Pope Excommunicates Rape Victim's Family
In Brazil, a nine year old girl was raped by her step-father and conceived twins. Abortion is illegal in Brazil, except under certain circumstances. The girl weighed only 80 lbs, and would have probably died had she carried both babies to a team of doctors.
So here we have
1) Rape
2) Pedophilia
3) The life of the mother
4) Incest (sorta)
So, with the blessing of the state an abortion is performed and the life of the girl is saved.
And in steps the Vatican. They excommunicated the doctors for performing the abortion and the mother for consenting to it. "God's law is above any human law" the Vatican spokesbishop said.
This infuriates me for a number of reasons.
First, the life of unborn children is more important than the life of the mother. Rome is saying they would prefer the nine year old would die. All life is precious, the Church argues. But what they mean to say is unborn life is precious, the living isn't.
Second, the church has a right to their own ideology. If they are against abortion, I am fine with that. But the vitriol they have for abortion is unmatched. The mother and doctors were excommunicated. The rapist/pedophile father is, in contrast, is still in full communion with the church. They give a choice to the doctors and mother, either save this girls life or save your eternal soul. The rapist/pedophile is free to rape away until St. Peter welcomes him with open arms into heaven. Do rapist/pedophiles get to spend eternity with their step children in heaven?
The Church has held it up over the last century as the supreme moral authority on earth. More so as it lost its role as supreme political authority in Europe. The church will put the full force of its moral power onto a lifesaving act but will make high positions of authority who deny the overwhelming weight of evidence for the holocaust. Politics is always before morality. Morality is a tool to political ends.
When other denominations are having debates relative to the 21st century, it is upsetting, but not surprising, to see the church having the same debate it had in the 19th century.
If these are the actions used to define you are a moral authority, you do not deserve a seat among those discussing morality.








