Nun excommunicated for saving a life

[47of74]

I just heard about this;

(CNN) – It was an agonizing decision for all involved. A 27-year-old pregnant patient at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona became gravely ill.

Doctors told her unless she aborted her 11-week-old fetus she would likely die. The problem: St. Joseph's is a Catholic hospital and abortions are largely prohibited.

Sister Margaret McBride was part of an ethics panel that included doctors that consulted with the young woman. The woman had the procedure and survived. But Sister McBride took some heat. The Phoenix Catholic Diocese, led by Bishop Thomas Olmsted, automatically excommunicated the nun, effectively banning her from participating in the church.

That boils my blood. Sr. McBride was excommunicated for saving a life, a life of the mother. The hierarchy is destroying the church by their deeds.

[Angry Dragon]

1. The people are the church

Your God is the head of the church. Does he not set the rules for the people and not the hierarchy??

The hierarchy would soon die out without the people.

[hedgehog]

2. It gets really wild - according to this article,

http://richardsipe.com/Doyle/2010/May/The%20Bishops%20Love%20You%20Until%20You%27re%20Born.pdf

the bishop favored a distinction that would have made no difference- he would have approved an induction of labor!

[47of74]

3. There must be something in the Arizona water

There's a whole bunch of stupid down there.

[hedgehog]

4. Check this out - the stupid is imported from Nebraska

http://ncronline.org/news/people/thomas-j-olmsted-portrait-policy-driven-bishop

[47of74]

5. I think Bishop Eugene Gerber would have done better to...

I think Bishop Eugene Gerber would have done better if he had cited this in the homily where Olmsted was ordained as Coadjutor Bishop;

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. (Matt 23:23-24)

It's obvious that the lesson Christ gives here never sunk in with Olmsted and too many leaders in the church.