Bishop Andrus highlighted the wonders of The Episcopal Church's parroting of the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals which, of course, promote gender equality and empower women as well as champion environmental sustainability (climate change and global warming).

During the past decade, that "gender equality" has expanded way past tolerating gay relationships to the full embrace of transgenderism. Today, gender equality also incorporates every sort of sexual, racial and social diversity on its road to full inclusion.

The Episcopal bishop also took issue with the Catholic archbishop's support for Proposition 8 that, when passed in 2008, banned gay marriage.

Proposition 8, which is now defunct, mandated that traditional marriage between one man and one woman to be the only type of marriage recognized under Section 7.5 of the Declaration of Rights in the California Constitution.

Bishop Andrus was quick to point out that he, and all the other Episcopal bishops in California, were solidly against Proposition 8.

"I and the other Episcopal bishops throughout California oppose Proposition 8,"Bishop Andrus wrote in his Letter to the Diocese of California Concerning the Installation of Salvatore Cordileone as Archbishop of San Francisco.

In 2012, the other sitting Episcopal bishops in California included: Jon Bruno (XI Los Angeles); Robert Mathes (IV San Diego); Barry Beisner (VIII Northern California); Mary Gray-Reeves (III El Camino Real); and Chester Talton (II Provisional San Joaquin). At the time, Diane Bruce and Mary Glasspool were also bishops-suffragan in Los Angeles.

"The recognition of the dignity and rights, within civil society and the Church of lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgendered people, and of women are as core to our proclamation of the Gospel as our solidarity with the poor, with victims of violence and political oppression, and with the Earth," the Episcopal bishop continued in his missive, greeting his new religious counterpart and highlighting the third Millennium Development Goals which calls for "promoting gender equality and empowering women."

EPISCOPAL BISHOP WANTS A FIGHT

But Bishop Andrus' opposition to Archbishop Cordileone's defense of traditional marriage didn't stop him from wanting to attend the archbishop's enthronement. However, he showed up late for the event which caused a stir when he wasn't immediately seated. He left the Catholic Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption in a snit.

The California Episcopal bishop was supposed to arrive in time to be seated early. When he finally arrived, the procession was already in progress.

All the other interfaith and intrafaith guests were able to arrive on time to be properly seated in the 2,000-seat cathedral. So, Bishop Andrus was asked to patiently wait until the full procession was over so that he could be quietly seated without disrupting the service. That isn't how it turned out.

"The problem was he (Bishop Andrus) had to wait downstairs because they (cathedral staff) are trying to figure out a way to get him in there (the cathedral) without causing a huge amount of disruption," the Archdiocese of San Francisco's Communications Director George Wesolek explained. "After a while they came down to get him to seat him and he had left. He was gone."

Bishop Andrus felt that he was dissed by the Catholics at such an auspicious ceremony, so he turned to the Internet to proclaim his disdain. He plastered social media with his own interpretation of events.

He issued multiple press releases about his poor treatment. And the Episcopal press took to their fainting couches.

The Catholic archdiocesan communications director summed up the situation: "He (Bishop Andrus) wants a fight."

Well, Bishop Andrus is gearing up for another fight with Archbishop Cordileone. This time it is not over Proposition 8, gay marriage or climate change, but rather abortion and the reception of Holy Communion.

HOLY COMMUNION SHOWDOWN

Archbishop Cordileone may be in Bishop Andrus' crosshairs, but Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D/CA12) is in Archbishop Cordileone's sights over her refusal to step back from the Communion rail while she is openly defying stated Catholic doctrine on the sanctity of unborn life and her defense of abortion.

The showdown between the Speaker Pelosi and her Archbishop has been brewing for a while.

Quoting from Vatican II documents the Archbishop reminded the Speaker of the House about firmly established Catholic doctrine in his May 19 letter to her.

"... from the first moment of conception life must be guarded with the greatest care while abortion and infanticide are unspeakable crimes," Archbishop wrote in his Letter of Notification to Nancy Pelosi. "... those who are directly involved in lawmaking bodies have a 'grave and clear obligation to oppose' any law that attacks human life. For them, as for every Catholic, it is impossible to promote such laws or to vote for them."

The Archbishop's words are falling on Nancy Pelosi's deaf ears. She is a lifelong Catholic and is the only girl and the youngest of seven children. She comes from a political family, so politics is in her blood and baked into her DNA. Baby Nancy's father Thomas D'Alesandro Jr. was in the US House of Representatives from Maryland's 3rd District when she was born. He eventually became Mayor of Baltimore as did her eldest brother Thomas the Third. She also had received an elite private Catholic school education.

In January 1961, twenty-year-old Nancy was on hand to witness John F. Kennedy's presidential inauguration and hear his "Ask not what your country can do for you" speech.

