A Rabid Foe': Catholic Leader Blasts Pelosi Over Her Letter Urging Archbishop to Pull Out of Anti-Gay Marriage Event

The leader of a Catholic civil rights group is lambasting Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) after she penned a letter to San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone asking him to pull out of an upcoming rally supporting traditional marriage.

In her appeal to Cordileone, which was obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle, Pelosi spoke out against the "March for Marriage" event that will be held in Washington, D.C., on June 19 by the National Organization for Marriage, dubbing it "venom masquerading as virtue."

And after Pelosi attempted to sway the archbishop, Catholic League president Bill Donohue issued a written response against the Democratic politician, calling her "a rabid foe of the Church's positions."

"Pelosi is urging [Cordileone] to cancel his plans because the event is not supported by her homosexual friends," Donohue charged in a written statement released Monday.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif. gestures as she speaks at the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce's 2014 Legislative Summit in Washington, Thursday, March 27, 2014. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

The civil rights leader also said that Pelosi has no problem when gays and lesbians insult her faith, instead choosing to speak out when Catholic leaders embrace church teaching.

"When gays go naked in the streets of San Francisco, and mock Catholicism in patently obscene ways, Pelosi is never offended," he wrote. "What offends her is her archbishop's public defense of the Church's teachings on marriage. Nice to know what her moral compass looks like."

In her letter, Pelosi told Cordileone that the two share their love for the Catholic faith and San Francisco, asking the bishop, who is a featured speaker at the event, not to take part.

She added, "While we may disagree on the subject of marriage equality, we do agree that every person is a child of God, possessed of the spark of divinity and worthy of respect."

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif., accompanied by Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., ranking Democrat on the House Budget Committee (AP)

Pelosi went on to use Pope Francis' own words in an effort to prove her point, writing, "If someone is gay and is searching for the Lord and has good will, then who am I to judge him?"

As TheBlaze previously reported, the pontiff did utter these words last summer, but they were in reference to gay priests who are not sexually active -- not gays and lesbians in general.

(H/T: San Francisco Chronicle)