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SAN FRANCISCO (LifeSiteNews) — Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s local archbishop announced a campaign of “prayer and fasting” for a “conversion of heart” for the notorious pro-abortion Catholic.

“A conversion of heart of the majority of our congressional representatives is needed on this issue [of abortion], beginning with the leader of the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi. I am therefore inviting all Catholics to join in a massive and visible campaign of prayer and fasting for Speaker Pelosi: commit to praying one rosary a week and fasting on Fridays for her conversion of heart,” Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone said in his statement.

The prayer campaign’s name is “Rose and Rosary for Pelosi,” and the archbishop urged Catholics to sign up on the Benedict Institute website to make their commitment to the campaign known. When a person signs up, a rose is sent to Pelosi “as a symbol of your prayer and fasting for her.”

“At this particular moment in the history of our nation, we need more than ever the intercession of our Blessed Mother, St. Therese, and all other saints who have shown us the path to life,” Cordileone said in reference to the rose.

On September 24, Pelosi and the Houe of Representatives passed the radical pro-abortion bill misleadingly titled “The Women’s Health Protection Act.” It was support of this bill that served as the impetus for the bishop’s call-to-action prayer campaign.

The Women’s Health Protection Act would codify Roe v. Wade and prohibit states “from subjecting abortion to ultrasound requirements, mandatory waiting periods, informed-consent requirements, and other health and safety rules.”

Further, the pro-infanticide bill would prohibit the banning of particularly heinous abortion procedures such as “dismemberment” abortions, which involve tearing a baby apart limb by limb with medical instruments.

Pelosi, in her declaration of support for the bill, stated that it was a matter of “necessity” after Texas passed the Heartbeat Act which bans abortion once a child’s heartbeat can be detected, typically six weeks after conception.

“[The Heartbeat Act is] the most extreme, dangerous abortion ban in half a century, and its purpose is to destroy Roe v. Wade, and even refuses to make exceptions for cases of rape and incest. This ban necessitates codifying Roe v. Wade,” said Pelosi. “[The pro-life law] delivers catastrophe to women in Texas, particularly women of color and women from low-income communities.”

In response to Pelosi’s explicit anti-Catholic and anti-life views, Archbishop Cordileone said the “Women’s Health Protection Act” was “misnamed” and it is “shameful that any self-professed Catholic would be implicated in such an evil, let alone advocate for it.”

“This proposed legislation is nothing short of child sacrifice,” he added.

Pelosi, a mother of five, said having her children was “a complete blessing” but that it is “none of her business” how “other people choose the size and timing of their families.”

“Speaker Pelosi speaks fondly of her children,” said the bishop. “She clearly has a maternal heart. Pope Francis has called abortion murder, the equivalent of hiring a hitman to solve a problem. The solution to a woman in a crisis pregnancy is not violence but love.”

“Please join me in praying the rosary and fasting for a conversion of Speaker Pelosi’s maternal heart to embracing the goodness and dignity of human life not only after birth, but in the womb as well,” he pleaded.

As previously explained by Cordileone, in the Catholic Church, the bishop of a diocese or archdiocese has a particular duty to the souls under his purview. Since Pelosi is a formal member of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, Cordileone has a responsibility to shepherd and instruct her on matters of faith and morals. He also has the ability to excommunicate her for her formal rejection of Church teaching regarding the dignity of human life.

Advocating for, supporting, or procuring an abortion carries the penalty of automatic excommunication.

Although Cordileone has yet to formally excommunicate Pelosi, he has alluded to that being a possibility in the future. Regardless, many faithful Catholics maintain that due to Pelosi’s ardent and public support for abortion, she has already been technically excommunicated, whether that penalty is formally declared by her bishop or not.

Cordileone is not the first American bishop to openly speak out against Pelosi and other self-proclaimed Catholic politicians over their support for the recent pro-abortion bill. Diocese of Madison Bishop Donald Hying said, “With the full support of our Catholic president, our Catholic speaker of the house, and scores of Catholic representatives, the most radical pro-abortion bill was passed by the House of Representatives.”

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “Life must be protected with the utmost care from the moment of conception: abortion and infanticide are abominable crimes.”