RELIGION is the ENEMY

[Rosemary House]

I've just read about the excommunication in Brazil of a mother, and doctors, who performed an abortion for a NINE year old girl, pregnant with twins after being raped by her step-father. The child had been raped since she was six; the 23 year old man also raped her older disabled sister. He's in prison now for his horrendous crimes.
I've posted the story in International News so you can read all about it... but I'm so overwhelmed with horror and frustration at this story that I wanted to start a discussion. The mother of the little girl was excommunicated along with all the medical staff that assisted at the abortion. The bishop who excommunicated the mother and medical staff said it was a sad situation for the pregnant child, but the twins were innocents who deserved to live. Does the 9 year old deserve to live? Because it would be touch and go for a little girl to survive a pregnancy and a delivery..... The Vatican is to this point supporting the Brazilian bishop. Of course the step-father, although he did 'a bad thing', was not excommunicated. Brazil is apparently in an uproar; abortion is outlawed in this very Catholic country, except in cases where the mother's life is endangered etc.... but for the RC church, the law has nothing to do with it.
The Muslim religion is rightly often castigated for its oppression of women but here we are again, with our western 'Christian' Catholics, fully as implicated in a vile conspiracy against the most basic rights of women and in this case, little girls. Do we need any further evidence that religion is the enemy of women? I know it's a very old story, but this is news TODAY. It happened one day after the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day. What do you think we should do, can do, must do....

[Sally]

This is horrifying. Just shows how completely irrelevant, out of touch and vindictive the Church is. The fact that the step father was not excommunicated is an extra affront. Seriously Fuck the Catholic Church.

[Jacqueline Hynes]

This is just the saddest thing. Where do I begin? I'm not affiliated with any church but I was raised a catholic and a practising catholic until my late teens. I have to ask myself if the millions of catholics out there would support such a decision by their church and I feel that they certainly would not. Forgive my ignorance on this but is there some kind of global network for the catholic faith to mobilize and unite as Catholics, an arena where by they could oppose such a decision. Perhaps I'm being optimistic, assuming the organization would respond democratically and further assuming the majority of Catholics would oppose the decision. Do the patrons of the Catholic Church have any power within the organization? This is not an attack against Christians but of the organization. Performing the abortion on the little girl was a common sense thing to do for medical reasons alone. My hope is that the little girl, her family and their supporters are proud of the work they did and at the very least are able to take solace in doing the right thing. As for this monster of a man, I think it a capital crime against humanity that he was not excommunicated. Can you appeal such a thing????

[Rosemary House]

I think actually there is a massive global controversy because of this monstrosity which might kill the church yet (okay that's not so likely) Brazil is on fire and the Vatican is running scared etc etc but it's just the very fact that this could happen - it's completely medieval. But to me it always seems that women in all churches have been cast as some ghastly amalgam of sainted mother; old hag; prostitute and snow-white girl child. I read that motherhood is holy in aghanistan but they love the instituition; not the mothers. Bu let's face it; the church is the ultimate in patriarchy - most of these guys live without women and consider them lesser beings: and that's kind of old-fashioned now I think? You can read more about it in the news item on the front page and google the subject and there will be tons more: I think you are quite right that there will be global netzorks of Catholics opposed.... check it out sweetie and thanks for your blog which I've featured because I liked the sound of it!