Contact: Michelle Johnson, EWTN Global Catholic Network, 205-795-5769, mjohnson@ewtn.com

IRONDALE, Alabama, Aug. 27 /Christian Newswire/ --  EWTN Global Catholic Network TV Host Father Mitch Pacwa S.J. took Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to task last night for misrepresenting Church teaching on abortion in an Aug. 24 interview with Tom Brokaw on Meet the Press.

In her interview, Pelosi told Brokow that "as an ardent, practicing Catholic" who has studied the issue of when life begins for "a long time," she could say that the Church fathers, especially St. Augustine, were not sure of when life begins, and that the Church had only made this decision in the past 50 years. She then drew the conclusion that this should not impact on a woman's right to choose.

On his Tuesday night show, "Threshold of Faith," Father Pacwa explained that Pelosi was in grave error about the teaching of the Church fathers, summarized what other Church leaders are saying about her public statements, and offered her this piece of advice:

"[A]s an ardent, practicing Catholic, you must conform your conscience to the teaching of the Church that goes back [to] the very beginning of the Church on this moral issue."

After explaining how grave a sin abortion was to Church fathers and citing early Church leaders and Church documents, Father Pacwa gave this moral counsel to Pelosi: "If you are ignorant and you don't know [when life begins], then you go on the side of safety and protecting rights. You don't bomb a city where there might be a lot of civilians. You say, 'Well, I’m not sure.' Well, then be on the side of safety. Protect the lives of the innocent, the non-combatants.

"Same with the unborn children. You must also go on the side of your ignorance to say then, "If I don't know, then I'll protect all the more. I don't want to act while I'm ignorant."

Father Pacwa called on Pelosi to use her position "to make sure not that there are few and rare abortions, but that there are zero abortions and that you would do everything you can to protect life. This is the duty of us all."

For downloadable video clips, audio clips, and a complete transcript, please click on www.ewtn.com/media/abortion. For an interview with Father Pacwa, please contact EWTN.

EWTN Global Catholic Network, in its 28th year, is available in over 148 million television households in more than 140 countries and territories.