Nancy first became a US Representative in 1987 through a special election following the death of Rep. Sala Burton (D/CA-5). She has held the seat ever since but has changed districts twice due to US Census redistricting.

While in the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi has risen in prestige, power and authority. Now she sits in the seat of power. She has been the Leader of the House Democratic Caucus, she has been the House Minority Leader, she has been the House Minority Whip, and twice she has been the Speaker of the House.

Politically, the 82-year-old Speaker of the House is a progressive feminist.

Through the years, Representative Pelosi has shown her support for the USA Patriot Act, the Equality Act, the removal of Confederate monuments and murals from the Capitol building, the Fair Minimum Wage Act, No Child Left Behind Act, the Affordable Care Act, reforming marijuana laws, the Abortion Funding Act, Family Planning with birth control and contraception, gun control and the banning of assault weapons, using the 25th Amendment against a sitting President (Donald Trump), expanding trade relations with China, and supporting Ukraine current conflict against Russia.

However, Pelosi has stood against California's Proposition 8, the constitutional Amendment Banning Flag Burning, the Defense of Marriage Act, the constitutional Federal Marriage Amendment, a constitutional Balanced Budget Amendment, displaying the Ten Commandments in public buildings, the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban, the death penalty, and the military draft.

She was tepid, at best, in supporting President Donald Trump. She backed him only 17% of the time, then led the charge for his twin impeachments. However, she is solidly behind President Joe Biden backing him 100%.

Archbishop Cordileone is not the only Catholic cleric she has tangled with over her political positions which go against Catholic teaching.

In 2008, she was rebuked by Cardinal Archbishop Donald Wuerl (VI RC Washington, DC) for being 'incorrect' in her comments made to Tom Brokaw on the Sunday morning Meet the Press show concerning Catholic Church teaching on the subject of abortion and when a human life begins.

Pelosi was quoted as saying "the Church has not been able to define when life begins" and "what constitutes the 'moment of conception' is an issue of controversy."

That public exchange forced her to meet with her then-bishop Archbishop George Hugh Niederauer (VIII San Francisco) and eventually with Pope Benedict XVI regarding the Church teaching controversy she found herself in.

Following the February 2009 meeting with the Pope, Pelosi put out this statement: "It is with great joy that my husband, Paul, and I met with his Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI today.

"In our conversation, I had the opportunity to praise the Church's leadership in fighting poverty, hunger, and global warming, as well as the Holy Father's dedication to religious freedom and his upcoming trip and message to Israel.

"I was proud to show his Holiness a photograph of my family's Papal visit in the 1950s, as well as a recent picture of our children and grandchildren."

There was no mention made of her defying Catholic Church teaching.

The Pelosis got married in 1963. Their marriage has stood the test of time. Mrs. Paul Pelosi is the mother of five children -- four girls and one boy -- and grandmother to nine grandchildren.

Last fall, she also met with Pope Francis.

The current pope, who is very pastoral in his approach to controversial issues and church problems, has urged his bishops -- including archbishops and cardinals -- not to politicize the Eucharist.

"Communion is not a prize for the perfect ... Communion is a gift, the presence of Jesus and His Church," the Pope teaches.

He also claims that he has never denied Communion to anyone. He has been a priest for more than 50 years.

But Cardinal Cordileone also cautioned the Speaker of the House about using her Catholic faith as a reason for her strong support of abortion and gay marriage.

Nancy Pelosi has said in her defense of the marriage equality: "My religion compels me--and I love it for it--to be against discrimination of any kind in our country, and I consider [the ban on gay marriage] a form of discrimination. I think it's unconstitutional on top of that."

"As you have not publicly repudiated your position on abortion and continue to refer to your Catholic faith in justifying your position and to receive Holy Communion, that time has now come ..." the archbishop wrote. "By means of this communication I am hereby notifying you that you are not to present yourself for Holy Communion and, should you do so, you are not to be admitted to Holy Communion, until such time as you publicly repudiate your advocacy for the legitimacy of abortion and confess and receive absolution of this grave sin in the Sacrament of Penance."

Archbishop Cordileon's May 19 letter sent shock waves through the Catholic Church both for and against, pro and con, liberal and conservative, traditional and progressive Catholics sat up and took notice that a Roman Catholic archbishop had the chutzpah to stand up against a high-level American politician and call her down for publicly defining Catholic Church teaching. How dare he!

He dares because ultimately as Nancy Pelosi's spiritual father and as Pastor-in-Chief of her archdiocese, Archbishop Cordileone feels a grave responsibility for her soul.

