Excommunication awaits abortionists — Cardinal Rosales

Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales has issued a pastoral letter expressing the Catholic Church’s condemnation of abortion and threatening excommunication from the church to those who obtain it or help others get it. "A deliberately procured abortion is a moral evil and the Catholic Church attaches the canonical penalty of excommunication on those who procure it and on those who help obtain abortion," the pastoral letter read. The pastoral letter added that abortion is a "grave sin against a defenseless life." "Unwanted pregnancies could be avoided if only people are less selfish, are more disciplined and capable of self control, exercising a strong will, and capable of making sacrifices," it said.

The pastoral letter, which was read in Catholic masses on Sunday, came following a series of incidents where fetuses are left in various places, including inside churches. On September 14, a five- to seven-month-old fetus, wrapped in a green plastic bag, was found inside the Manila Cathedral in Intramuros, Manila at around 5:00 p.m. An hour later, Catholic devotees were shocked when another fetus was found at the doorstep of the Church of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo. The following day, a seven-month old fetus, wrapped in plastic and then stuffed into a sack, was found in Catmon district in Malabon City. A newborn baby boy was likewise found in the trash bin of a Gulf Air flight, which arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport from Bahrain on September 12. A day after, two more infants — one in Blumentritt in Manila and one in San Carlos City in Pangasinan — were also found abandoned. Based on data from the Department of Social Welfare and Development, 986 babies were abandoned from January 2008 to February 2009. Extreme poverty is the most common reason why parents abandon infants. - KBK, GMANews.TV