Turns out, Whoopi Goldberg can be even more ignorant about religion than she is about “racism.”
The woman who ludicrously claimed the systematic murder of 6 million Jews during the Holocaust simply because of their ethnicity was not a question of “racism” took to national television on Monday’s episode of ABC’s “The View” to declare that the archbishop of San Francisco doesn’t understand how to do his job.
And she was more than willing to give him a few pointers, in defense of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Goldberg was reacting to the news Friday that San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone has banned the California Democrat from receiving Holy Communion in her home diocese because of her vociferous public defense of legalized abortion.
Goldberg’s disgust with Cordileone was as evident as it was offensive:
“The abortion rights battle is starting to blur the lines between church and state,” she said. “The archbishop of San Francisco is calling for Speaker Nancy Pelosi to be denied receiving Communion because of her pro-choice stance.
“He’s one of the priests who also called for President Biden to be denied the sacrament.
“This is not your job, dude! That is not — you can’t — that is not up to you to make that decision.”
Was Whoopi Goldberg out of line on this?
(As anyone familiar with the dynamics of “The View” knows, that’s the point of a Goldberg declaration where the audience normally bursts into raucous applause. The reaction here was oddly muted. Apparently, even trained seals know when they’re out of their depth.)
Goldberg then went on to quote where Pope Francis described the Eucharist as “not the reward of saints but the bread of sinners.”
That’s fair enough. But it’s a pretty good bet that Archbishop Cordileone knows considerably more about the church’s stance on those who should present themselves for Communion than Whoopi Goldberg.
It’s also a pretty good bet that he’s given a good deal more thought to the question than she has, considering the topic of abortion-supporting politicians and Communion has been discussed for decades.
To get an idea of how thoroughly Cordileone has thought about it, and the reasons for his decision, a podcast interview Friday with Catholic commentator Gloria Purvis on Friday is excellent reading. For sheer depth of knowledge and breadth of belief, it even trumps Goldberg’s roles in “Sister Act” and “Sister Act 2.”
But all joking aside, her effrontery was nearly unbelievable. Addressing an archbishop as “dude” is calculated disrespect, the kind that would not be tolerated if it involved any other faith. (Think she would do it with an imam?)
For her to lecture Cordileone, obscenely, about the authority and responsibilities of his job is beyond the pale.
Of course, there were plenty of social media users who apparently think reading a few paragraphs in a news story about the pope’s meeting with the president, or maybe their own disillusionment with a Catholic upbringing, makes them an expert on things theological.
But for many, a TV host telling a Catholic prelate that a decision about a Catholic sacrament wasn’t within his authority was poorly received.
Agree with the Archbishop or not, it’s within his authority. There’s no point in pretending otherwise. We can debate if it was the right or wrong call, but it is very much his call.
— Joseph Nolla, SJ (@JosephNollaSJ) May 23, 2022
Since when has Whoopi become the chief of Catholic doctrine?!
— Todd Taylor (@toddytails) May 23, 2022
Is Whoopi Catholic? I’m not, but most Catholics I’ve spoken to say that this actually IS his job.
I don’t disagree with her feeling that “communion is for sinners” but it means that in the sense that we’re still trying to be on the right path.— PollyG (@PollyGHHC) May 23, 2022
It — and I cannot stress this next part enough — is *quite literally* the Archbishop’s job.
— Fr. Mike Palmer, CSC (@mppcsc) May 23, 2022
The House speaker, as most Americans who follow politics know, has been vocal about her Catholic faith when it’s politically expedient – though she doesn’t get the media hosannas that the pro-abortion “devout Catholic” Joe Biden does on a regular basis.
Obviously, the religious faith of every individual is a matter of private concern, and no person can see into another’s heart.
But an honest Catholic with even an elementary grounding in the teaching of the church knows that receiving Communion requires being in a “state of grace.” That doesn’t mean being perfect, obviously, as Francis said in the quote Goldberg read, the Eucharist is not the “reward of saints.”
But it does mean, as Cordileone told Purvis, being free of serious sin.
“It’s Catholic 101 that we’re supposed to be free of any serious sin in order to be properly disposed to receive Holy Communion,” he said. “If we are guilty of serious sin, we have the great grace of the sacrament of penance. So we can go to confession, avail ourselves of that sacrament, receive God’s forgiveness in the sacrament to be restored to a right disposition.”
There is, of course, no way of knowing whether Pelosi considers her political position a sin. There is, however, a very public record that she is not repenting of it. That, at least, the rest of the world is in a position to judge.
Over the years, Cordileone has made no secret about his displeasure with Pelosi’s unwillingness to adhere to the church’s teaching on abortion – which goes back millennia.
Finally, he’s acted. And Whoopi Goldberg — the defender of Hollywood values who pontificates “The View” — is telling him it’s not his job.
It was only a few months ago that Goldberg was in hot water for claiming that the Holocaust was not motivated by “racism” because both the victims and the perpetrators are white.
Obviously, her understanding of racism is literally skin-deep.
Her understanding of Catholic theology doesn’t even go that far.
