Brazil

 

It is reported that the Archbishop of the Catholic Church of Brazil, Archbishop Cardoso, has excommunicated a young girl of nine years of age. Apparently she had been raped by her stepfather.

The sin seems to be that a team of doctors and medical staff - who have all also been excommunicated - performed an abortion. The doctors believed the procedure necessary for medical (and no doubt humanitarian) reasons such as her health, and the likelihood of a pregnancy at that age affecting her badly, possibly fatally - and that the foetus had little chance of survival. This seems a reasonable assumption.

All in all a remarkable act by a person with the control of the church of a large country. This would seem to imply that young children and even babies can be

guilty of terrible sins, in the eyes of the Catholic Church, even when these are forced on them by adults. It also implies that the Bishop is hardly fit to govern a kindergarden, let alone a very large congregation.

As a representative of the Almighty and All-Merciful, he seems to have fallen short in his duties somewhat. Or is it the position of the Church that a dead child is a better result than a terminated foetus that had little real chance of survival? It also seems to approve of raping children as a means of creating more Catholics.

One supposes it far too much to hope for that the Bishop will himself be excommunicated by the Pope.

by Tom Badillo

Let the children come to me,
and do not keep them away,
for of such is the kingdom of heaven.

 
Luke 18:16