This weekend brought news that the Catholic Archbishop of San Francisco had informed Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi that she was not to present herself for holy communion at Mass.
 
Some reacted with overheated rhetoric that Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone was violating the separation of church and state. That is false. 
 
The archbishop was engaging in his Constitutionally-protected right to the free exercise of religion—and that includes teaching the truth about moral issues such as the right to life of the unborn. It also entails church governance.
 
After repeated attempts to speak with Speaker Pelosi about the grave evil of her public support for legalized abortion on demand up until the moment of birth, the archbishop felt duty-bound in conscience to let Pelosi know that she needs to repent of her abortion support before receiving communion.
 
That’s not a violation of the First Amendment, that’s the proper exercise of it.