"Toward a More Profound Understanding", part 2

Here's a long-due followup, folks… and I still don't have all the info on the matter as I want. 

I reprinted here a few weeks ago an article on over-the-line words by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, whom I regard and respect highly. And I mentioned that "I have a later article (9/18/08) that states Pelosi did agree to meet with Niederauer." I've been hoping for further backup to follow on that, but haven't seen anything… so here's what I've got so far. Catholic News Service (CNS) first posted this article on September 10; I caught an abbreviated version in an archdiocesan newspaper. 

The text is reprinted (i.e., copied without permission – though with apologies to any legalities-stickler) directly from the CNS site; I'll stick my neck out further by including first the copyright information. I'm doing so because I want to get this article out, and to a few more sets of eyes, and not leave the Speaker hanging, so to speak: 

Copyright (c) 2008 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
CNS · 3211 Fourth St. NE · Washington DC 20017 · 202.541.3250 

Further personal disclosure: Joe Biden may be considered a friend of the family, in that my late uncle and aunt (who lived in Delaware for decades) would over many years visit and meet with him with some regularity, and their daughter – my cousin, of course – worked closely with the Senator on his presidential bid, and (I assume) is still professionally associated with him. 

I also disagree with his slight weaseling out of his own "Meet the Press" question: it's not just personal judgment, Joe. (I do, still, quite look forward to his taking the helm as vice-president in January. He is good… and, yes, a politician.) 

Here follows the article; readers may notice that some of its text repeats portions of Dan Morris-Young's earlier article: 

Pelosi agrees to meet archbishop; Biden remarks also draw criticism
By Catholic News Service

SAN FRANCISCO (CNS) -- Responding to an invitation to meet with him to discuss church teaching on abortion and other topics, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she would "welcome the opportunity" to meet with Archbishop George H. Niederauer of San Francisco "to go beyond our earlier most cordial exchange about immigration and needs of the poor to church teaching on other significant matters."

In a letter delivered to Archbishop Niederauer Sept. 5, Pelosi offered to "meet at your earliest convenience" to discuss a statement by the archbishop that said Pelosi's remarks were "in serious conflict with the teachings of the Catholic Church" on abortion, the beginning of human life and the formation of conscience.

But the furor that arose after Pelosi said on NBC's "Meet the Press" Aug. 24 that church leaders for centuries had not been able to agree on when life begins received further fuel Sept. 7 when Sen. Joseph Biden, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, responded to a similar question on "Meet the Press."

Biden, who like Pelosi is a Catholic, said he accepted Catholic teaching that life begins at conception but did not believe that he could impose his beliefs in the public policy arena.

"I'm prepared as a matter of faith to accept that life begins at the moment of conception," he said. "But that is my judgment. For me to impose that judgment on everyone else who is equally and maybe even more devout than I am seems to me is inappropriate in a pluralistic society."

Biden's remarks drew an almost immediate response from Archbishop Charles J. Chaput and Auxiliary Bishop James D. Conley of Denver, who said in a Sept. 8 "notice to the Catholic community in northern Colorado" that the Delaware senator "used a morally exhausted argument that American Catholics have been hearing for 40 years: i.e., that Catholics can't 'impose' their religiously based views on the rest of the country."

But, they said, "all law involves the imposition of some people's convictions on everyone else. That is the nature of the law.

"American Catholics have allowed themselves to be bullied into accepting the destruction of more than a million developing unborn children a year," the notice added. "Other people have imposed their 'pro-choice' beliefs on American society without any remorse for decades."

Archbishop Niederauer said in his Sept. 5 statement that he regretted addressing the issue so publicly, because Pelosi -- a Democrat who represents the San Francisco area -- has been a dedicated public servant who has promoted some legislation that is in line with the social teachings of the Catholic Church.

"But the widespread consternation among Catholics made it unavoidable," he added.

Archbishop Niederauer told Catholic San Francisco, the archdiocesan newspaper, Sept. 9 that his office would be "comparing calendars" with Pelosi's office to schedule a private meeting.

The archbishop said reaction to his statement had been "mostly positive."

"People have said they feel it said what needed to be said," he added.

Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia and Bishop William E. Lori of Bridgeport, Conn., chairmen of the U.S. bishops' pro-life and doctrine committees, respectively, had criticized Pelosi Aug. 25, saying she "misrepresented the history and nature of the authentic teaching of the Catholic Church on abortion."

Since the first century, the church "has affirmed the moral evil of every abortion," the two chairmen said.

The two chairmen also issued a lengthy critique of Biden's comments Sept. 9, saying that "the obligation to protect unborn human life rests on the answer to two questions, neither of which is private or specifically religious."

The first question is when human life begins, they said, adding it is a matter of "objective fact," taught in embryology textbooks, that life begins at conception. The second, "a moral question, with legal and political consequences," is which human beings "should be seen as having fundamental human rights, such as a right not to be killed," they added.

"We have no business dividing humanity into those who are valuable enough to warrant protection and those who are not," Cardinal Rigali and Bishop Lori said. "Such views pose a serious threat to the dignity and rights of other poor and vulnerable members of the human family who need and deserve our respect and protection."

The U.S. bishops' Administrative Committee, meeting in Washington Sept. 10, endorsed the views expressed by Cardinal Rigali and Bishop Lori and said, "As the teachers of the faith, we also point out the connectedness between the evil of abortion and political support for abortion."

The full body of bishops will "discuss the practical and pastoral implications of these serious matters" when they meet in Baltimore Nov. 10-13, the Administrative Committee said.

Archbishop Niederauer said many Catholics "have written me letters and sent me e-mails in which they expressed their dismay and concern about the speaker's remarks."

"Very often they moved on to a question that caused much discussion during the 2004 campaign: Is it necessary to deny holy Communion to some Catholics in public life because of their public support for abortion on demand?" he added.

Church leaders should be cautious when making judgments about who is worthy of receiving holy Communion, he said.

"The practice of the church is to accept the conscientious self-appraisal of each person" when he or she approaches for Communion, Archbishop Niederauer said.

Bishop Michael J. Sheridan of Colorado Springs, Colo., took a stronger position in a statement issued Aug. 26.

"Those Catholics who take a public stance in opposition to this most fundamental moral teaching of the church place themselves outside full communion with the church," he wrote in his statement, "and they should not present themselves for the reception of holy Communion."  

(I will have more to say on this issue – from my viewpoint as Democrat, liberal, and penitent Catholic.)

In the "Meet the Press" interview, Pelosi said specific considerations must be undertaken during each trimester of a child's development before an abortion can be performed.

"This isn't about abortion on demand. It's about careful, careful consideration of all factors ... that a woman has to make with her doctor and her God," she said, adding that her goal is to make abortion safe and rare while reducing the number of abortions nationwide.

Though critical of Pelosi's statements and stands on abortion and other life issues, Archbishop Niederauer described the member of St. Vincent de Paul Parish in San Francisco as "a gifted, dedicated and accomplished public servant" who "has stated often her love for her faith and for the Catholic Church."

In her response, which Pelosi released to the media, she thanked the archbishop for his "gracious remarks regarding my love for the Catholic Church and my Catholic faith."

Contributing to this story was Dan Morris-Young in San Francisco.