Pelosi takes Communion at papal Mass

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said she felt very comfortable taking Communion during the Mass celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI, who has said supporters of abortion rights should not receive Communion.

“Communion is the body of the people of the church coming together,” Pelosi said at her weekly news conference after returning from the Mass. “I feel very much a part of that.”

{mosads}The Speaker was effusive about the service, reading a passage from the pope’s sermon and praising his “beautiful message of hope.”

Staffers said Pelosi received Communion during the service, but not from the pope himself.

The issue of abortion has frequently been awkward for both the Roman Catholic Church and its members who favor abortion rights. A few of the more than 250 U.S. bishops have said they would withhold Communion from Catholic lawmakers who support abortion rights.

In 2004, several American bishops said they would deny Communion to then-Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry (Mass.) because of his views on abortion.

Last year, when pressed on whether Catholic politicians who had recently legalized abortion in Mexico City should be considered excommunicated, Pope Benedict's response was, "Yes."

Benedict's spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, later said the pope was not setting a new policy and did not intend to formally excommunicate anyone. But Lombardi added that politicians who vote in favor of abortion should refrain from receiving Holy Communion.