"Therefore, in light of my responsibility as the Archbishop of San Francisco to be 'concerned for all the Christian faithful entrusted to my care ...'" Archbishop Cordileone explained. "By means of this communication I am hereby notifying you that you are not to present yourself for Holy Communion ..."

The San Francisco Archbishop is a canon lawyer in his own right. He earned his Doctorate of Canon Law from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. The Gregorian was founded in 1551 so it has been around since before the Reformation. Therefore, the Archbishop is very familiar with Catholic Code of Canon Law and twice he references canon law in his letter to Nancy Pelosi.

Canon 915: Those who have been excommunicated or interdicted after the imposition or declaration of the penalty and others obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to Holy Communion.

Canon 383 §1: In exercising the function of a pastor, a diocesan bishop is to show himself concerned for all the Christian faithful entrusted to his care, of whatever age, condition, or nationality they are, whether living in the territory or staying there temporarily; he is also to extend an apostolic spirit to those who are not able to make sufficient use of ordinary pastoral care because of the condition of their life and to those who no longer practice their religion.

FRATERNAL CORRECTION

The archbishop is imposing his edict on the Speaker of the House out of fraternal correction, but he is also asking for prayer to help Nancy Pelosi realize the errors of her ways and the damage being done to her soul.

Other church bodies, too, impose fraternal correction on their members in the hope and prayer that the wayward congregant would return to the straight and narrow.

When the Amish do it, it's called "shunning."
When ACNA and GAFCON does it, it's called "walking apart."

In 2016, the Primates' Meeting tried to fraternally correct The Episcopal Church following the 2015 passage of two controversial resolutions A054 and A036, which authorize gay marriage liturgies and to make The Episcopal Church's marriage canons gender neutral. These resolutions changing Church canon law, which fly in the face of the traditional biblical understanding of marriage, took place on June 29, just three days after the US Supreme Court struck down all state bans on same-sex marriage, thus legalizing the practice in all 50 states on June 26.

The 2016 Primates' action came over the change of Episcopal Church canon on the Solemnization of Holy Matrimony. The 2015 General Convention amended Canon 1.18 to regulate the celebration and blessing of marriage and to permit the union of any couple so long as the marriage shall conform to civil and canon law.

By a vote of 27 yeas to 3 nays (with six abstinences) the Primates of the Anglican Communion, along with the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, decided that for a period of three years (2016-2019) The Episcopal Church was to "no longer represent us on ecumenical and interfaith bodies, should not be appointed or elected to an internal standing committee, and that while participating in the internal bodies of the Anglican Communion, they will not take part in decision making on any issues pertaining to doctrine or polity."

The leadership of The Episcopal Church was having none of it. They refused to be disciplined.

"We are The Episcopal Church, and we are part of the Jesus Movement, and that Movement goes on, and our work goes on," Presiding Bishop Michael Curry said following the sanction. "It may be part of our vocation to help the Communion and to help many others to grow in a direction where we can realize and live the love that God has for all of us, and we can one day be a Church and a Communion where all of God's children are fully welcomed, where this is truly a house of prayer for all people. And maybe it's a part of our vocation to help that to happen."

"I want to assure you that nothing about what the Primates have said will change the actions of General Convention that have, over the past four decades, moved us toward full inclusion and equal marriage," Episcopal House of Deputies' President Gay Clark Jennings reiterated. "And regardless of the Primates' vote, we Episcopalians will continue working with Anglicans across the globe to feed the hungry, care for the sick, educate children, and heal the world. Nothing that happens at a Primates' Meeting will change our love for one another or our commitment to serving God together."

Nancy Pelosi, too, refuses to be disciplined by her Archbishop. She has already been seen receiving Communion in local Washington, DC area churches.

"I come from a largely pro-life, Italian-American Catholic family," she said following her Archbishop's Communion ban. "... so I respect people's views about that, but I don't respect us foisting it onto others,"

Wilton Cardinal Gregory (VII RC Washington DC) has previously said he would not deny Communion to President Joe Biden (a Catholic) or another Catholic political leader who supports legal abortion, including the Speaker of the House.

Currently there are 158 Catholics in the House of Representatives, 25 in the Senate, six on the Supreme Court, and seven on President Biden's Cabinet.

THE SALVO HAS BEEN SERVED

While Cardinal Gregory has thrown open the doors of his archdiocesan churches to Nancy Pelosi to receive Communion anywhere within the Washington, DC area, back home, in San Francisco, Bishop Andrus is inviting the Speaker of the House to enter into any Episcopal Church within the Diocese of California and receive Holy Communion.

"I want to speak to the public announcement that Speaker Nancy Pelosi will be denied Communion in the Archdiocese of San Francisco," Bishop Andrus posted on Facebook. "... and to say Speaker Pelosi is welcome to Communion in all Episcopal churches in the Bay Area, as I am sure she is welcome to many faith communities everywhere.".

