SAN FRANCISCO (LifeSiteNews) — Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) reportedly had exorcism prayers said at her home around Thanksgiving, according to comments her daughter made to the New York Times.
Her daughter Alexandra made the comments to the Times in reference to the attack on the politician’s husband, Paul Pelosi, in October by a hammer-wielding man and the subsequent media coverage and questions about what happened.
“I think that weighed really heavy on her soul. I think she felt really guilty. I think that really broke her,” Alexandra told the Times. “Over Thanksgiving, she had priests coming, trying to have an exorcism of the house and having prayer services.”
The Archdiocese of San Francisco did not respond to a Tuesday inquiry from LifeSiteNews seeking confirmation on the exorcism.
“We would respect the privacy of families with regard to exorcisms and house blessings,” archdiocesan spokesman Peter Marlow told Catholic News Agency.
“Exorcisms and house blessings are not activities we would promote to the media,” he told the publication. “If a parishioner is interested in a house blessing, they should contact a priest at their parish.”
There are two types of exorcisms – minor and major.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) explains that “the Rite of Major Exorcism is employed only when there is a case of genuine demonic possession, namely, when it is determined that the presence of the devil is in the body of the possessed and the devil is able to exercise dominion over that body.”
“Minor exorcisms are prayers used to break the influence of evil and sin in a person’s life, whether as a catechumen preparing for Baptism or as one of the Baptized faithful striving to overcome the influence of evil and sin in his or her life,” a fact sheet on the USCCB website explains.
Pelosi is not currently allowed to receive the Holy Eucharist in the Archdiocese of San Francisco following a decision by Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone in May 2022. Cordileone made the decision after multiple attempts to get the Democratic politician to stop supporting abortion.
The Catholic Church teaches that the Eucharist is the literal body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ. The Church teaches that no Catholic who has committed a mortal sin is to present himself or herself for Holy Communion until he or she has confessed that sin in the Sacrament of Confession.
“A Catholic legislator who supports procured abortion, after knowing the teaching of the Church, commits a manifestly grave sin which is a cause of most serious scandal to others. Therefore, universal Church law provides that such persons ‘are not to be admitted to Holy Communion’ (Code of Canon Law, can. 915),” wrote Cordileone.
Pelosi has, since the prohibition, received the Holy Eucharist at a Mass presided over by Pope Francis and at a church in Washington, D.C.
Pelosi also supports other issues at odds with the Catholic Church, including transgenderism, birth control, and homosexuality.
In August 2022, she called pro-life laws “sinful.”