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Vatican Defends Brazil Bishop Who Excommunicated D

Vatican Defends Brazil Bishop Who Excommunicated Doctors

Brasilia, Brazil (LifeNews.com) -- Catholic Church officials are defending a Brazilian bishop who excommunicated the mother, doctors and others involved in the abortion of twin babies a nine-year-old girl had. The girl became pregnant after allegedly being subjected to sexual abuse at the hands of her stepfather, who is now in custody. The girl, from Sao Paulo and who has not been identified, was found to be four months pregnant when she was taken to a local hospital after complaining of stomach pains. Jose Cardoso Sobrinho, the archbishop of Olinda and Recife, was upset the abortion was done. Now, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the head of the Catholic Church's Congregation for Bishops, told the Italian daily La Stampa that Sobrinho made the right decision. "It is a sad case but the real problem is that the twins conceived were two innocent persons, who had the right to live and could not be eliminated," he said. Ref. Source 3

D Excommunicated Bishop Brazil Defends Vatican

Catholic Archbishop Restates: No Communion for Pro-Abortion Catholic Pols

Denver, CO (LifeNews.com) -- Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput has restated his previous position that politicians who are pro-abortion should neither call themselves Catholic nor receive Communion. Meeting with reporters in Washington, Chaput said the integrity of church teaching is more important than "the vanity or hurt feelings of an individual Catholic governor or senator or even vice president." Several leading Democrats are pro-abortion Catholics, including Vice President Joseph Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and influential senators like Edward Kennedy and John Kerry. Chaput said, "they could make a difference if they acted like Catholics." Otherwise, he said, they shouldn't receive Communion because they're not in communion with the church. Last August, Chaput said Biden, running for vice president at the time, should refrain from the sacrament. Chaput said Biden should following the teachings of the Church by opposing abortion or voluntarily refrain from receiving communion. Not doing so would be "seriously wrong," he said. "I certainly presume his good will and integrity and I presume that his integrity will lead him to refrain from presenting himself for Communion if he supports a false 'right' to abortion," the Catholic leader added. Shortly after his comments, Biden took communion on Sunday at his home parish in Delaware, at St. Joseph on the Brandywine in Greenville.