelosi does, not just agreeing with it, but making it more widespread – is inconsistent with receiving communion, and it's biblically based.
"Scripture tells us if you want to love God, you have to love your neighbor. Well, there's a whole group of neighbors here, the children in the womb, that Pelosi is failing to protect, Biden is failing to protect."
Denying communion is the least the Catholic church can do to advocate for the unborn, Pavone added.
"This doesn't just apply to Catholics, any public official, these public servants, have to know the difference between serving the public and killing the public," Pavone said. "They are allowing and promoting the killing of babies. So that's why it's a very right decision to clarify that this is inconsistent with communion."
Pavone denounced "weak leadership" in the Catholic church, who are apologists for abortion advocates.
"We have weak and inconsistent leadership in the church," Pavone said. "There are many bishops now whom we've already seen speaking up in agreement with what Archbishop Cordileone did. There will be more in the coming days.
"And then there will be those who will say, 'oh, well, I'm not here to judge, or I'm not here to punish.' Well, this is not judgment, and it's not punishment."
Leadership should not tolerate the discarding of Catholic church positions and teachings, much less capitalizing politically on claiming to be Catholic, Pavone concluded.
"It's insulting to us when somebody prominent claims to be a follower of Christ or devout Catholic and then they can take certain key teachings of the church and just throw them out the window and just want to continue to get political profit from saying they're Catholic," Pavone said. "It's not right, so lot of us are just upset about this."
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