Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi received Communion at a June Mass at the Vatican, at which Pope Francis presided.
Pope Francis was not the celebrant of the Mass, nor did he distribute Communion. The Speaker, who was vacationing in Rome, was one of many diplomats and political figures attending the Mass for the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul. She received the Eucharist from a priest who may or may not have recognized her.
The feast of Sts. Peter and Paul is traditionally a celebration of the unity among the world’s bishops in communion with the Roman Pontiff. Because of continued trouble with his painful knee condition, Pope Francis presided at the Eucharistic celebration but Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the dean of the College of Cardinals, was the celebrant.
Speaker Pelosi has been barred from receiving the Eucharist by Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco, her home diocese. But she has continued to attend Mass and receive Communion in other dioceses.
