Colombian Catholic Church Excommunicates All Involved in 11-year-old Rape Victim’s Abortion
By Gudrun Schultz
BOGOTA, Colombia, August 30, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Cardinal Alfonso Llopez Trujillo announced Tuesday that the Colombian Catholic Church has excommunicated all persons involved in obtaining an abortion for an 11-year-old girl, who became pregnant after she was raped.
The order includes the judges, politicians and legislators involved in the decision, as well as the doctors, nurses and the girl’s parents, the Manila Bulletin Online reported today.
Under excommunication, all those involved in the abortion are banned from receiving the sacraments, except the sacrament of confession, and may not perform a ministerial role in the Liturgy or other worship ceremony.
Participating in abortion carries the automatic penalty of full excommunication, under the Catholic Code of Canon Law.
Cardinal Trujillo, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, has been very clear on the application of excommunication in cases of abortion. In a June interview with Famiglia Christiana magazine, Cardinal Trujillo said the doctors, nurses and the mother involved in abortion all incur excommunication, as would the father if he supported the abortion decision.
Colombia bowed to internal and international pressure earlier this year by allowing abortion in cases of rape or incest, in a Constitutional Court decision. Bogota’s Achbishop, Cardinal Pedro Rubiano Saenz responded to the decision by stating, in an interview with El Tiempo newspaper, “All those who commit the crime, the sin of abortion, will be excommunicated immediately. This applies as well to those who foster or assist abortion.”
Archishop Luis Augusto Castro, president of the Bishops’ Conference of Colombia, spoke out against the Court’s decision to accept abortion in difficult cases involving rape or incest, saying “The child is innocent…the criminal should be punished and put in jail for a long time, but the child should not have to pay for the sins of another. He is an innocent baby.”
BOGOTA, Colombia, August 30, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Cardinal Alfonso Llopez Trujillo announced Tuesday that the Colombian Catholic Church has excommunicated all persons involved in obtaining an abortion for an 11-year-old girl, who became pregnant after she was raped.
The order includes the judges, politicians and legislators involved in the decision, as well as the doctors, nurses and the girl’s parents, the Manila Bulletin Online reported today.
Under excommunication, all those involved in the abortion are banned from receiving the sacraments, except the sacrament of confession, and may not perform a ministerial role in the Liturgy or other worship ceremony.
Participating in abortion carries the automatic penalty of full excommunication, under the Catholic Code of Canon Law.
Cardinal Trujillo, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, has been very clear on the application of excommunication in cases of abortion. In a June interview with Famiglia Christiana magazine, Cardinal Trujillo said the doctors, nurses and the mother involved in abortion all incur excommunication, as would the father if he supported the abortion decision.
Colombia bowed to internal and international pressure earlier this year by allowing abortion in cases of rape or incest, in a Constitutional Court decision. Bogota’s Achbishop, Cardinal Pedro Rubiano Saenz responded to the decision by stating, in an interview with El Tiempo newspaper, “All those who commit the crime, the sin of abortion, will be excommunicated immediately. This applies as well to those who foster or assist abortion.”
Archishop Luis Augusto Castro, president of the Bishops’ Conference of Colombia, spoke out against the Court’s decision to accept abortion in difficult cases involving rape or incest, saying “The child is innocent…the criminal should be punished and put in jail for a long time, but the child should not have to pay for the sins of another. He is an innocent baby.”
An 11 year old is raped and made pregnant against her will. Her parents decide that it is unconscionable to force an 11 year old to carry a child to term, let alone raise the child born of rape. The parents seek the approval of a court for an abortion, which is granted. And then the Catholic Church excommunicates everyone but the rapist.
ReplyDeleteWhat is wrong with this picture and why can't you see it?
Yes, Richard, rape is a horrific act! I am sure it was very traumatic for this 11 year old girl, as it is for all women who are molested sexually, but even more so for her due to her young age.
ReplyDeleteDo you really think abortion is a solution? Abortion is another horrific act which not only hurts and destroys one life, but two. Like rape,abortion is also an act of violence against both the mother and the child she is carrying. It can be lethal to the mother and is DEADLY to the life she is carrying. The mother suffers severe and traumatic physical, psychological,emotional, mental, and spiritual problems as a result of an abortion. Do you really want to compound this young woman's problems by forcing her to suffer even more trauma through an abortion? If you answer "Yes" then you have no compassion for her.
Do you believe in murdering another human being? That is what abortion will do to her child. Do you believe that we have the right to murder innocent human beings? Only God has the right to give and destroy life.
The rapist is committing a serious sin and has destroyed his relationship with God by his sin and in a sense has actually "excommunicated himself."
The parents and doctors committed a serious sin and violated canon law by purposely murdering or acting as an accomplice in the murder of an innocent human being, so they were justly excommunicated.
Why is it that some people immediately think of the murder of innocent human life (abortion) as the ONLY solution or option in a situation like this?
Adoption is a viable and loving option. Which option do you think this young woman's baby would choose?
How do you think this young woman feel 10 or 20 years from now about the decision her parents forced her to make?
Will she be even be able to have another child? Infertility is one of the many "benefits" of abortions.