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Uruguayan Bishop Resigns over Gay Sex Scandal

3 Jul 2009

mons_barbosa_vcg I guess the bishop of Minas, Uruguay, Francisco Domingo Barbosa Da Silveira, 65, thought it would safe to report extortion attempts against him to police without anyone knowing what the alleged extorters were threatening to reveal: that he was having sex with other male members of the clergy as well as two prisoners he had hired to help out around his office. How silly of him.

Pope Benedict XVI dismissed the bishop of Minas (Uruguay), Francisco Domingo Barbosa Da Silveira, who denounced an extortion that left uncovered he was having homosexual relations, informed today the Vatican.

In a brief bulletin the press office of the Vatican informed that the pontiff has received the resignation in accordance to the paragraph 401.2 of the Code of Canon law, the fundamental law that applies to the catholic Church.

This regulation says: “The diocesan bishop is asked earnestly to present the resignation to his office if for illness or another serious cause there was remaining diminished his aptitude to redeem it”.

“The Holy Father accepted the resignation to the pastoral government of the diocese of Minas presented by monsignor Francisco Domingo Barbosa Da Silveira, in conformity of the article 401,2 of the CDC”, indicated the Vatican in the bulletin.

The two prisoners videotaped the encounter with a cell phone and were threatening to use the material to “out” the bishop.

Thinking about it a bit more, I guess with all of the child molesters in the clergy that get off with nary a slap on the wrist, Barbosa was probably right to think he could do the same.

Via / Momento 24 and 20 Minutos

Abuse in Irish Catholic Orphanages

9:05 am By la Macha · Controversia| Religion| Violence| children| crime · 1 Comment

21 May 2009

IRELAND CATHOLIC ABUSE The following article about abuse in Irish orphanages followed all too familiar patterns: colonized nation, defenseless kids with no family or little contact with family, Catholic church, sexual and physical violence. But even as we can make generalities about the patterns that inevitably present themselves in cases like this, there is no way to escape the horrible singularity of the pain and trauma survivors deal with on a daily basis:

Buckley, the daughter of an unwed mother, said the orphanage was closed to the outside world and the children inside lived a life of slave labor manufacturing rosaries. She said there was no way to escape the ritual humiliation, beatings and rape regardless of whether the children achieved their quota of producing 60 rosaries per day.

She didn’t track down her parents, an Irish mother and Nigerian father, until her 40s, when she became one of the first to demand justice for her stolen youth.

“I didn’t have a childhood,” said Buckley, who recalled being constantly cold, hungry and thirsty as the nuns denied children water to keep them from wetting their beds. She was severely beaten by a nun for trying to smuggle out a letter detailing the abuse.

The Catholic religious orders that ran 52 workhouse-style reform schools from the late 19th century until the mid-1990s apologized after the report’s release, speaking of their shame and regret. Abuses also took place at 216 other church-run institutions for children, which included orphanages, hostels, regular schools and schools for the disabled.

Over and over stories of abuse come out–every where in the world it seems–Canada, the U.S., Australia, Europe. The only area where investigations never seem to quite follow through is Latin America. Are we to believe that violence and sexual abuse ran rampant in church run facilities throughout the entire world, with the exception of Latin America?

How is Latin@ history intertwined with church sanctioned sexual abuse?

One Catholic Cardinal Gets it Right, Asking Obama to Stop Immigration Raids

11:55 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Immigration| Religion| chicago · 1 Comment

23 Mar 2009

So the institution of the Catholic Church hasn’t been winning points with people, well with me anyway. I mean really? Thankfully Cardinal Francis George has given me a little hope that not all is lost. He told a crowd of hundreds in Our Lady of Mercy Church in Albany Park, Chicago, that Obama should stop the immigration raids to show that the new administration really is about change.

George sought to cast the issue in moral terms, calling it “a matter of conscience” and an important step to creating a more peaceful society.

“We cannot strengthen families when people live in fear from day to day,” he said.

“May this be the year that raids and separation of families stop,” George said. “May this be the year that our legislators pass comprehensive immigration reform.”

Can I get an Amen?

Via / The Chicago Tribune

Catholic Church Stands Behind Brazilian Abortion Excommunication

9:46 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Brazil| Health| Religion| Women| children · 3 Comments

10 Mar 2009

Last week the horrific news of a 9 year old girl being raped by her stepfather and subsequently having a life saving abortion put the Catholic Church in the spotlight after the local church excommunicated the girl’s mother. Responses here included people disturbed not just by what happened to the girl initially but also the second victimization of the girl and her family, and people stating that cases such as this were one of the reasons so many were leaving the Catholic Church. One person was who commented was willing to sacrifice the life and mental well being of the child so that she could carry and give birth to twins. Even President Lula of Brazil commented on the case, taking sides against the church.

The Vatican made an official statement on the case and not surprisingly supported the decision of the local Brazilian Church to excommunicate the mother and the doctors who performed the abortion. The church then went even further and attacked the girl as being more sinful than the step-father who raped her.

From the Latin Americanist:

“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,” said Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re to a local daily. Re- who is the head of the Roman Catholic Church’s Congregation for Bishops- acknowledged that “life must always be protected” yet did not say anything over the girl’s life being in danger by her pregnancy.

Aside from excommunicating the girl’s mother, Sobrinho also had the gall to disparage the raped child:

The stepfather was not excommunicated because the church said that his action, although deplorable, was not as bad as ending the life of an unborn child.

