Pelosi says Catholic Church could have female priests in her grandchildren's lifetime

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Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Wednesday the Catholic Church could have female priests in her grandchildren's lifetime.

"Maybe my grandkids'," Pelosi told Politico’s Jonathan Martin after he asked her, "Do you think we'll see female priests in your kids' lifetime?" in a conversation Wednesday that was part of Politico's "Securing Europe: NATO's Next Steps Event."

Pelosi, who is Catholic and was denied Communion by San Francisco's archbishop over her support for abortion rights, also talked about her perspective on the Church’s stance on other hot-button issues.

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Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said the Catholic Church might see female priests in her grandchildren's lifetime. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

"That's one of the debates they were having when we were over there, the role of women in the church, attitudes to LGBTQ, issues that relate to divorced Catholics, can they receive Communion and if they remarry, oh my gosh, can they still receive Communion? Those kinds of day-to-day things that the Church has not really fully resolved," Pelosi said.

Pelosi' progressive views on issues like gay rights and abortion have placed her in opposition to the Church.

Her remarks came the day before the College of Cardinals elected Cardinal Robert Prevost as the first American pope, who took the name Leo XIV.

Newly elected Pope Leo XIV, Cardinal Robert Prevost of the United States appears on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, May 8, 2025. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

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Pelosi also went on to talk about visiting the late Pope Francis at the Vatican.

"I'm ‘excommunicated,’ but I did receive Communion at the Vatican when Pope Francis was right there in the next pew," Pelosi said. "That was a message to my own archbishop."

In May 2022, San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone said that Pelosi was barred from receiving Holy Communion due to her support for abortion, and wrote a statement communicating the news.