In a NewsCore story we read that that whole "magisterium of nuns" thing does work so well when bishops have backbones.
Arizona Hospital Nun Excommunicated For Allowing Abortion
Updated: Sunday, 16 May 2010, 9:20 AM CDT
Published : Sunday, 16 May 2010, 9:20 AM CDT(NewsCore) – A nun at a Catholic hospital in Phoenix, Arizona was automatically excommunicated after approving an abortion be performed on a patient in order to save the woman’s life, The Arizona Republic reported Saturday. [The idea here is that she automatically incurred the excommunication, latae sententiae, by her direct participation in the successful procuring of an abortion. Some may have questions about how proximate her participation was to the actual abortion. However, it seems that the bottom line here is that it could not have taken place without her approval.]
Sister Margaret McBride, who was also a long-time administrator at St Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center, has also been reassigned to other duties, Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted, head of the Phoenix Diocese said.
The incident occurred late last year when McBride was consulted — along with doctors — in the case of a young woman who was 11 weeks pregnant.
The woman was suffering a life-threatening condition which was likely to have caused her death had she not had an abortion.
"In this tragic case, the treatment necessary to save the mother’s life required the termination of an 11-week pregnancy," hospital vice president Susan Pfister told the newspaper.
Pfister issued the statement on behalf of the hospital, its parent company Catholic Healthcare West, and the Sisters of Mercy, McBride’s religious order.
Olmsted confirmed McBride was "automatically excommunicated" because of her involvement in the abortion.
"I am gravely concerned by the fact that an abortion was performed several months ago in a Catholic hospital in this diocese," Olmsted said.
"I am further concerned by the hospital’s statement that the termination of a human life was necessary to treat the mother’s underlying medical condition.
"An unborn child is not a disease. While medical professionals should certainly try to save a pregnant mother’s life, the means by which they do it can never be by directly killing her unborn child. The end does not justify the means."
Excommunication forbids the person from participating in church life, including receiving communion, and can only be remedied through an appeal to the Vatican.
It is normally resolved by a statement of repentance.
(This article is provided by NewsCore, which aggregates news from around News Corporation.)
