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Published: January 4, 2010

“She never gets one Catholic fact right”

Pelosi admits she’s been counseled by archbishop and lobbied by hierarchy – but won’t change her mind on abortion, other moral issues

San Francisco Archbishop George Niederauer has personally counseled House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, about her views on abortion and other moral issues, Pelosi revealed in a recent interview with Newsweek. But the Speaker apparently has no intentions of changing her opinions, regardless of the archbishop’s advice.

In an interview with Newsweek’s Eleanor Clift published on the magazine’s website on Dec. 21 and in the print edition dated today, Pelosi said, “I have some concerns about the church's position respecting a woman's right to choose. I have some concerns about the church's position on gay rights. I am a practicing Catholic, although they're probably not too happy about that. But it is my faith. I practically mourn this difference of opinion because I feel what I was raised to believe is consistent with what I profess, and that is that we are all endowed with a free will and a responsibility to answer for our actions. And that women should have that opportunity to exercise their free will.”

Asked Clift: “Is it difficult for you to reconcile your faith with the role you have in public life?” Pelosi responded, “You know, I had five children in six years. The day I brought my fifth baby home, that week my daughter turned 6. So I appreciate and value all that they want to talk about in terms of family and the rest. When I speak to my archbishop in San Francisco and his role is to try to change my mind on the subject, well then he is exercising his pastoral duty to me as one of his flock. When they call me on the phone here to talk about, or come to see me about an issue, that's a different story. Then they are advocates, and I am a public official, and I have a different responsibility.”

Earlier in the interview, Clift asked, “It was reported that you were negotiating with the conference of bishops.” Pelosi responded, “I talked to one of the cardinals. I said to him that I believe that what we are doing honors the principles we talked about: we want to pass a health-care bill, we want it to be abortion neutral, and we want it to [have] no federal funding [for abortion], which is the law. And we believe that our language does that. They said, ‘We believe that it does not.’ I said, let's sit down at the table and our lawyers can compare language. That's what the meeting was about -- to make our case. Clearly, the people at that table were not willing to accept what we know to be a fact.”

Pelosi’s Newsweek interview brought scorn from at least one observer, who wrote an opinion piece for the website “Politics Daily” under the heading, “Nancy Pelosi, Catholic Without a Clue.”

Elizabeth Lev, an art historian and writer based in Rome and a contributor to “Politics Daily,” wrote in the Dec. 31 piece, “House Speaker Nancy Pelosi seems to be planning a second career as a theologian. Unfortunately, she never gets one Catholic fact right. Interviewed by Eleanor Clift for Newsweek's year-end issue, Pelosi capped an 18-month succession of clamorously incorrect public statements about what Catholics believe with her own take on the meaning of freedom.”

To read Lev’s full commentary, Click Here.

To read Clift’s full interview with Pelosi, Click Here.

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