House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, an outspoken abortion rights advocate, has not been able to find a time to meet with San Francisco Archbishop George Niederauer in the nearly six months since she told Tom Brokaw on ABC’s Meet the Press that “we don’t know” when life begins and that the Catholic Church’s prohibition on abortion dated back about 50 years.
“While she initially accepted the archbishop's invitation to a pastoral meeting, she has not been able to arrange such a meeting on her schedule, despite our putting forward several available dates,” said Maurice Healy, spokesman for the archbishop, in a Feb. 13 e-mail. Healy said the archdiocese also received “hundreds of e-mails and phone calls to the archdiocese from Catholics across the country” after Pelosi’s Jan. 25 comments to George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s “This Week” in which she defended “hundreds of millions” in spending on family planning in the nearly $800 billion economic stimulus package.
“Archbishop Niederauer was on a pastoral visit to Vietnam and returned in early February. I have brought to his attention the reaction to Speaker Pelosi's comments,” Healy said. Pelosi attends St. Vincent de Paul parish in San Francisco and has described herself as an “ardent, practicing Catholic.” In his September statement, Archbishop Niederauer described the longtime legislator as “a gifted, dedicated and accomplished public servant” who “has stated often her love for her faith and for the Catholic Church.”
A Pelosi press spokesman said Feb. 13 that she did not know when or if Pelosi would meet with the archbishop or when Pelosi would respond to Our Sunday Visitor’s inquiry. Pelosi was scheduled to depart on an eight-day trip to Europe -- including a stop to meet Pope Benedict XVI -- the same day.
In a letter delivered to Archbsihop Niederauer Sept. 5, Pelosi offered to “meet at your earliest convenience” to discuss the archbishop’s statement that Pelosi's remarks on “Meet the Press” were “in serious conflict with the teachings of the Catholic Church” on abortion, the beginning of human life and the formation of conscience. Pelosi’s remarks were criticized by bishops throughout theUnited States, including by Cardinal Justin Rigali, chair of the pro-life committee, and Bishop William E. Lori, chair of the doctrinal committee. Pelosi "misrepresented the history and nature of the authentic teaching of the Catholic Church on abortion," they said. Since the first century, the Church "has affirmed the moral evil of every abortion," they said.
On Jan. 23, Pelosi applauded President Barack Obama’s repeal of the “Mexico City” policy which had barred federal funds to international organizations which provided or referred for abortion, saying the move “will help save lives and empower the poorest women and families to improve their quality of life and their future.”
During the “This Week” interview, Pelosi was asked by Stephanopoulos, “Hundreds of millions of dollars to expand family planning services. How is that stimulus?” Pelosi answered, “Well, family planning services reduce costs. They reduce costs. …. Contraception will reduce costs to the states and to the federal government.”
UPDATE: The meeting DID take place.
