Pelosi agrees to meet archbishop; Biden remarks also draw criticism

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. 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.” The two chairmen also issued a lengthy critique of Biden’s comments Sept. 9.