RL. 480 Canon Law

Summer II, July 9^th, 2004

Professor: Sheila E. McGinn, PhD.

Student: Leonard T. Chuwa, A.J.

CASE 17

SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION AND ABORTION:

Summary of the key facts of the case.

1. The girl who conducted abortion needs help desperately.

2. In panic, she doubts Gods mercy and forgiveness due to the gravity of her sin.

3. She is sorry. She feels very guilty and penitent.

4. Father Miller is in dilemma as per what to do.

An outline of the pastoral issues involved.

1. Lucy is in post abortion spiritual and psychological trauma. She needs help. And she is hurting so badly that she is impatient.

2. She doubts Gods infinite mercy (sin against the Holy Spirit). This she does unintentionally due to the way she perceives her sin.

3. Lucy was automatically excommunicated at the time she committed abortion. Her penalty is reserved according to Canon Law.

4. Lucy is hurting and needs forgiveness and healing now. She is also sorry.

5. Should Fr. Miller ignore Lucys situation regardless of what might happen to her and refer the case to the bishop?

6. Should he grant break the law and grant absolution?

 

A list of the canons I see as pertinent to the case.

Canon 838.1: the direction of the sacred liturgy depends solely on the authority of the church which resides in the Apostolic See and, according to the norm of law, the diocesan bishop.

Canon 978.2: In administering the sacrament, the confessor as a minister of the Church is to adhere faithfully to the doctrine of the magisterial and the norms issued by competent authority.

Canon 980: If the confessor has no doubt about the disposition of the penitent, and the penitent seeks absolution, absolution is to be neither refused nor deferred.

Canon 981: The confessor is to impose salutary and suitable penances in accord with the quality and number of sins, taking into account the condition of the penitent. The penitent is obliged to fulfill these personally.

Canon 1324.1: Factors diminishing imputability.

-if the person had only the imperfect use of reason in which case the accused is not bound by a latae sententiae penalty.

Canon 1357: A confessor can remit in the internal sacramental forum an undeclared latae sententiae censure of excommunication or interdict if it is burdensome for the penitent to remain in the state of grave sin during the time necessary for the competent superior to make provision.

-2. In granting the remission, the confessor is to impose on the penitent, under the penalty of renitence, the obligation of making recourse within a month to the competent superior or to a priest endowed with the faculty and the obligation of obeying his mandates; in the meantime he is to impose a suitable penance and, insofar as it is demanded, reparation of any scandal and damage; however, recourse can also be made through the confessor, without mention of the name.

Canon 1398: A person who procures a completed abortion incurs a latae sententiae excommunication.

A discussion of my assumptions regarding the literary, rhetorical and historical aspects of these canons.

Can. 1398: A person who procures a successful abortion incurs an automatic excommunication. The Latin original reads: Qui abortum procurat, effectu secuto, in excommunicationem latae sententiae incurrit.

An excommunication is the heaviest spiritual sanction the Church can render. So long as it is in force, it bars the excommunicated person from the church community and from receiving most of the sacraments, as well as from all public associations affiliated with the Church. An automatic (or "latae sententiae") excommunication is an especially severe penalty. The nine or so latae sententiae excommunications in the Code are reserved for use against certain things the Church particularly wants to deter, like assaulting the pope (can.1370) and priests divulging matters heard in the confessional (can.1388). Most excommunications can only follow a tribunal trial (can. 1425, '1, 2). But latae sententiae penalties operate like a bill of attainder in that there is no "process" for their imposition the fact that the person voluntarily performed the proscribed act, in the absence of some exception provided in the law, means the penalty is incurred. An excommunication can usually be lifted by the local bishop and sometimes by a priest during confession as I have shown above in (Canons 1354-1357).

The 1917 Code had a similar provision in its Canon 2350.

A discussion of how I would resolve the case.

Lucy does not doubt Gods infinite mercy but she is devastated by the gravity of the sin she has committed. She knows she can be forgiven, that is why she came to the priest pleading for forgiveness. She is not actually guilty of the sin against the Holy Spirit.

It is evident that Lucy is very sincere and properly disposed for the sacrament as it is stated in Canon 980: If the confessor has no doubt about the disposition of the penitent, and the penitent seeks absolution, absolution is to be neither refused nor deferred.

Lucy is hurting seriously and needs pastoral care. She needs healing right now. Waiting may be more harmful than helpful. Her sin, although incurs latae sententiae, it is not yet declared and it is clearly unbearable for her. Canon 1357 states: A confessor can remit in the internal sacramental forum an undeclared latae sententiae censure of excommunication or interdict if it is burdensome for the penitent to remain in the state of grave sin during the time necessary for the competent superior to make provision.

I would give Lucy proper counseling and catechesis regarding the sin she committed and the infinite mercy of God then give her proper penance and absolution with instructions to see the ordinary latter for more counseling and catechesis.

A brief analysis of the ethical, pastoral and theological implications of my decision.

Lucy has committed a grave sin, however, she is very sorry. She regrets it and she knows she has offended God. she deserves absolution not only on those grounds but especially on the grounds that she wants to reach God and experience his mercy through Fr. Miller. Keeping her hurting would ruin her faith in Gods own mercy and love. Christ came for sinners and the sinners who believed in his ability to forgive them were forgiven and healed. Lucy is one of them. Keeping her in the pain would destroy her and her faith.