Life Site News - Pelosi: Catholic Bishops are ‘Lobbyists’

By Ben Johnson, LifeSiteNews.com

Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi says she respects her bishops’ opinions when they discuss scripture or morality, but when it comes to their efforts to protect the rights of Catholics to follow their church’s teachings in law she considers them simply “lobbyists” with whom she has her disagreements. . . .

Pelosi’s depiction of the bishops as Beltway influence-peddlers riled Geoffrey Surtees of the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), a legal organization dedicated to preserving religious freedom. He wrote, “Religious leaders are not lobbyists when they petition the government to protect the dignity of marriage or the rights of the unborn. Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. was no lobbyist on account of his support for the Civil Rights Act of 1964.”

Pelosi’s characterization, Surtees wrote, is “quite simply, insulting. And not just to Catholics. It’s an insult to all citizens who believe that religious freedom, enshrined in the First Amendment, is a fundamental right and governing principle of our constitutional order.” . . .

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