How Pope Francis is perpetuating the Catholic Church's radical anti-abortion position

[trotsky]

http://theweek.com/articles/575293/how-pope-francis-perpetuating-catholic-churchs-radical-antiabortion-position

...The fact is that the church's position on abortion is breathtakingly, stunningly radical — more radical, even, than the mainstream pro-life movement. Viewed in the context of this radicalism, Francis' proposal of temporary pastoral leniency is hardly something worth applauding. On the contrary, it's an act so small that it deserves to be denounced as a woefully inadequate response to a fundamental injustice at the heart of the church.

...

According to the church, if I commit adultery, my priest can hear my confession and absolve my sin. If I murder my wife, my priest can hear my confession and absolve my sin. Heck, if I engage in an act of genocide, my priest can hear my confession and absolve my sin.

But if my wife procures an abortion, she incurs an automatic (latae sententiae) excommunication, meaning she instantly falls out of communion with the Catholic Church. That precludes her from partaking in the sacraments, including the sacrament of reconciliation, which is the means by which a priest can hear a confession and absolve sins.

That makes abortion worse than every other form of murder, including mass murder.

[bvf]

1. Then there's the end bit...

"If Pope Francis really wants to be a reformer, if he truly wishes to infuse the church with the spirit of justice and mercy, he will go beyond the all too modest gesture announced this week and set in motion a process of revising and de-radicalizing the Canon Law so that it begins to treat abortion as merely another form of murder." (emphasis mine).

Agreeing that this would be a step in the right direction leaves a really bad taste in my mouth, but there it is.

How many centuries to go?

[trotsky]

2. Well, you know why it's worse, right?

Because a WOMAN is daring to make her own decisions and control her own future as opposed to being a vessel for a man who controls her. This is the archaic, sexist, abhorrent thought process involved. It's murder PLUS disobedience to their god's "natural law."

[bvf]

3. I'm late for a Promise Keepers meeting--gotta run...

Last edited Fri Sep 4, 2015, 01:45 PM - Edit history (1)

ETA:

That really didn't call for a lame joke.

Scary enough that this brainwashing-into-second-class-citizenship is so essential to the RCC (and religion in general) that women would be made to feel grateful for a "reprieve" bestowed by the abuser--the reprieve consisting of permission to continue in the relationship.