Yes, Pope Francis Has Denied Some the Sacraments (and More)

 OMM destroys the argument that Archbishop Cordileone is 'disobeying Pope Francis' by denying Nancy Pelosi Communion.

From One Mad Mom

The wailing and gnashing of teeth has begun, and the liberal Catholics are out in force telling the faithful (and anyone who will listen) that Archbishop Cordileone is somehow disobeying Pope Francis. Honestly, people have very short memories.

First of all, much is covered in this piece.

https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2022/05/20/what-have-popes-and-the-vatican-said-about-catholic-politicians-abortion-and-holy-communion/

I’d like to draw your attention to this (emphasis mine):

“What should the pastor do?” he asked. “Be a shepherd, do not go around condemning, not condemning, but be a pastor. But is he also a pastor of the excommunicated? Yes, he is the pastor and he has to shepherd them, and he must be a shepherd with God’s style. And God’s style is closeness, compassion, and tenderness. The whole Bible says that. Closeness. Already in Deuteronomy, He says to Israel: What people have gods as close as you have me? Closeness. Compassion: the Lord has compassion on us. We read Ezekiel, we read Hosea, right from the beginning. And tenderness — just look at the Gospel and the works of Jesus.”

“A pastor who does not know how to manage with God’s style slips and he adds many things which are not pastoral. For me, I do not want to particularize […] the United States because I do not know the details well, I give the principle.”

“You can tell me: but if you are close, and tender, and compassionate with a person, you have to give Communion — but that’s a hypothetical. Be a pastor and the pastor knows what he has to do at all times, but as a shepherd. But if he stops this shepherding of the Church, immediately he becomes a politician. And you will see this in all the denunciations, in all the non-pastoral condemnations that the Church makes.”

Let’s talk about the ridiculous statement that “The Archbishop is going against the Pope!” There’s a reason the Holy Father mentions excommunication.

First, what is that? It’s not just denying someone the Eucharist. It’s depriving them of all the benefits of the Church, and that includes the sacraments.

Now let’s talk about Pope Francis. While he has stated he has never refused anyone Communion (he didn’t mandate that for all), he actually has, because he declared that the mafia was excommunicated. He also excommunicated a priest for supporting women priests and the homosexual lifestyle. https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-pope-excommunicates-the-mafia-finally

While he may have never denied Communion to someone standing in front of him, he has, indeed applied that penalty. And he added the new Canon Can. 1379.4 which says:

§4. A person who deliberately administers a sacrament to those who are prohibited from receiving it is to be punished with suspension, to which other penalties mentioned in can. 1336 §§2-4 may be added. https://canonlaw.ninja/?nums=1378-1383

In other words, he’s gone further than Archbishop Cordileone, who was totally fulfilling his duty as Nancy Pelosi’s bishop. How does one try to condemn Archbishop Cordileone and not Pope Francis?

Also, so many people STILL fail to understand Canon 915 (or maybe they haven’t even read or they prefer to obfuscate as James Martin, SJ, does). This is the kind of comments I see: “We also don’t believe in determining who is a “public sinner.”” That’s the thing public or manifest sinners: we don’t have to determine anything. They are easily observable and obvious. That’s what manifest means. It’s objective with no discernment needed. Nancy actually just tells us. This isn’t a private sin such as birth control, adultery, etc. She screams it from the rooftops.

The other lame argument that people are feebly attempting to throw out in Nancy’s defense is that “She says she’s privately against abortion.” Even if it were true, it’s completely irrelevant. People would be in an uproar if Nancy said “Well, I’m privately against slave ownership but I’m going to promote a bill allowing it because, well, I can’t tell people they can’t do what they want.” Same thing. She’s denying the God-given right to life and the humanity of the child.

And can we please just stop with the weaponizing/politicizing rhetoric? There’s only one person in this equation who used the Eucharist, and that’s Nancy. This is hardly a “win” for Archbishop Cordileone and definitely doesn’t make his life easier. He’s not running for office nor is Nan up for election. This is a headache to the max for him. He did it because he cares for souls. Sadly, Nancy is going to know all too soon that the archbishop is totally right about the damage to her souls and her part in the damage to other souls. Advocating for the death of millions of children is not really where you want to be when you present yourself for final judgment. I have no doubt he’ll be praying and fasting for her even after she dies.