Papal Smackdown on Pelosi, et al...

West Coast Catholic (and just about everyone else) beat me to the punch on this one.  But the news is just so darn good.  House Speaker Mrs. Dimwit Pelosi goes to the Vatican, and B16 gives her a full 15-minute lecture on the Church's unchanged teaching on abortion and the tremendous responsibilities leaders like herself have in regards to this crucial issue.

House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s photo-op with Pope Benedict XVI turned sour when the Pontiff used the 15-minute meeting to reaffirm the teachings of the Catholic Church on the right to life and the duty to protect the unborn.

No photo of Nancy Pelosi and the Pope will be forthcoming, since the meeting was closed to reporters and photographers. The two met in a small room in the Vatican just after the Pope's weekly public audience.

Immediately after the meeting, the Holy See’s press office released a statement saying, "following the general audience the Holy Father briefly greeted Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, together with her entourage."

"His Holiness took the opportunity to speak of the requirements of the natural moral law and the Church's consistent teaching on the dignity of human life from conception to natural death which enjoin all Catholics, and especially legislators, jurists and those responsible for the common good of society, to work in co-operation with all men and women of good will in creating a just system of laws capable of protecting human life at all stages of its development."

The FULL 15 minutes on THE issue on which Pelosi is on the wrong side.  NO picture with the Pontiff for Pelosi to parade around like some badge of honor.  An immediate press release from the Vatican explaining the content and context of the meeting so that Ms. Pelosi cannot claim anything contrary to what actually was said in the closed meeting.  And the public Vatican statement charging ALL Catholics, and ESPECIALLY politicians to get on the right side of the abortion issue.

VP Biden?  Sen. Kerry?  Sen. Kennedy?  Sen. Casey?  And all you other "Catholic" politicians and judges at all levels of government?  Are you listening???

Lots of links (some of which were snerched from WCC):  American Papist here, news reports & commentary here, here, and here, L.A. Catholic here, Curt Jester here and George Weigel here.  And the Anchoress chimes in, as well.

I LOVE IT!!!  GOD BLESS POPE BENEDICT XVI!!!