"I support Speaker Pelosi in her clear commitment to women, children and families, her evident deep, personal faith and her embrace of a country founded on principles that include, importantly, separation of church and state," the Episcopal bishop continues. "Speaker Pelosi has my gratitude for her leadership, my support, and my prayers."

Bishop Andres focused on women's reproductive healthcare, outlining that the Episcopal Church fully supports "...women's reproductive health and reproductive health procedures to be treated as all other medical procedures" by quoting from Resolution 2018-D032 which Advocates for Gender Equity, Including Reproductive Rights, in Healthcare.

There is a great litany of Episcopal General Convention actions featuring protecting a woman's reproductive rights including:
1967 General Convention Statement on Abortion -- The Episcopal Church supports health-based reasons for abortion and general support for responsible birth control practices in wedlock.
1976-D095 -- Reaffirm the 1967 General Convention Statement on Abortion.
1982-B009 -- Reaffirm the Church's Guidelines on the Termination of Pregnancy.
1982-D016 -- Reaffirm the Right to the Use of Artificial Conception Control.
1982-A065 -- Condemn Use of Abortion for Gender Selection and Non-serious Abnormalities.
1988-D124 -- Condemn Acts of Violence Against Abortion Facilities and Their Clients;
1988-C047 -- Adopt a Statement on Childbirth and Abortion.
1988-A089 -- Promote Use of Materials on Human Sexuality and Abortion for All Age Groups.
1991-C037 -- Oppose Legislation Requiring Parental Consent for Termination of Pregnancy.
1991-A096 -- Continue Discussion on the Use of Fetal Tissue for Research Use.
1994-D105 -- Commend the Work of Pregnancy Care Centers.
1994-D091 -- Deplore Practice of Forced Abortions and Sterilization in China.
1994-A054 -- Reaffirm General Convention Statement on Childbirth and Abortion.
1994-D009 -- Reaffirm Family Planning and Control of Global Population Growth.
1997-D065 -- Express Grave Concern Over Misuse of Partial Birth Abortion.
2000-D104 -- Affirm Adoption and Support Legislation on Adoption Counseling; and
2018-D032 -- Equal Access to Health Care Regardless of Gender.

"Speaker Pelosi is devoted to her Catholic faith, and it is not lost on me that, as a woman, she is being singled out in this continued battle," chimed in Jamie L. Manson, the president of Catholics for Choice. "It is one more step in a long line of attacks that the Church hierarchy has waged on women and their reproductive rights."

Bishop Andrus claims to have known Nancy Pelosi for more than 16 years and in that time, he has watched her faith walk and he knows that she is a faithful church-goer.

"I believe she is greatly strengthened by the Sacrament she receives in her Church, the Roman Catholic Church, the Episcopal bishop explained. "In the midst of heavy legislative duties and during times of travel, I have seen her, over and over again, make time to attend Eucharist. She does this not only on Sundays but also on Church feast days, such is the importance of the Sacrament to her faith practice."

Bishop Andrus is not trying to steal from the neighboring archbishop's flock, but rather to open an avenue where "our beloved Speaker Pelosi" can receive Episcopal Eucharist when Catholic Communion is closed to her while at home in San Francisco. All she must do is enter into an Episcopal Church, put out her hand, and she will happily be served Holy Communion.

There are 194 Catholic dioceses or archdioceses in the United States, but the Catholic "House of Bishops" (US Conference of Catholic Bishops) is divided on Archbishop Cordileone's line-in-the-sand defense of the Eucharist.

Although there is a small but growing list of Catholic bishops and archbishops, who support their brother-bishop's action including: Bishop Robert Vasa (VI Santa Rosa in California); Bishop Michael Barber (V Oakland in California); Bishop Thomas Paprocki (VI RC Springfield in Illinois); Bishop Thomas Daly (VII Spokane); Bishop David Ricken (XII Green Bay); Bishop Donald Hying (V Madison in Wisconsin); Bishop Michael Burbidge (IV Arlington in Virginia); Bishop James Conley (IX Lincoln in Nebraska); Bishop Michael Olson (IV RC Fort Worth); Bishop Joseph Strickland (IV Tyler in Texas); and Bishop Liam Cary (IV Baker in Oregon).

Also: Archbishop Paul Coakley (IV Oklahoma City); Archbishop Alexander Sample (VII Portland in Oregon; Archbishop Joseph Naumann (IV Kansas City in Kansas); and Archbishop Samuel Aquila (V Denver).

Mary Ann Mueller is a journalist living in Texas. She is a regular contributor to VirtueOnline