NYC Letter: Nancy Pelosi, Amateur Theologian

Day 31 of CHOPE

Here is Nancy Pelosi on Meet The Press last year bailing out then-candidate Obama. At the time Mr. Obama's pay grade was not sufficient to render a personal opinion about when human life begins,* an opinion without which one cannot argue an ethically defensible position for abortion.**

Ms. Pelosi: I would say that as an ardent, practicing Catholic, this is an issue that I have studied for a long time. And what I know is, over the centuries, the doctors of the church have not been able to make that definition. And Senator -- St. Augustine said at three months. We don’t know. The point is, is that it shouldn’t have an impact on the woman’s right to choose. Roe v. Wade talks about very clear definitions of when the child–first trimester, certain considerations; second trimester; not so third trimester. There’s very clear distinctions. This isn’t about abortion on demand, it’s about a careful, careful consideration of all factors and–to–that a woman has to make with her doctor and her god. And so I don’t think anybody can tell you when life begins, human life begins. As I say, the Catholic Church for centuries has been discussing this, and there are those who’ve decided…

Mr. Brokaw: The Catholic Church at the moment feels very strongly that it…

Ms. Pelosi: I understand that.

Mr. Brokaw: …begins at the point of conception.

Ms. Pelosi: I understand. And this is like maybe 50 years or something like that. So again, over the history of the church, this is an issue of controversy. But it is, it is also true that God has given us, each of us, a free will and a responsibility to answer for our actions. And we want abortions to be safe, rare, and reduce the number of abortions. That’s why we have this fight in Congress over contraception. My Republican colleagues do not support contraception. If you want to reduce the number of abortions, and we all do, we must–it would behoove you to support family planning and, and contraception, you would think. But that is not the case. So we have to take–you know, we have to handle this as respectfully–this is sacred ground. We have to handle it very respectfully and not politicize it, as it has been–and I’m not saying Rick Warren did, because I don’t think he did, but others will try to.

Two things are immediately apparent. Ms. Pelosi is not an "ardent" practitioner and she hasn't a clue -- much less a long "studied" clue -- about Church doctrine on abortion.

The Catholic Church is unequivocal that life and its concomitant protections begin at conception. It is not a longstanding intramural controversy, but has been affirmed throughout the Church's history. It has been Church doctrine for two thousand years,*** not some sudden development of the past fifty years.

To disabuse ardent practitioner and theologian Pelosi, no less an authority than the Pope himself explains Ms. Pelosi's duty as a Catholic to her.

POPE: CATHOLIC POLITICIANS MUST PROTECT LIFE
VATICAN CITY February 18, 2009 (AP)

You'd never know.

PELOSI, POPE HAVE NO MEETING OF THE MINDS
It Would Appear From The Two Statements Issued By The Vatican
And The Speaker's Office That Nancy Pelosi And Pope Benedict Did Not
Share The Same Views During Her Audience With The Pontiff.

February 18, 2009 (Fox News) - No journalists were at the 15-minute encounter and the Vatican and the speaker's offices have not released any photos. However, according to their statements it appears the pope and the politician attended two different get-togethers. The Vatican release:

His Holiness took the opportunity to speak of the requirements of the natural moral law and the Church's consistent teaching on the dignity of human life from conception to natural death which enjoins all Catholics, and especially legislators, jurists and those responsible for the common good of society, to work in cooperation with all men and women of good will in creating a just system of laws capable of protecting human life at all stages of its development.

Several hours later, Pelosi's office gave her take on the tete-a-tete:

It is with great joy that my husband, Paul, and I met with his Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI today," Pelosi said in a statement released hours after the meeting. "In our conversation, I had the opportunity to praise the Church's leadership in fighting poverty, hunger and global warming, as well as the Holy Father's dedication to religious freedom and his upcoming trip and message to Israel. I was proud to show his Holiness a photograph of my family's papal visit in the 1950s, as well as a recent picture of our children and grandchildren.

La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la.

In 2002, the Vatican issued a doctrinal note on "The Participation of Catholics in Political Life," which states rather succinctly that politicians who profess to be Catholic have a "grave and clear obligation" to oppose any law that attacks human life.

That note was approved by John Paul II but signed by none other than Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. He's now the pope.

Like other resume Catholics -- Ted "Take The Wheel" Kennedy, John "Pius XXIII" Kerry, Joe "I’m Not A Pope John Paul Guy" Biden, and Dick "Catholic American" Durbin spring to mind -- Ms. Pelosi advertises herself as Catholic but her Catholicism tracks neatly with the politics of the Democrat Party, not with the Catholic Church.

The Catholic Church is not a "big tent" enterprise. She is an institution of faith and morals manifest in abiding doctrines. If this is all too much for pro-abortion theologians like Ms. Pelosi, then it is incumbent on Ms. Pelosi to find a church to suit her politics. Instead Ms. Pelosi believes her confusion is the Church's confusion, which, were it true, conveniently sanctions Ms. Pelosi's confusion.

The kindest thing that can be said of Ms. Pelosi is that she is stupid. [Pause.] Beyond stupid, there is nothing kind that can be said of soi-disant Catholics like Ms. Pelosi, who derogates the Church to shore up her own feeble conscience.

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* Since boosted to qualify for opinion.

*** Didache 2:1-2 (A.D. 70-120): [A1] The second commandment of the teaching: You will not murder. ... [A8] You will not murder offspring by means of abortion.