Less than a week after the US Supreme Court announced its explosive decision to overrule Roe v. Wade - returning the authority to legalise abortions to individual American states - the Pope met with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, an Italian-American Catholic, in Rome. Pelosi later received Communion during a Papal Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica. This would not in itself be a big deal except Pelosi is a known supporter of abortion and has been banned from Communion by conservative bishops in the US.
While Pelosi has been banned from taking Communion in her home city of San Francisco thanks to Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, she remains able to take Communion in Washington, D.C., pointing perhaps to ongoing splits on abortion among US Catholics. (Three other bishops have followed Archbishop Cordileone’s decision.) To be clear, the Pope does not give Communion himself at such ceremonies and has no control over who receives it during the Papal Mass. Indeed, it was not clear if the Pope was even aware Pelosi was attending Mass at the time, although presumably the Vatican was informed in advance and could have discouraged attendance had it so chosen.
