The World of Religions, May-June 2009 —
The excommunication pronounced by the Archbishop of Recife against the mother and medical team who performed an abortion on the nine-year-old Brazilian girl, who had been raped and was pregnant with twins, has sparked outrage in the Catholic world. Many faithful, priests, and even bishops have expressed their indignation at this disciplinary measure, which they consider excessive and inappropriate. I, too, reacted strongly, highlighting the blatant contradiction between this brutal and dogmatic condemnation and the Gospel message, which advocates mercy, compassion for others, and transcending the law through love. Once the initial emotion has subsided, it seems important to revisit this case, not to fuel further indignation, but to attempt to analyze, with perspective, the fundamental problem it reveals for the Catholic Church.
Faced with the public outcry over this decision, the Brazilian Episcopal Conference attempted to downplay the excommunication and exempt the girl's mother, claiming she had been influenced by the medical team. However, Cardinal Batista Re, Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, was much clearer, explaining that the Archbishop of Recife was simply reiterating canon law. This law stipulates that anyone who performs an abortion is automatically excluded from communion with the Church: "Whoever procures an abortion, if the effect follows, incurs excommunication latae sententiae" (Canon 1398). No one needs to officially excommunicate him: he has excommunicated himself by his act. Certainly, the Archbishop of Recife could have refrained from adding fuel to the fire by loudly invoking canon law, thus sparking a global controversy, but this does nothing to resolve the fundamental problem that has outraged so many faithful: how can a Christian law—which, moreover, does not consider rape a sufficiently serious act to justify excommunication—condemn people who try to save the life of a raped girl by having her have an abortion? It is normal for a religion to have rules, principles, and values, and to strive to defend them. In this instance, one can understand that Catholicism, like all religions, is opposed to abortion. But should this prohibition be enshrined in an immutable law that provides for automatic disciplinary measures, disregarding the diversity of individual cases? In this respect, the Catholic Church differs from other religions and Christian denominations, which do not have an equivalent of canon law, inherited from Roman law, and its disciplinary measures. They condemn certain acts in principle, but they also know how to adapt to each particular situation and consider that transgressing the norm sometimes constitutes a "lesser evil." This is so evident in the case of this Brazilian girl. Abbé Pierre said the same thing about AIDS: it is better to combat the risk of transmission of the disease through chastity and fidelity, but for those who cannot manage this, it is better to use a condom than to transmit death. And it must also be remembered, as several French bishops have done, that the Church's pastors practice this theology of the "lesser evil" daily, adapting to particular cases and accompanying those in difficulty with mercy, which often leads them to bend the rules. In doing so, they are simply putting the Gospel message into practice: Jesus condemns adultery itself, but not the woman caught in the act of adultery, whom the zealots of religious law want to stone, and to whom he says this unequivocal statement: “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone” (John 8). Can a Christian community that intends to be faithful to the message of its founder, as well as remain relevant in a world increasingly sensitive to the suffering and complexity of each individual, continue to apply disciplinary measures indiscriminately? Shouldn't it also emphasize, along with the ideal and the norm, the need to adapt to each specific case? And above all, bear witness that love is stronger than the law?