Bishop Marc’s statement of support and welcome for Speaker Pelosi after SF Archdiocese denies her Communion

As the Episcopal Bishop of California, I want to speak to the public announcement that Speaker Nancy Pelosi will be denied communion in the Archdiocese of San Francisco, and to say Speaker Pelosi is welcome to communion in all Episcopal churches in the Bay Area, as I am sure she is welcome to many faith communities everywhere. I support Speaker Pelosi in her clear commitment to women, children, and families, her evident deep, personal faith, and her embrace of a country founded on principles that include, importantly, separation of church and state.

Further, my statement is aligned with the policy of the Episcopal Church that affirms a call for “…women’s reproductive health and reproductive health procedures to be treated as all other medical procedures.” Further, our Episcopal Church position declares “that equitable access to women’s health care, including women’s reproductive health care, is an integral part of a woman’s struggle to assert her dignity and worth as a human being.”

For millions of Christians worldwide, receiving the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, also known as Communion or the Mass, is central to their faith practice. This sacrament of Christ’s Last Supper, a shared meal of bread and wine, is a sacred time of spiritual nourishment for the faithful of my denomination, the Episcopal Church, and many others, perhaps most notably the Orthodox and Roman Catholic branches of the Christian faith.

As someone who has known Speaker Nancy Pelosi for more than 16 years, I believe she is greatly strengthened by the Sacrament she receives in her Church, the Roman Catholic Church. In the midst of heavy legislative duties and during times of travel, I have seen her, over and over again, make time to attend Eucharist. She does this not only on Sundays but also on Church feast days, such is the importance of the Sacrament to her faith practice. I have also heard her, time and again, reference knowledgeably and reverently the content of her faith as the wellspring from which her leadership comes.

This sincere and enduring faith, with the Sacrament of Communion at its center, has fueled Speaker Pelosi’s tireless and historic efforts to stand in solidarity with vulnerable and oppressed people everywhere, women and children especially. Now, with the future of women’s reproductive healthcare in the United States imperiled by the Supreme Court’s apparent stance on Roe v. Wade, I would argue that she needs the nurturing Sacrament of Holy Communion more than ever. The health and, in many cases, very lives of women, children, and families — all part of God’s beloved human family — are at stake.

I do not imagine nor suggest that Speaker Pelosi should abandon the Church she loves so dearly and to which she has been faithful her whole life. However, speaking as the leader of the Episcopal Church in the Bay Area, let me humbly reiterate that every Episcopal congregation in the Bay Area will welcome Nancy Pelosi, as we welcome all who wish to join us, to the Table of Jesus Christ, the Holy Eucharist.

Our beloved Speaker Pelosi is not alone in this moment, rather, as Jesus assured his terrified, confused followers in the days before his arrest and execution by the Roman Empire, God has given the world the gift of the Holy Spirit, the very presence of God, present to all, and is certainly present to Nancy Pelosi.

Speaker Pelosi has my gratitude for her leadership, my support, and my prayers.

The Rt Rev Marc Andrus, PhD
Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of California

Comments:

7 Comments

  1. N.K. Holcomb

    Thank you, Bishop Andrus. I am praying for Speaker Pelosi, and for the faithful of the Roman Catholic Church, during this challenging time. Unlike Speaker Pelosi, I left the Roman Catholic Church 14 years ago and am blessed to be a parishioner at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Seattle. It was not simply one issue, but certainly, the statement from the American Bishops concerning the solution to pedophilia among the clergy was the final breaking point for me. No Bishops, the suggestion that the Church should refuse to ordain homosexuals in order to heal this egregious moral failing, which you hid and allowed, is just completely misguided. My heart aches for the women who are called to ordination but are refused, for my LGBTQ+ brothers and sisters who are denied sacraments, and for the men in the leadership of the Church, who must be suffering from this kind of un-Christian leadership.

    Reply
  2. Rafael Magallan

    Thank you for such a strong & clear statement in support of Speaker Pelosi. She fully deserves our respect for all of the reasons you noted.
    In addition, it is heartening to know that Episcopal Church policy affirms a call for “…women’s reproductive health and reproductive health procedures to be treated as all other medical procedures.” With deep appreciation & blessings.

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  3. Eugene C. LeVert

    Bravo, Bishop Andrus. My friend, the Reverend Roy Wells of Birmingham Alabama forwarded me your letter. May God bless you in your work and brave testimony in these days.

    Yours truly,
    Eugene LeVert
    Fairhope, Alabama

    Reply
  4. Elizabeth Larson

    I am so Proud of Bishop Marc for speaking out. It has been on my mind that she should be told that she is welcome at our table. God bless Bishop Marc for his loving and encouraging words.

    Reply
  5. Flo Driscoll

    Thank you Bishop Marc!!!
    As a woman, lifelong Episcopalian, an avid supporter of Nancy Pelosi, long time member of this Diocese, I am humbled, proud & honored by your belief & proclamation.

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  6. Helena Cermakova

    A moving tribute to a woman who serves her country with such dignity and fortitude. But more than this, Bishop Marc has, with great sensitivity and kindness, succinctly laid out the basis of Christian living, the Eucharist, for this I extend my thanks to him

    Reply
  7. Rev. Jack Eastwood

    Dear Bishop Marc,
    Thank you for your support and high regard for Speaker Pelosi in her work of care for women’s reproductive health and well being.

    On a matter so essential to the wellness of family life and the rights of women, she has been a strong and inspiring leader.

    Thank you for your service!

    Reply

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