Yet More Catholic Church Hypocrisy and Insanity

The Roman Catholic Church seems to never stop providing endless examples of its hypocrisy and/or the insanity of its leadership. On the hypocrisy side, while the Church claims to be sorry for the rampant sexual abuse of minors that we all now know went on for decades, it still is doing all in its power to block the full story from being disclosed and to avoid having victims of abuse have their day in court against their abusers and/or the institution that turned a blind eye to their abuse. The latest effort to prevent the Church from being held fully accountable comes from New York State where the Church is frantically opposing legislation which might allow additional victims to sue the Church. After all, the Church's real God is money and if more victims are successful, precious money will be lost. Here are some highlights from the National Law Journal:

*

The New York State Catholic Conference has resumed its fierce lobbying against a bill that would open a one-year window to revive suits for clergy sexual abuse where the statute of limitations has expired. Catholic leaders say the proposal would create a flood of financially ruinous lawsuits, many of which would be decades old. As an alternative, they are promoting a more "fair and balanced" approach that would extend the statute of limitations by two years but not revive older claims.

*

The broader sex abuse litigation bill has passed the Assembly with bipartisan support each year since 2006, but was held in the Senate's Codes Committee each year. Dennis Poust, a spokesman for the conference, said there is heightened concern this year among the state's Roman Catholic leaders about the improved prospects of the bill's passage in the Senate since that chamber changed to Democratic control after November's election.

*

The Catholic Church believes it would be impossible for the church to defend against allegations that could be as old as 50 or 60 years.

*

It is a shame that the Church leaders in the past did not think - or care - about the consequences of the actions of predator priests and those in the hierarchy that enabled them or covered up their misdeeds. In my view, it is only fair that the Church now reap the fruits of its past misdeeds. Imagine the number of lives that could have been spared trauma, emotional problems and in some cases suicide.

*

On the insanity side, a story out of Brazil reveals just how little regard many in the Church leadership have for women - or in this case a 9 year old girl. It mazes me how fixated the Church is on unborn children when it cares so little fro those already living. The Irish Times has the story of a Brazilian Archbishop who would rather a 9 year old girl who was raped die than that she have an abortion to likely save her life. Here are some highlights:

*

A CATHOLIC archbishop has sparked controversy in Brazil by saying the mother of a nine-year-old girl who had an abortion on Wednesday following a rape is automatically excommunicated for allowing the procedure to go ahead.

*
Archbishop José Cardoso Sobrinho of Olinda and Recife also declared that according to canon law the doctor who performed the abortion is considered excommunicated, along with anyone else involved. The child was raped by her stepfather, who has since admitted abusing her over the last three years. Abortion is generally illegal in Brazil but allowed in cases of rape or when the pregnancy endangers the mother’s life.

*

Before the abortion was carried out the archdiocese’s lawyers threatened to charge the mother with homicide, citing the Brazilian constitution’s guarantee to the right to life. The doctor who carried out the procedure has defended his actions. “If the pregnancy had continued, the damage would have been worse, being a high risk pregnancy. The risk would have been of death or at the very least that she would never have been able to become pregnant again,” Dr Olímpio Moraes told O Globo newspaper.

*

But Archbishop Cardoso Sobrinho has dismissed the fact that the abortion was legal under Brazilian law as irrelevant to the question of excommunication. “God’s law is above whatever human law. So when a human law is contrary to God’s law, this human law has no value,” he said.

*

I suspect if the good archbishop were married and had children of his own, he would have put more value on the life of the 9 year old girl. An utter lack on the part of the Catholic clergy to "get it" in terms of parenting, family issues and the horror of the sexual abuse of children is one of the results of the celibacy requirement in my opinion.