Vatican Archbishop Defends Abortion for Pregnant 9-Year-Old
Posted by Amber Robinson at 12:00 PM on March 16, 2009
Finally a Vatican official has come to the defence of doctors who performed an abortion on a Brazilian 9-year-old who was pregnant with twins as a result of rape by her stepfather. The doctors, as well as the pregnant girl and her mother, were excommunicated from the Catholic church last week following the abortion, which is deemed a mortal sin by Catholics.
Archbishop Rino Fisichella told a Vatican newspaper that, “Before thinking about excommunication, it was necessary and urgent to save her innocent life and bring her back to a level of humanity of which we men of the church should be expert and masters in proclaiming.” Although against abortion, he believed that in this case, the girl “”should have been above all defended, embraced, treated with sweetness to make her feel that we were all on her side, all of us, without distinction.”
Fisichella, a Vatican prelate who heads the Pontifical Academy For Life, acknowledged that last week’s excommunication by the Catholic Church in Brazil has damaged the Church’s reputation, writing that it “unfortunately hurts the credibility of our teaching, which appears in the eyes of many as insensitive, incomprehensible and lacking mercy.”
This whole case has had be fuming from the outset. The fact that the victim was excommunicated while the rapist was allowed to remain in the Church still has me flummoxed.
The girl’s regional archbishop, Jose Cardoso Sobrinho, defended the actions of his Church by claiming that, “God’s law is above any human law. So when a human law … is contrary to God’s law, this human law has no value”
He added that though the man allegedly committed “a heinous crime … the abortion – the elimination of an innocent life – was more serious”. Even though doctors acknowledged that attempting to carry the twins to full term may have killed the small girl.
Okaaaaaaaaaay And that, right there, is why I am not a part of any organised religion. I am interested to hear what Catholic readers of Babble feel about the way this case has been handled.
Image: Jezebel
Was the Rapist Catholic? If so, has he repented of his sin? If he did, he is forgiven. The church is a hospital for sinners. If the family of the abortionists do not repent of what they did…I.E They identify with their sin and refuse to call it a sin…you are in danger of excommunication. This is new to you? The church has always had this position? What particular conspiracy do you think you are trying to float here?
Finally, good for you on “Not being part of any Organized Religion Bandwagon”. The world will be a very interesting place when we all get to decide what is right and wrong for ourselves, disgusting moral relativism, think there is no such thing as right or wrong, I.E Truth? Think Truth is relative? Nobody said truth isn’t harsh or hard but do you think its relative? If so, here’s a test for you, go to the top of a 5 story building, and exit the building via the roof, perhaps the truth of gravity will change for you because truth is relative….who needs religion when we can make ourselves God right?
Amateurish Bandwagon Trendy Nonsense
Okay, let’s get a few things straight here:
1. The victim was never excommunicated.
2. A Catholic who commits a grave sin automatically excommunicates himself until he repents and atones for the sin. Therefore, the stepfather can be assumed to be excommunicate, if it makes you feel better.
3. There appears to be some question whether the bishop actually pronounced excommunication upon the doctors and victim’s mother or merely invoked the above rule. Public declarations of excommunication aren’t generally done lightly; usually they follow deliberate public violations of Church teaching and are a last resort.
I’ve been following this story and it seems to pick up questionable additions wherever it’s republished. I’d advise sticking to reputable news sources and reading carefully.
This should stay out of public view. The rapist should be quietly shot and disposed of, the father, mother, and the nine year old should decide on what to do with the babies with the input of an experienced doctor. All this stuff wouldn’t come up if people would just start taking care of these animal people. Society doesn’t have the time or resources to waste on such non-sense!