Vatican: Abortion in Rape Cases is "Violence Answered with Further Violence, Murder with Murder"

LifeSiteNews ^ | 8/20/07 | Elizabeth O'Brien

[wagglebee]

VATICAN CITY, August 20, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In an exclusive interview with Vatican Radio on Sunday evening, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican official who is second only to Pope Benedict XVI, spoke of his regret over Amnesty International's newly adopted advocacy of abortion in cases of rape or when the mother's life is in danger.

Referring to the organization's official confirmation of this "selective abortion" stance, given at its International Council Meeting last week, Cardinal Bertone stated, "Men and women of the Church throughout the world have already made their stark opposition to this decision clear."

"Violence cannot be answered by further violence, murder with murder," said Cardinal Bertone, "for even if the child is unborn it is still a human person."

"It has a right to dignity as a human being."

At the same time, the Cardinal condemned all forms of violence against women, especially rape. Vatican Radio reports that he reiterated that "all forms of violence against women must be opposed and that the inhuman violence of rape be stopped and society be mobilized to defend the dignity of women."

The Cardinal underlined that in the Church's many writings, it has promoted the dignity of women. He gave the example of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith document signed by himself and Pope Benedict XVI, then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. He noted that this teaching emphasized the importance of both men and women working together in the Church and public sphere.

The Cardinal concluded, "We cannot ever destroy life. We must always save life even if it is the fruit of violence."

Listen to Radio Vatican Report:
http://www.vaticanradio.org/en1/Articolo.asp?c=150467

Read related LifeSiteNews coverage:

Senior Vatican Official: Abortion Clinics are "Slaughterhouses of Human Beings"
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/apr/07042401.html

Vatican Cardinal Denounces Abortion Lobbying in case of Raped Nine-Year Old Chilean
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/jan/05011803.html

Vatican: Catholics and Catholic Organizations "Must" Withdraw Support of Amnesty International over Abortion Support
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/jun/07061401.html

[wagglebee]

The Cardinal concluded, "We cannot ever destroy life. We must always save life even if it is the fruit of violence."

Very true.

[wagglebee]

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[gidget7]

I gotta agree with the Pope here. I wouldn’t blame the women if she gave the child up for adoption, but she shouldn’t kill it!

[wagglebee]

Catholic Ping

[gondramB]

I don’t disagree with the Vatican that abortion for rape is violence answered with violence.

But forcing a woman to keep a child from a rape is like rape over and over. Its not something I would force a woman to go through even though it would be best if she chose to endure that for another.

[Mrs.Z]

As Alan Keyes says, “...we don’t execute rapists, we just execute the baby.”

[Jaysun]

Rape has been used to prop up abortion for a long time. Pregnancy by rape has to be absurdly rare while abortions run into the millions per year.

Anyway, I’m with the Pope on this one.

[laweeks]

“...we don’t execute rapists, we just execute the baby.”

How very true! And how awful!

[wagglebee]

The statistics I’ve seen indicate that less than 10,000 abortions a year are the result of rape, that’s less than three days work for the abortion mills.

[tacticalogic]

If a pregnant Catholic woman dies, does a priest administer the Last Rites twice, and does the Church conduct two separate funeral services? Just wondering.......

[vladimir998]

No, and no.

The woman was baptized. The unborn child was not. Thus, Last Rites makes sense for only the mother, not the unborn child.

[Coleus]

Benedict XVI Urges Struggle Against Evil

being instruments of Christ's peace means "defeating evil with good." >>>

 

and in this case you defeat the evil of rape by not killing the very innocent baby you have living in you, a mother should keep the baby, let it live defeating evil with this good act.  Adoption, not Abortion.  Besides killing your baby, abortion can lead to permanent scarring, infertility, breast cancer, depression and suicide.

[tacticalogic]

The woman was baptized. The unborn child was not. Thus, Last Rites makes sense for only the mother, not the unborn child.

Okay. Same thing for funeral rites?

[Tax-chick]

An unborn child cannot receive the final Sacraments - Confession, Communion, and Anointing of the Sick - because it is incapable of the first two, and not within reach for the last.

A child who dies before or during birth can be honored with a Catholic funeral. I have never been to a funeral for a woman who died while pregnant, but I assume in that situation there would not be two funerals, since the child would remain in utero, but both deaths would be mentioned.

[utahagen]

Your points are well taken, but I think the abortion-on-the-case-of-rape issue is moot in light of the common knowledge that three or four birth control pills will prevent conception and/or implantation. I’m not advocating this practice; I’m just making the point that women who are, say, four months pregnant on account of rape are so rare that dividing that debating the issue is a waste of energy. Women who are raped and believe they have a right to abortion just don’t end up more than a few weeks pregnant in the first place.

[hinckley buzzard]

But forcing a woman to keep a child from a rape is like rape over and over

Having heard from and worked with women who were in this situation I can assert that many women are bludgeoned into abortion by domineering social workers and off-kilter relatives. It is the abortion which feels to them like "Being raped all over again." The number of such pregnancies is indeed small enough, but among those who face the situation, there is no reason to expect a priori that the mother will necessarily want to abort her baby. Some do but many don't. Furthermore, I have known people who were the babies of rape, and they have all been uniformly glad their mother protected them and kept them alive./

The Church is on the side of life and that is the right side after all.

[TheBattman]

In many areas of theology and doctrine I completely disagree with the Catholic Church - but this particular statement is correct (at least in relation to abortion).

[TheBattman]

No-one is asking her to “keep” the baby, just deliver it and put it up for adoption. The baby committed no crime.

[TheBattman]

statistics...less than 10,000 abortions a year are the result of rape

And one cannot help but wonder how many of those are actually the product of rape, or if that was the excuse to get an abortion.