New Brazilian archbishop strikes equivocal tone on controversial abortion case
April 15, 2010
The new Archbishop of Olinda and Recife, Brazil, has taken a public stand quite different from that of his predecessor in a highly controversial case involving a pregnant 9-year-old girl.
Archbishop José Cardoso Sobrinho, who retired from his post as the head of the Brazilian archdiocese last year, had strongly opposed an abortion for the girl, sending counselors and offering aid to the family, and had issued a reminder that anyone participating in an abortion is subject to excommunication. The outgoing archbishop's firm stand drew heavy criticism from the local media, and even an unfavorable notice in the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano-- although the Vatican eventually confirmed that Archbishop Cardoso's stand was fully in line with Church teaching.
However the new leader of the Olinda and Recife archdiocese has declined to back his predecessor's position. Archbishop Fernando Saburido told a Brazilian newspaper that while the situation was a sad one, "the decision is for the parents, who have all the freedom to act in the way that they believe to be most convenient."
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Posted by: Ken -
Apr. 16, 2010 9:13 AM ET USA
This archbishop should be replaced immediately.
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Posted by: extremeCatholic -
Apr. 15, 2010 10:14 PM ET USA
Adam and Eve sought the all the freedom to act in the way they believed to be the most convenient. Look at the consequences of that. Perhaps it was due to the editing in LifeSite or its source, but the abp never acknowledges that a human being was killed in the abortion. If this abortion is justified, what abortions aren't?
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Posted by: adamah -
Apr. 15, 2010 3:36 PM ET USA
"freedom to act in the way that they believe to be most convenient" is a perversion of the concept of human freedom. Freedom is not about what is "convenient" but about doing what one ought to do.
