Pelosi Meets Pope amid Abortion Debate in U.S

U.S House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met with Pope Francis on Saturday despite growing criticism from bishops for her continuous support for abortion rights. President Joe Biden is expected to meet with the Pope for the first time after current talks with world leaders in Rome.

Both Pelosi and Biden are Catholics but cannot allow their personal beliefs to take a stance in matters of abortion as they politically support a woman’s right to choose. Both parties have pushed for judges to block the extreme abortion ban in Texas saying it is unconstitutional. The appeals court however reinstated the ban on Friday in support of the Catholic Church.

According to the Catholic Church and conservative bishops, life begins at conception. In news last month, the Pope reportedly said abortion was murder and that he issue has become more political rather than pastoral in the United States. He stated, “Communion is not a prize for the perfect, communion is a gift, the presence of Jesus and his Church.”

Pelosi praised the Pope for his defense of the poor and the refugees, environment and immigrants. She had also met the former Pope in 2009 where she was asked to create a system of law which human rights at all stages of development. Pelosi’s visit to Rome was primarily for the Parliamentary speakers’ summit just before the G20 and a meeting of leaders for the Climate Change Summit COP20.

In other news, the archbishop in San Francisco has stated that any public official who views abortion as a woman’s choice should be denied communion in his church. He also asked fellow Catholics to pray for Pelosi’s “conversion of heart.”

©Photo: Vatican Media/ Handout via REUTERS