Whoopi Goldberg told the archbishop of San Francisco on Monday that it’s not his job to decide whether Nancy Pelosi should receive communion.
In the latest episode of “The View,” Ms. Goldberg angrily laid into Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone for telling the House speaker that she should “refrain from referring to your Catholic faith in public and receiving Holy Communion” unless she repudiates her longtime advocacy of abortion rights.
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
This “is starting to blur the lines between church and state,” said Ms. Goldberg, who, according to Beliefnet, has referred to herself as a “Catholic Jewish girl.”
“This is not your job, dude! You can’t — that is not up to you to make that decision,” the visibly irked actress said about the archbishop.
“You know, what is the saying? It’s kind of amazing. But, you know, what is the point of communion, right? It’s for sinners. It’s for sinners. It’s the reward of saints, but the bread of sinners. How dare you?” she continued.
Ms. Goldberg then added that Pope Francis is the person whose opinion would matter here, rather than Archbishop Cordileone.
Ms. Goldberg misstated Catholic teaching on several matters.
For one, while a pope can intervene, whether a particular person is eligible for the sacraments is a determination usually made by the local bishop and/or his priests, i.e., the people closer to the situation.
Pope Francis himself has said that politicians who support legal abortion should not present themselves, as they are thereby not “in communion” with the church, although he has said the matter of individual cases should be handled pastorally.
For another, while Communion is indeed for sinners, in order to present oneself for it, a Catholic must not be conscious of having committed an unforgiven mortal sin — this is what confession (now formally called the Sacrament of Reconciliation) is all about.
The archbishop’s letter to Mrs. Pelosi last week told her directly that, assuming she does not alter her political stance, she must not present herself or the bishop will have to tell his priests to refuse her.
