It seems that each day brings some fresh horror from the Catholic Church. Protecting pedophiles is nothing new, of course. I'm sure that as long as there have been altar boys, there have been pedophile priests. But this is truly an an example of how WARPED the Catholic Church hierarchy has become. I don't know why I wasn't aware of this in 2009, when it happened. But I am now :-(
In an interview with the Italian newspaper, La Stampa, the cardinal added: "It is a sad case but the real problem is that the twins conceived were two innocent persons. Life must always be protected."
REALLY. But the life of the NINE-YEAR-OLD who was raped repeatedly by her stepfather since she was SIX--HER life is of NO importance? She deserves NO protection? Because her innocence was ripped from her at age SIX by a pedophile? "Pro-life" MY ASS.
"Life must always be protected"? You horrible, hypocritic old fart. Once again, a huge FAIL by "the defenders of the fetus." Her hips were too immature to support a pregnancy and delivery of twins, so what did this lovely man have to say? "She could have had a Caesarian." That's major surgery, you fool. She was NINE.
The controversy represents a PR nightmare for the Vatican. The unnamed girl's mother and doctors were excommunicated for agreeing to Wednesday's emergency abortion yet the Church has not taken formal steps against the stepfather, who is in custody. Jose Cardoso Sobrinho, the conservative regional archbishop for Pernambuco where the girl was rushed to hospital, has said that the man would not be thrown out of the Church, because although he had allegedly committed "a heinous crime", the Church took the view that "the abortion, the elimination of an innocent life, was more serious".
There you have it, people. Blatant support for a pedophile, pious adoration of fetuses, and utter disregard for an actual, living CHILD. Sound familiar? It's the same attitude--hopefully minus the pedophile part--that the "Pro-life" people practice in the US and around the world. Protect the fetus, abandon the child.
"God's laws," said the archbishop, dictate that abortion is a sin and that transgressors are no longer welcome in the Roman Catholic Church. "They took the life of an innocent," Sobrinho told TIME in a telephone interview. "Abortion is much more serious than killing an adult. An adult may or may not be an innocent, but an unborn child is most definitely innocent. Taking that life cannot be ignored."
But taking the innocence of a child, as pedophiles have been doing for centuries, is quite easily ignored by the Catholic Church.
I was raised as a "Chinese Menu" Catholic, as were most of my friends. We went to private Catholic schools, went to church every Sunday and every major holy day, like Good Friday, and went to confession every week. "Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. I forgot my homework/pinched my brother/wrapped up my broccoli in a napkin and flushed it." But we were educated, and we used birth control, as did our mothers before us. It was just common sense. Living in Manhattan, especially. No one was going to have six, seven, or eight children. And no one I knew ever did.
When I went to college, I became a lapsed Catholic. Sundays were for sleeping in, and playing soccer, for walks in the park, or traveling back from New York. I did occasionally go to church with my mother when I was home, but not often.
When I was 27, I fell in love with a very devout (but strong supporter of birth control--lol) Catholic man. He threw out my Ouija board, claiming that it was "an instrument of the Devil", and made me go to church every Sunday. Soon it began to bother him that I could not receive Communion, because I had not been to confession since high school. So off I went to St. Francis' Church, on Arch Street in Boston.
I sat down in the booth and said, "Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. It has been ten years since my last confession." There was a heavy, weighted silence, and the priest said, "WHY has it been ten years since your last confession?" I said, "Well, Father, I have certain intellectual and ideological disagreements with the Church." I was in there for one and a half hours, both of us arguing heatedly. He finally gave me 25 Hail Marys, which I dutifully said.
Two years later, I was received into the Episcopal Church. Often derided as, "Catholic Lite" by detractors, nonetheless I am VERY happy. My daughter was baptized by a gay female priest. That still makes me smile :-)
The Catholic Church has LONG known of the existence of "Chinese Menu Catholics", but has mostly tacitly ignored the fact that married people were not having a baby every year. Until now. As more of their scandals are revealed, such as this one and this sex-slave murder as well as the by-now almost ho-hum weekly revelations like this, the church has doubled down at strengthening its most radical and unpopular positions. Any intelligent person knows that birth control is not a matter of "religious liberty." No one is FORCED to use it. It's a CHOICE, and one that the church does not want you to have the LIBERTY to make.
And as for the meddling in politics...they need to lose their tax-exempt status.
So I went back, twice. Then last Sunday he wasn’t there. Another priest was substituting for that day. I’ll call him father “Spaniard of the condescension.” He reminded me of the reasons I had stopped going to church. It took him all of 90 seconds to turn his homily into a diatribe against President Obama’s directive concerning healthcare insurance in Catholic institutions. He misrepresented the directive saying it forced women to have abortions, and then he said the congregants shouldn’t vote for Obama.
That’s when I blew. I felt my fists tighten, my neck expand. My wife turned to look at me with what I sensed was concern (Not so much for me; I think she was afraid I’d challenge the priest out loud. But I wouldn’t, out of respect, for the same reason I still push my chair in when I leave the dinner table: Catholic school upbringing.) I said, under my voice, “I didn’t come to church to be told who to vote for.” And I walked out.
Read the whole story
here.
Terrible. I know my "solution" might not appeal to everyone, though. Turn your back on the church, as it has slammed its fist on you. Even the NUNS have had enough of this divisive nonsense. And just so you know, the Episcopal Church welcomes ALL baptized people, of any faith, to Communion. I'm happy there :-) To be "received" into the church meant attending confirmation classes with a bunch of 11-year-olds. No biggie. Leave the Catholic Church and its strictures to those who harass and excoriate you.
Tue Jun 05, 2012 at 10:04 PM PT: THANK YOU for the rescues, and republishing to House of Light, Community Spotlight, and Recommended. I deeply appreciate all the comments and rec's. What a GREAT community!
Wed Jun 06, 2012 at 12:07 PM PT: YES!!! http://www.addictinginfo.org/...
IRS Cautions Churches...