Brazilian Archbishop Sobrinho Receives Pro-Life Award From Human Life International
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Representatives from Human Life International (HLI) presented Brazilian Archbishop Dom Jose Cardoso Sobrinho with the Cardinal von Galen Award in acknowledgement of his heroic defense of Catholic Church teaching and human life. The ceremony took place at the Damas College Auditorium in Recife, Brazil on April 16. In March, Archbishop Sobrinho declared that the Catholic doctors and counselors who facilitated the abortion of the unborn twins of a nine-year-old girl had incurred in a latae sententiae (automatic) excommunication by themselves. "With this award, we are affirming that Archbishop Sobrinho stands solidly with the Church in defense of all innocent human life," Fr. Thomas J. Euteneuer, president of HLI, told LifeNews.com. "Archbishop Sobrinho acted with great compassion toward the young girl and her family, and with even greater courage in making what he surely knew would be an unpopular decision. It is a travesty that, even now that the facts of the case have become known, certain officials in the Church have refused to reverse their precipitous judgments and publicly acknowledge the rightness of the excommunications."