RE: Church excommunicates a girl for aborting her twins but lets her rapist go free
May 29, 2012 at 11:48 pm
OK just gonna clear up a few biases in the article linked. It states that the Church defended the decision to excommunicate. Not the case, this is a misunderstanding of Canon Law, which states that a person incurs a latae sententiae (automatic) excommunication when they procure or assist an abortion. The wording of the article is clearly intended to mislead a reader into thinking that specific action was taken against those involved in the abortion, when this was not the case - rather the cardinal commented on whether those involved in the abortion were now under a latae sententiae excommunication, and he replied that under cannon law, yes they were. This is disputable as we shall see...
Another thing: "One of the doctors involved in the abortion, Rivaldo Albuquerque, has raised the prospect of public clashes at his local church, telling Globo, the nation's main TV network, that he would keep going to mass there, regardless of the archbishop's order.", not only is he welcome to attend mass he is still required to attend mass as he is still bound by the rubrics of the Catholic Church, also, as it is a latae sententiae excommunication, the priest does not even have the authority to deny him the sacrament.
Thirdly, if anyone thinks I'm just called this article biased out of my own prejudice... the article is over three years old, and very few of the websites that carry it also carry the follow up to the story, where the the bishops decide the people who were involved in the abortion aren't excommunicated after all: http://www.france24.com/en/20090314-bish...-was-wrong-
In actual fact, the Catholic Church's position on abortion in these matters is a lot more grey that may people on either side of the divide tend to think. Cases such as these are sad, and even under the severe rules of the Catholic Church, while it is always a sin to take human life, the level of culpability under such extreme and horrific circumstances leads to comparably lessening in the Church's view of the crime. At least that is how it is supposed to work when morally indignant Archbishops aren't curb-stopped by journalists looking to brew up a storm.
Another thing: "One of the doctors involved in the abortion, Rivaldo Albuquerque, has raised the prospect of public clashes at his local church, telling Globo, the nation's main TV network, that he would keep going to mass there, regardless of the archbishop's order.", not only is he welcome to attend mass he is still required to attend mass as he is still bound by the rubrics of the Catholic Church, also, as it is a latae sententiae excommunication, the priest does not even have the authority to deny him the sacrament.
Thirdly, if anyone thinks I'm just called this article biased out of my own prejudice... the article is over three years old, and very few of the websites that carry it also carry the follow up to the story, where the the bishops decide the people who were involved in the abortion aren't excommunicated after all: http://www.france24.com/en/20090314-bish...-was-wrong-
In actual fact, the Catholic Church's position on abortion in these matters is a lot more grey that may people on either side of the divide tend to think. Cases such as these are sad, and even under the severe rules of the Catholic Church, while it is always a sin to take human life, the level of culpability under such extreme and horrific circumstances leads to comparably lessening in the Church's view of the crime. At least that is how it is supposed to work when morally indignant Archbishops aren't curb-stopped by journalists looking to brew up a storm.
