Read about it in the New York Times or another of these online sites Letha provides:
http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/5375029/vatican-defends-brazil-excommunication/
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1883598,00.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/08/world/europe/08vatican.html?ref=world
The child was apparently sexually abused by her stepfather over a period of three years. The abortion was legal because Brazil permits the procedure in cases of rape and to save a woman's life if giving birth would be too great a risk.
But Il Papa knows best--so halfway around the globe, a Cardinal in Rome states that Brazil was wrong: the two unborn babies had a right to live, a right that outweighed the possible death of the 80-pound child who was carrying them.
Let's count the crimes here: 1) a child is raped, 2) the Roman Catholic Church wants to force her to carry twins to full term and undergo the agony of birth--difficult for mature women--or maybe a Caesarean (that should be easy) 3) the Church doesn't mind the risk to the girl-child's own life and sanity 4) a Brazilian archbishop excommunicates the child's mother and her doctors, 5) local priests may actually deny the eucharist to these people, 6) The Vatican interferes in the governmental decisions of Brazil... The list could go on.
Meanwhile, priests who commit sexual abuse of children are not excommunicated but rehabilitated.
Did the Vatican call for prayers for this child and her family? Who is paying for the counseling this child surely needs? Is a priest or nun visiting the child and her mother and assuring them that Jesus loves and forgives their decision--or even approves it?
Or will the child be taught that she committed a great sin--a murder? That her mother and doctors committed a great sin for which the church will not forgive them? If the child was not excommunicated, the mother will be taking her to Mass--but only the child can receive the Eucharist?
Has the Vatican read John 8:1-11 lately?
Another irony: the man who committed the rape will not be excommunicated.
Women's groups around the world need to start an honor roll of people excommunicated by the Roman Catholic Church, starting with Maryknoll priest Fr. Roy Bourgeois, who attended and affirmed the ordination to the priesthood of a Roman Catholic woman in Kentucky last August.
Then add the names of the doctors and mother in this case and the names of many others.
Perhaps someone would fund travel for a support group of the excommunicated.
I hear the voice of Jesus here:
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kindom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Matthew 5:10-12
2 comments:
Yes, murder is technically "worse" than rape, and abortion is worse than murder. Excommunication is a penalty issued to demonstrate the gravity of an offense, particularly from a sacramental standpoint, so as to hopefully trigger penitence. Just like a parent who really loves a wayward child will say, "Enough. I'm not giving you another red cent to spend on drugs. Shape up."
You talk about the moral complexity of this issue. I notice that the abuse was commited by a *step*father. The family, who are conveniently anonymous in media reports, apparently have more issues.
Let's not forget that the same Jesus you so flippantly quote said that anyone who divorces and remarries commits adultery.
The single largest group for perpetrating child abuse is step parents (see Maggie Gallagher's _Abolition of Marriage_). What about the mother's judgement in marrying an abuser to begin with?
Did she get pre-Cana counseling? Did her diocese provide it? Did she listen to it?
When it comes down to it, two babies are dead, sentenced to death for the circumstances of their conception. One little girl is emotionally scarred for life because of the sins of both her mother and her step father (and, also, her father, if it is a case of divorce).
The mother is not the innocent victim in this. She married the jerk to begin with.
There's an episode of _House_ where Cameron, arguing against the death penalty, says that more blacks are executed then whites. Foreman says, "Then that just means we need to kill more white people."
The one thing I agree with you on is that excommunication should be the penalty for child molestation. Pope St. Pius V said that all priests who committed the Sin Against Nature should be laicized, stripped of ecclesial office and property, and handed over to the civil authorities for execution.
The step father--like all child molestors--should be excommunicated and executed. Indeed, if it's a case of divorce and remarriage, both of them are already excommunicated.
Mr. Hathaway--
Thank you for your thoughtful comments. I especially appreciate your reflections on how to handle persons who sexually abuse a child, especially priests who do so.
Thanks for reporting that "Pope St. Pius V said that all priests who committed the Sin Against Nature should be laicized, stripped of ecclesial office and property, and handed over to the civil authorities for execution." I didn't know that.
These are difficult issues, especially because Jesus said, "Judge not lest ye be judged" Matthew 7:1
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