Bishop Robert McElroy
By Colleen O’Connor
How did this all come together? Hard to put in words.
First, the religion. Then the politics. Then the electorate.
House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, has been unceremoniously denied communion in her own hometown, by an Archbishop no less.
San Francisco’s Archbishop, Salvatore Cordileone, declared publicly that he would no longer allow House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to receive Communion because of her support for abortion rights.
This denial of a Sacrament, even among Catholics, is as controversial as the repeal of Roe v. Wade.
Now, however, Pelosi just garnered a powerful champion—a San Diego Bishop—to be elevated this weekend, as San Diego’s first Cardinal. His name, Bishop Robert McElroy.
Contrast Bishop Robert McElroy’s religious philosophy with the San Francisco cleric.
A fervent ally of Pope Francis, McElroy has emphatically denounced “the campaign to exclude Catholic politicians who support abortion rights from Communion.”
As he warned last year, “It will bring tremendously destructive consequences. The Eucharist is being weaponized and deployed as a tool in political warfare. This must not happen.”
Often at odds with the conservative College of Cardinals whose ranks he is about to join, McElroy also signed a statement expressing support for LGBTQ youth while denouncing the bullying and “violent acts often directed at them.”
Concluding, “Most of all, know that God created you, God loves you and God is on your side.”
More Catholics, as well as other religions, should be more enlightened and tolerant than the extremists among us.
Now the politics.
Democrats, deemed dead and buried facing a traditional, and predictable mid-term election rout, seem to be gaining traction amid a massive backlash to the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Not just the stunning rebuke of an extreme anti-abortion amendment in red-state Kansas, or the polls showing huge support for women’s right re: abortion (over 60%), or Tuesday’s special election victory by Democrat, Pat Ryan in New York’s CD-19 swing-district (with a pro-abortion message and pink signs to prove it); or the massive numbers of women registering to vote for the first time.
It is about much, much, more than abortion. It is about women’s rights to freedom from government encroachment on their lives, from abuse, sexual violence, from ridicule, toxic partners, the right to divorce and to their own privacy.
Indeed, it is about freedom. Freedom from all the above. And especially freedom from the corrosive message in Justice Clarence Thomas Roe v. Wade opinion.
“In his opinion concurring with the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the constitutional right to abortion established in Roe v. Wade, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that the high court should revisit all cases built on similar legal footing—including cases that guarantee the right to contraception, same-sex consensual sexual relations, and same-sex marriage.”
And multiple GOP state legislatures have followed Thomas’ through line, not only prohibiting abortions, with no exceptions for rape, incest, health of the mother or miscarriages, but also making illegal any form of contraception; birth control pills, morning-after-meds, I.U.D.s, or Invitro fertilization.
The punishments (from vigilante enforcement to jail) are more extreme than imaginable.
Hence, the turn around in this unfathomable mid-term election, in favor of Democrats and women. The Senate is probably safe. And, even Pelosi’s House may stick with her. As unlikely as this was just a few months ago.
How does it all fit together? One word. GRACE.
A rarity, I know, but this week, that supernatural gift of GRACE has made an appearance. A new Cardinal. A new batch of electoral wins. And a shift away from cruelty to faith.
More good news. San Diego’s new Cardinal McElroy will continue to lead the Diocese of San Diego.
And you can view his investiture on Facebook (@DioceseSanDiego) and Instagram (@SDCatholics).
Viewers may also follow McElroy’s journey in Rome on the diocese’s bilingual social media channels.
According to the Times of San Diego:
Here is the schedule for McElroy’s appearances — all San Diego time:
Saturday, Aug. 27: Vatican Consistory and Creation of New Cardinals is 7-9 a.m. at St. Peter’s Basilica.
Sunday, Aug. 28: McElroy’s first Mass as cardinal is 8-9 a.m. at St. Patrick’s Catholic American Parish.
Tuesday, Aug. 30: Closing Mass for College of Cardinals at 8:30 a.m. at St. Peter’s Basilica.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
More evidence of abortion as key issue…from Politico:
“Endangered Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) is going on air Friday with a TV ad focusing on abortion rights — the latest sign that a growing number of swing-district Democrats view it as a winning issue in the fall.”
From a friend: A physician and a Catholic.
“Well it is refreshing to see a Cardinal that believes in separation of Church and state. I would love to believe that a Cardinal actually believed that Roe vs Wade was about more than just abortion. I am amazed at the number of physicians in Congress that have forgot ten all about genetics, Anatomy and Science.”