Nancy Pelosi: Deaf, Dumb, and Blind to #Catholic Doctrine

A famous quote, allegedly from the Chinese, says, May you live in interesting times. If that isn't a good description of our current age, I don't know what is. I also believe that Nancy Pelosi, with all of her arrogance and misunderstandings of what it means to be Catholic, has reached her public apex at the exact moment the Church needs her the most. Need? Yes, need. I'll explain.

I read part of the story last night about Pelosi's interview with Newsweek's Eleanor Clift. The interview is filled with hubris and misplaced priorities. At one point, Pelosi has the gall to say that the "free will" of women outranks the Church's teaching on pro-life issues.

"I have some concerns about the church's position respecting a woman's right to choose," Pelosi responds. "I am a practicing Catholic, although they're probably not too happy about that. But it is my faith."

"I practically mourn this difference of opinion because I feel what I was raised to believe is consistent with what I profess, and that is that we are all endowed with a free will and a responsibility to answer for our actions," she continues. "And that women should have that opportunity to exercise their free will."

Difference of opinion? No, Madame Speaker, it is not a "difference of opinion." It is an issue of either believing life has value or not. If you belong to the Catholic Church and call yourself a Catholic, you are saying that you believe the doctrines of Catholicism, which according to Catechism of the Catholic Church, says quite a bit about abortion. (And by the way, this is the Catechism created as a result of Vatican II. From Pope John Paul II: "[the Catechism] is to guard and present better the precious deposit of Christian doctrine in order to make it more accessible to the Christian faithful and to all people of good will.") Below are the specific doctrines:

2270 Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person - among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life.

2271 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:

You shall not kill the embryo by abortion and shall not cause the newborn to perish.74
God, the Lord of life, has entrusted to men the noble mission of safeguarding life, and men must carry it out in a manner worthy of themselves. Life must be protected with the utmost care from the moment of conception: abortion and infanticide are abominable crimes.

2272 Formal cooperation in an abortion constitutes a grave offense. The Church attaches the canonical penalty of excommunication to this crime against human life. "A person who procures a completed abortion incurs excommunication latae sententiae,"76 "by the very commission of the offense,"77 and subject to the conditions provided by Canon Law.78 The Church does not thereby intend to restrict the scope of mercy. Rather, she makes clear the gravity of the crime committed, the irreparable harm done to the innocent who is put to death, as well as to the parents and the whole of society.

2273 The inalienable right to life of every innocent human individual is a constitutive element of a civil society and its legislation:

"The inalienable rights of the person must be recognized and respected by civil society and the political authority. These human rights depend neither on single individuals nor on parents; nor do they represent a concession made by society and the state; they belong to human nature and are inherent in the person by virtue of the creative act from which the person took his origin. Among such fundamental rights one should mention in this regard every human being's right to life and physical integrity from the moment of conception until death."79

"The moment a positive law deprives a category of human beings of the protection which civil legislation ought to accord them, the state is denying the equality of all before the law. When the state does not place its power at the service of the rights of each citizen, and in particular of the more vulnerable, the very foundations of a state based on law are undermined. . . . As a consequence of the respect and protection which must be ensured for the unborn child from the moment of conception, the law must provide appropriate penal sanctions for every deliberate violation of the child's rights."80

Pelosi has defended her position by claiming women have a "right to choose" and at one point, even boldly showed her ignorance of Church teaching by claiming that the Doctors of the Faith "weren't sure" when life began. I have heard liberal Catholics defend their belief that abortion is acceptable by saying they are acting according to their conscience. (Part Three: Life in Christ, Article Six: Moral Conscience in the CCC.) I found an interesting section under IV Erroneous Judgement:

1792 Ignorance of Christ and his Gospel, bad example given by others, enslavement to one's passions, assertion of a mistaken notion of autonomy of conscience, rejection of the Church's authority and her teaching, lack of conversion and of charity: these can be at the source of errors of judgment in moral conduct.

Pelosi is blinded by her devotion to the Democratic Party's platform and it has guided her more than the Catholic Church. She has placed the Democratic Party as her god, and as such, is now experiencing the consequences of her divided allegiance. She claims to be a Catholic, but obviously, she is not a Catholic first.

I say that she has come at a perfect time because I believe in the United States, we are undergoing a fierce battle for Catholic identity. For many years, those who adhered to the teachings of the Magisterium were mocked and the Pope derided. Many Catholics who worship at the altar of the Democratic Party have consistently bashed the Catholic Church for her stance on abortion, homosexuality, and the priesthood. This is now coming to a head.

The more Nancy Pelosi tries to unsuccessfully defend her erroneous Catholic doctrine, the more opportunity faithful Catholics have to state exactly what the Church teaches. The more Pelosi tries to bend the faith to her own "opinion" and preference, the more opportunity the Church has to show the integrity of its doctrine. Pelosi is, to a certain degree, a gift to Catholics who are asserting Catholic identity within the public square. I now am reading the Catechism more than ever when these issues come up and am humbled by the wisdom of our spiritual forefathers.

Yes, Nancy, there is such a thing as moral absolutism and you are clearly on the wrong side of it. It is my prayer that God will give me the grace to beseech His throne to give you eyes to see and ears to hear. Because at the moment, you are deaf, dumb, and blind.