The Continuing Confusion Of Nancy Pelosi

Sadly, Gramma sometimes gets a little...disoriented. For example, when the Pope was here, she was confused about when she was a private person and when she was representing the country. Yesterday on Meet the Press she forgot she was Speaker of the House and thought she was Prefect of the CDF.

as an ardent, practicing Catholic, this is an issue that I have studied for a long time. And what I know is, over the centuries, the doctors of the church have not been able to make that definition. And Senator–St. Augustine said at three months. We don’t know. The point is, is that it shouldn’t have an impact on the woman’s right to choose. Roe v. Wade talks about very clear definitions of when the child–first trimester, certain considerations; second trimester; not so third trimester. There’s very clear distinctions. This isn’t about abortion on demand, it’s about a careful, careful consideration of all factors and–to–that a woman has to make with her doctor and her god. And so I don’t think anybody can tell you when life begins, human life begins. As I say, the Catholic Church for centuries has been discussing this, and there are those who’ve decided…

Senator Augustine? Roe v. Wade as Magisterium? I think the woman's mental wall of separation between Church & state has collapsed! It's so painful to see Gramma not quite right like that, but we'll keep right on loving her.

Meanwhile, Ponnuru's dictum applies even in first person. And Amy Welborn has excellent advice for our bishops:

Over and over we are told - by bishops themselves - that their primary role in contentious situations like this is to teach.
So...TEACH.
Here you have a very prominent American Catholic, going on the record with her purported studiousness on this issue, authoritatively declaring something false about the teaching of the Catholic Church.
This is what we call a teachable moment. Monday morning, the USCCB should have a press release, accompanied by a real human being - preferably a bishop - maybe even a Colorado bishop, given the location and the proximity of the press - giving a short, succinct correction of Pelosi’s statement. It wouldn’t take long. Do it right in front of where the convention is meeting.
No 501(c)(3) worries. No threats of endorsement or condemnation.
Just…Teach.

Update: Chaput the Great (with Bishop Conley) issues a statement On The Separation of Sense & State.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is a gifted public servant of strong convictions and many professional skills. Regrettably, knowledge of Catholic history and teaching does not seem to be one of them.

Boom! Conclusion, after correcting Gramma's nonsense point by point:

Abortion kills an unborn, developing human life. It is always gravely evil, and so are the evasions employed to justify it. Catholics who make excuses for it -- whether they're famous or not-- fool only themselves and abuse the fidelity of those Catholics who do sincerely seek to follow the gospel and live their Catholic faith. [snip] A proper understanding of the "separation of Church and state" does not imply a separation of faith from political life. But of course it's always important to know what our faith actually teaches.

In further showin' 'em how it's done action, Catholics Against Joe Biden reports Archbishop Chaput has asked Joe Biden to refrain from receiving communion; and as he was disinvited from the Democratic Convention, his schedule is free for attending a prayer vigil and rally outside a Planned Parenthood clinic this evening.

See also K-Lo's account of Chaput's blockbuster homily Sunday night, the vigil of the Dem convention in his city.

“If you’re Catholic and you disagree with your Church. What do you do? You change your mind.”

So said Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, archbishop of the Catholic archdiocese of Denver, at the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception at 6:30 Mass on Sunday night, as the Democratic Convention was set to begin.

The Gospel, you'll recall, was about Peter and the keys, so the archbishop wasn't attacking anyone, just explaining that certain positions make you not a Catholic. K-Lo then cites a passage from an essay Pelosi wrote saying she doesn't believe in the Real Presence.

If you’re not Catholic, her frustration probably sounds reasonable — which may be part of the reason you’re not Catholic. But if you’re truly Catholic, that is, if you “buy into” what the Catholic Church teaches, then you believe in the Real Presence, which is at the very heart of the Church. Otherwise, as Archbishop Chaput put it Sunday, “you’re not Catholic.” Preaching from the Gospel for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time, from Matthew (16:13-20), Chaput echoed Christ’s question to His Apostles: “Who do you say that I am?” Chaput replied: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.” One has to “say it and let our lives be driven by it.” Our personal, professional, communal, and political lives, Chaput was careful to spell out. “If you can’t,” he said, “you’re not Catholic.”