The uproar from the Catholic population of Brazil and around the world was intense. The president of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a conservative Catholic, came out to fiercely defend the actions of the mother and doctors. He also criticized the cold and unforgiving position of the Roman Catholic Church. There is a general feeling that the Roman Catholic Church’s staunch inflexibility on subjects like abortion is costing adherents in the traditionally Catholic Brazil. Today only 75% of Brazil’s population calls itself Roman Catholic.
It appears that the massive amount of international pressure has affected the Vatican’s decision on this issue. As of Saturday the 14th of March the Vatican has declared that there will be no excommunications. The National Conference of Bishops of Brazil ( CNBB ) has concluded that the girl and her mother were pressured into their decision. The extreme circumstances surrounding the whole affair apparently warrant some additional consideration, according to the CNBB. Of course the tremendous media coverage of the whole fiasco certainly figured into this new call for contemplation, though there is little chance the CNBB or the Vatican would ever admit it.
As 2009 continues to roll on, one has to wonder if this is only the beginning of a distinctly rocky year for the Roman Catholic Church. Catholic controversies, both positive and negative (though mostly the latter) have concerned people the world over, and it is not clear if this is to be the status quo or simply a heap of contentious decisions concentrated in a few short months.