“It is clear that he committed a very serious sin, but worse than this is the abortion,” Sobrinho said.

That’s right mujeres, abortion, even to save the life of a nine year girl is worse than child rape according the the Roman Catholic Church.

Excommunicate my ass now.

If Jesus is Love, Where’s the Amor for 9 Year Old Brazilian Rape Victim

2:04 pm By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Brazil| Health| Religion| children · 7 Comments

6 Mar 2009

It’s so horrific that it physically hurts me to think about: a 9 year old child (allegedly) raped by her stepfather and then she becomes pregnant.

A nine-year-old Brazilian girl who was impregnated after being allegedly raped by her stepfather underwent an abortion yesterday.

The child- who’s identity is being kept private- would’ve had her life in danger had she allowed the pregnancy to continue according to doctors. (At the time of the abortion the eighty-pound girl was in her fifteenth week of pregnancy). “She is very small. Her uterus doesn’t have the ability to hold one, let alone two children,” said Fatima Maia- the director of the hospital where the abortion was performed.

And instead of the faith community offering compassion and comfort to a child, the Roman Catholic Church has come down on the girl’ mother and doctors for saving her physical life.

A Roman Catholic archbishop says the abortion of twins carried by a 9-year-old girl who allegedly was raped by her stepfather means excommunication for the girl’s mother and her doctors.

Despite the nature of the case, the church had to hold its line against abortion, Archbishop Jose Cardoso Sobrinho said in an interview aired Thursday by Globo television.

“The law of God is higher than any human laws,” he said. “When a human law — that is, a law enacted by human legislators — is against the law of God, that law has no value. The adults who approved, who carried out this abortion have incurred excommunication.”

I worry about the girl’s emotional life, her soul and not in the sense of if she will go to heaven because she had an abortion. I wonder about how this child can comprehend all that she has had to face and will continue to face.

I also wonder what the hell the Catholic Church is thinking when they lack the basic compassion and love that Jesus preached.

Via / The Latin Americanist

Catholics Converge on Mexico City to Discuss “Model Families”

15 Jan 2009

If you’re sick and tired of the Christian Right and the Catholic Church forcing their idea of “family” — a unit made up of a man, a woman and some kids — on you, then you’d be better off not reading on. This week the infamous “Encuentro Mundial de las Familias” took place in Mexico City, and it was all traditional family model, all the time, with a whole lot of judgment and marginalization, as was to be expected. I mean, it is an event organized by the Vatican.

Here’s what church officials Ennio Antonelli and Marc Quellet had to say about gay families and those made up of unmarried couples:

The inaugural reception was over when, in the first talk given by the president of the Pope’s Family Council of the Vatican, Italian cardenal Ennio Antonelli said: “We think, and not only us, that the experience of living together between homosexuals should remain something private and within friendship relationships. Of course one can consider [these relationships] good or bad, that’s another story, but it should be considered a private relationship.”

In addition, for the Archbishop of Québec, Marc Quellet, the “free unions” among homosexuals, but also among heterosexuals, should combatted by the Church and society itself, because they constitute a threat to “human ecology.”

Pro-Condom, Pro-Catholic?

3:02 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · sex · 1 Comment

12 Dec 2008

From Bianca Laureano there comes the news that the Catholic church and the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health actually collaborated on a pro-condom, pro-choice, pro-Catholic ad! ::falls over dead:: Here it is:

Great job to all concerned, and thank you, Catholic Church, for finally centering the needs of the people!

Mexican Church: Dress Right If You Don’t Want to be Raped

1:37 pm By Maegan La Mala · Controversia| Religion| Women| mexico| society · Comments Off

14 Aug 2008

Just when you think you’ve heard it all comes a quote that proves you wrong. The Archdiocese of Mexico is providing some “helpful hints” for women looking to not be sexually violated:

“If you want to avoid an act of sexual aggression…don’t wear provocative clothes…be careful with your glances and your gestures…Don’t find yourself alone with a man, even if you know him…Don’t get too familiar with your friends or relatives…Don’t allow risqué conversations or jokes…Look for help when you suspect someone has bad intentions…”

It seems that if this list of tips is to be trusted, all women should be afraid of something terrible happening to them. But let’s face it: this isn’t the first indication of the church’s belief that victims are somehow “asking for it”. Just last year a Spanish priest shocked the world with his claims that children who are molested are also “asking for it”. His quote, which rivals the one I’m telling you about today was:

“There are 13 year old adolescents, minors, who are totally in agreement with doing it, and wanting it, if you aren’t careful they provoke you.”

Wow.

That first gem can be found on the Archdiocese’s website, along with a host of other statements against the use of miniskirts, halter tops and bikinis, which, according to priest Sergio Román del Real, are “pornography and mental prostitution” because “we cause in others feelings they don’t have a right to have for us.”

Via / 20 Minutos

Image via Dazzee Designz

It’s the most depressing day of the year: cheer up!

2:53 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Health| Media · Comments Off

22 Jan 2007

Today is supposedly the most depressing day of the year. Experts have discovered that the Monday of the last full week in January is the most horrible depressing of all of our 365 days:

It has been singled out by Dr Cliff Arnall, psychologist and former tutor at Cardiff University, who has used mathematical equations to reach his verdict.

He worked out that people are most likely to get the blues in the final full week of January because of the combination of bad weather, Christmas debts and broken New Year resolutions.

If indeed you are feeling especially down this Monday, maybe a few of these compelling stories will help get you through the rest of the day:

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