A Hard-Line Sequel to the Case of the Pregnant Nine-Year Old

[pnorman]

The Catholic Church (and Pope Benedict XVI) were presented with a public relations powder keg last March when news broke that a nine-year-old Brazilian girl underwent an abortion after she'd been raped and impregnated with twins by her stepfather. Catholics from Sao Paolo to Paris were outraged after the swift public declaration by the local archbishop, Jose Cardoso Sobrinho, that the girl's family, as well as the doctors who performed the abortion, were automatically excommunicated. Monsignor Rino Fisichella, a solidly traditionalist Rome prelate considered close to Benedict, tried to soften the Church's approach on the Brazilian case by writing in the Vatican's official newspaper L'Osservatore Romano that the girl "should have been defended, hugged and held tenderly to help her feel that we were all on her side." Two weeks ago, the Vatican announced that Sobrinho, who had been serving past retirement, was stepping down. And that's where the Church stood. Until now.

In a tucked away "clarification" published on page 7 of a recent edition of L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican produced a document that unequivocally confirmed automatic excommunication for anyone involved in an abortion - even in such a situation as dire as the Brazilian case. It settles any questions about the absolute nature of Church doctrine on the matter of abortion - but could potentially reignite the PR firestorm. (Check out the original story of the controversial abortion in Brazil.)

Church conservatives have steadfastly defended Sobrinho, who had rejected Fisichella's criticism of insensitivity and said that he was simply stating Catholic doctrine in response to reporters' questions. The L'Osservatore Romano document makes it more than likely that the Pope Benedict has felt it necessary to publicly defend the Brazilian prelate's hard line as well, ordering up the recent to clear up of the "confusion" created by Fisichella's article. (See pictures from the Pope's last visit to Brazil.
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20090718/wl_time/08599191149500

pnorman

[Pharlo]

1. Well then,

based upon that premise, one can only assume that the Catholic Church is pro war and supports it in all cases, because I have yet to hear of a single catholic politician being excommunicated for voting for armed conflict or committing troops to battle.

[peacetalksforall]

2. Very good. You're right.

[Orsino]

4. I suppose we'll have to make abortion as profitable as war

...if we want the church to turn pro-choice.

[CTyankee]

3. Does anybody know what the risks involved are with allowing a 9year old child

to continue a pregnancy and go through child birth? Would she even survive?

[Hekate]

5. This is the very definition of a high-risk pregnancy: high-risk of maternal & fetal mortality...

A little girl is unlikely to carry even one fetus to term, much less two. Her undeveloped body -- well, never mind.

Under this pope, Mother Church has excised its heart and has no mercy except in the abstract. Jesus and his mother Mary are exemplars of compassion, but Pope Benedict XVI doesn't know the meaning of the word.

Some phrases in that article just leap out and hit you in the face, don't they? "Pastoral delicacy" my rosy roseola.

Hekate

[Odin2005]

6. More proof that religion is evil and rots your brain.

a 9yo girl cannot safely carry a pregnancy to term. My God, these creeps in funny robes are not just misogynists, they are MORONS.