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New D.C. Archbishop Washes Hands Over Nancy Pelosi Political Exploitation of Catholic Mass

Spokesman redirects objecters to Trinity University where Pelosi attended mass

By Peter J. Smith

WASHINGTON, January 8, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Pro-abortion House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the most powerful Catholic in Congress is recasting her image as a Italian Catholic mother, despite her stark defiance of the Catholic Church’s teachings opposing abortion, embryonic stem-cell research, and same-sex marriage.

The Speaker publicized well in advance her visits to St. Leo the Great church in Baltimore and attendance of a special Mass at Trinity University offered for victims of hurricane Katrina and of the Darfur genocide, as part of her plan to propel the image of a good Roman Catholic mother and grandmother at home in the Democratic party.

“The Catholic Mass also signals something very important,” Katherine Hall Jamieson, a liberal professor, told the Baltimore Sun. “The Democratic Party wants those defecting Catholics who have voted for Republicans for a long time but came back to the Democratic Party in 2006 to see the Democratic Party as home.”

Pelosi’s much publicized attendance of the Catholic Mass at Trinity January 3rd has dismayed pro-life advocates looking to recently appointed Archbishop Donald Weurl to correct Pelosi’s assertions that she is a “conservative Catholic.”

Judie Brown, president of American Life League, had appealed to Archbishop Weurl to use what power and influence he could muster to deter Nancy Pelosi from making the Mass at Trinity University a political spectacle. Brown said it is “unconscionable for Rep. Pelosi to call herself a Catholic in good standing while supporting the heinous act of abortion.”

“As a practicing Catholic mother and grandmother, I am highly offended that this woman would use the influence of her new office to flaunt her Catholic label while advocating the brutal murder of preborn children without apology” Brown wrote in Human Events.

“A thinking person with any sort of moral sensibilities would conclude that the bald-faced contradiction between advocating for abortion and heralding one’s attendance at a Catholic Mass is simply outrageous and should not be permitted.”

Susan Gibbs, spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Washington and the Archbishop, told LifeSiteNews.com that the Archdiocese had nothing to do with the event. Gibbs said Archbishop Weurl did not interfere since Trinity University was under the jurisdiction of a religious order, the Sisters of Notre Dame, not the Archdiocese, and said she was redirecting complaints to Trinity. Gibbs did not indicate whether Weurl intends to discipline Pelosi for her public support of abortion, embryonic stem-cell research, and same-sex marriage.

Pelosi’s Catholic Mother and Grandmother public relations ploy may be working to distract voters from her uncontradicted anti-Catholic beliefs. A Rasmussen Reports national phone survey of 800 likely voters released Friday show Pelosi's approval rating has jumped to 43 percent -- up 19 points from November.

Pelosi, who has received a 100 percent rating from NARAL, a radical pro-abortion group, vowed to reinstate funding for embryonic stem-cell research in the first 100 hours of the 110th Congress.

To respectfully contact Archbishop Weurl:

The Most Reverend Donald W. Wuerl
Archdiocese of Washington
P.O. Box 29260
Washington, DC 20017-0260
301-853-4500

Secretary to the Archbishop: Rev. Carter Griffin, 301-853-4500

Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia:
Most Rev. Kevin J. Farrell, 301-853-4520

To contact Trinity University:

Ann Pauley, Media Relations
Trinity, 125 Michigan Avenue NE,
Washington, DC 20017
pauleya@trinitydc.edu
(202) 884-9725

See Judie Brown’s Article in Human Events:
Pro-Abortion Pelosi Insults Catholic Faith
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=18732

See National Catholic Reporter’s interview with Nancy Pelosi discussing life as a “pro-choice Catholic” and “conservative Catholic”:
Roots in faith, family and party guide Pelosi’s move to power
http://ncronline.org/mainpage/specialdocuments/Pelosi.htm

See Previous LifeSite Coverage:

Will New Archbishop of Washington Deny Pro-Abort Nancy Pelosi Communion at Jan. 3 Showcase Mass?
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/dec/06122005.html

Pro-abortion Dem House Leader Calls Herself a “Conservative Catholic”
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2002/nov/02111804.html

US Bishops Set to Tell Catholics Opposed to Teaching on Abortion or Homosexuality not to Receive Communion
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/oct/06102001.html

Highest Authorities in Vatican Back Denial of Communion to Pro-Abortion Politicians
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/jul/04070501.html

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