Pope Leo assigns conservative archbishop who denied Pelosi the Eucharist to key Vatican role

Pope Leo XIV has overseen a shakeup at the Vatican sure to vex progressives: assigning an American conservative who has fought against the LGBT agenda and abortion activism to the Catholic Church’s highest court.Weeks after excommunicating all members of the Society of St. Pius X and declaring it a schismatic sect, the Vatican announced a number of resignations and appointments.’It is a position of great prestige and trust within the Catholic Church.’While declining to renew the term of Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark — a progressive cleric who has tipped his biretta to the LGBT community and championed migrant causes — Pope Leo XIV appointed on July 25 seven new members to the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura. Among the new members are a pair of American bishops — San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone and Bishop Edward Lohse of Kalamazoo — and two Spanish canon lawyers who belong to Opus Dei, a conservative Catholic institution. These appointments do not require a relocation to Rome.Maggie Gallagher, executive director of the Cordileone-founded Benedict XVI Institute for Sacred Music and Divine Worship, told Blaze News that “the Apostolic Signatura is essentially the Supreme Court of the Catholic Church (except that the Pope may intervene and overturn a court ruling).””It doesn’t issue rulings on Catholic teachings, but on cases against individuals including for example judgements of nullity for marriages, and charges against other judges, etc,” continued Gallagher. “It is a position of great prestige and trust within the Catholic Church and the appointment of Archbishop Cordileone is clear indication that Pope Leo appreciates his competence and his leadership.”Gallagher added that Archbishop Cordileone’s appointment “does not mean of course that the Pope agrees with all the positions he has taken, but he is clearly signaling that these views do not put you on the outs with Rome, and that is a great relief to many Catholics in the United States, especially for Catholics attached to the traditional Latin Mass.”Cordileone, the San Diego native whom President Donald Trump appointed last year to serve on the advisory board of the White House’s Religious Liberty Commission, is the archbishop who was harassed by California radicals for denying communion to Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), a professed Catholic within the Archdiocese of San Francisco.RELATED: ‘It’s insanity’: Massachusetts Democrats pass bill that would make it open season on viable babies Franco Origlia/Getty ImagesIn May 2022, Archbishop Cordileone — who has referred to abortion in America as a “genocide on life in the womb” — provided Pelosi with a refresher on the Church’s moral teaching that abortion is a “grave moral evil,” and stressed that there can be no more extreme example of “throwaway culture” than “when direct attacks on human life are enshrined in a nation’s law, celebrated by society, and even paid for by the government.”Citing canon law — which states that those “obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to Holy Communion” — as well as the instruction of Pope Benedict XVI, the American archbishop said it was his responsibility to bar the Democrat from what the Catechism of the Catholic Church calls the “source and summit of the Christian life”:After numerous attempts to speak with her to help her understand the grave evil she is perpetrating, the scandal she is causing, and the danger to her own soul she is risking, I have determined that the point has come in which I must make a public declaration that she is not to be admitted to Holy Communion unless and until she publicly repudiate her support for abortion ”rights” and confess and receive absolution for her cooperation in this evil in the sacrament of Penance.Pelosi remained unrepentant and attacked Archbishop Cordileone on the network then known as MSNBC, complaining, “Our archbishop has been vehemently against LGBTQ rights too.”Archbishop Cordileone is on the radar of GLAAD and other non-straight activist organizations, not only for his defense of the Catholic teaching that “all sexual acts outside of a marriage between one man and one woman are morally wrong and do not serve the good of the person or society,” but for his rejection of gender ideology, long-standing defense of the institution of marriage, and advocacy for protecting the First Amendment freedoms of those opposed to the LGBT agenda.In addition to holding fast to the teachings of the Church, Archbishop Cordileone has called — especially in the wake of the SSPX schism — for greater Catholic access to the traditional Latin Mass.Archbishop Cordileone said in a statement on Saturday, “I am deeply grateful to the Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, for this appointment as a member of the Supreme Apostolic Signatura. I receive this responsibility with a profound sense of stewardship, recognizing that every office in the Church is entrusted for the service of Christ, His people, and the mission of the Gospel.””The Supreme Apostolic Signatura assists the Holy Father in safeguarding the proper administration of justice within the life of the Church,” continued the archbishop. “Justice in the Church is never merely legal; it is ordered toward the salvation of souls, the protection of the rights of the faithful, and the strengthening of ecclesial communion. I am honored to contribute to that important mission.”Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!