US politician Nancy Pelosi has taken communion at a mass overseen by Pope Francis.

This comes after Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco, Pelosi's home diocese, barred the Speaker of the US House of Representatives from receiving communion in the archdiocese due to her pro-choice stance on abortion last month.

Archbishop Salvatore announced his decision to bar her from receiving communion with a letter to the faithful on 20th May 2022: "After numerous attempts to speak with her to help her understand the grave evil she is perpetrating, the scandal she is causing, and the danger to her own soul she is risking, I have determined that the point has come in which I must make a declaration that she is not admitted to Holy Communion unless and until she publicly repudiates her support for abortion 'rights' and confesses and receives absolution for her cooperation in this evil in the sacrament of penance.

Pelosi was in Rome was on a family holiday and attended the liturgy for the feast of Saints Peter and Paul in St. Peter's Basilica on Wednesday.

She did not receive the communion from the pope himself, but from one of the priests at the basilica. It is unclear if the priest was familiar with Pelosi's government position.