Posted on 03/05/2009 4:46:19 PM PST by Alex Murphy
RIO DE JANEIRO - A Roman Catholic archbishop says the abortion of twins carried by a 9-year-old girl who allegedly was raped by her stepfather means excommunication for the girl's mother and her doctors.
Despite the nature of the case, the church had to hold its line against abortion, Archbishop Jose Cardoso Sobrinho said in an interview aired Thursday by Globo television.
"The law of God is higher than any human laws," he said. "When a human law — that is, a law enacted by human legislators — is against the law of God, that law has no value. The adults who approved, who carried out this abortion have incurred excommunication."
Health Minister Jose Gomes Temporao rebuked the archbishop, saying, "I'm shocked by two facts: by what happened to the girl and by the position of the archbishop, who in saying he defends life puts another at risk."
Abortion is generally illegal in Brazil, which is home to more Catholics than any other nation. But the procedure is allowed when the mother's life is in danger, when the fetus has no chance of survival or in rape cases where the woman has not passed her 20th week of pregnancy.
Doctors said the girl was 15 weeks pregnant when the abortion was performed Wednesday in the northeastern city of Recife, where Sobrinho is archbishop. Health officials said the life of the girl — who weighs 80 pounds — was in danger.
The pregnancy was discovered last week when the girl fell ill and her mother took her to a clinic. The child then told officials she had been abused by her stepfather, who is in police custody.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
Excommunication!
use it on Democrats please!
This is a sad story, I am sad to see that doctors took the easy way out and aborted not one, but two children, even though there is very little danger to the girl and her children if she gets the right medical attention. I am glad that the Archbishop excommunicated the doctors and the mother, but that does not stop the hurt of hearing about abortions that should not have happened.
And the stepfather? No mention if he was excommunicated.
Good point.
Already Posted.
And you are basing this on?
Assuming those being excommunicated are actually Catholic, then I completely agree with the action. But it seems to me that their actions up to this point were not very representative of a strong Catholic faith - Those that would endorse abortion, and those who perform them....
You noticed that too, eh?
Unfortunately for us Infidels,that approach to our laws is exactly what the fundamental Muslims believe. - Tom
You wrote:
“And the stepfather? No mention if he was excommunicated.”
What he did was a mortal sin but is not one of the reasons for excommunication. Murder of babies in the womb is, however.
She may be tramatized the rest of her life by the fact her mother had her two babies killed, and that doctors condoned this.
This happened in Brazil, where Saint Gianna Berella Molla's uncle worked as a doctor and her other uncle helped to build a hospital. Also, the miracle for either her canonization or beatification also happened in Brazil.
Saint Gianna Berella Molla, please help this family and help them to amend for the harm to the babies... Just as Saint Maria Goretti was able to convert the man who killed her.
Ironically, perhaps he isn't excommunicated. That said, the punishment for opposing Divine Law is far worse.
An excommunication is punishment that seeks to foster repentance. The hope is that all involved in this will repent of their wrongdoing.
Since the mother was excommunicated, she should have no qualms about divorcing her slimeball rapist husband.
Well, she could certainly divorce him with a clear conscience in any case. It’s remarriage following divorce that is objectionable to the church, not necessarily divorce per se. If divorce is necessary to protect a child from a rapist, then divorce is necessary.
The youngest mother on record was 5 years and 7 months old. Yes, you read that right.
And it didn't kill her, either, contrary to the knee-jerk reaction of many on FR. In fact, she's apparently still alive today. Her son died a few years ago at the age of 40.
The reason for the difference in penalty is that society generally (we think!) understands that child molestation, rape, murder, massive theft, etc., are heinous and abominable crimes. And -- typically -- the civil law makes that clear also.
The same cannot be said of abortion, so the church attaches extra penalties to it to make its intense disapproval clear.
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