Catholics: Abuse victims "dwelling crankily on the past

[sketerpot]

And this does not apply to genocide? It's heresy to think abortion is OK, but it's not heresy to think it's OK to butcher millions of people?

I think the real reason why the Church will excommunicate someone for abortion and not genocide is this two-parter:

1. The Church has committed genocide before, and Catholic apologists still talk about their most brutal psychopaths as heroes. They're not going to make this one grounds for excommunication, as they'd end up needing to retroactively excommunicate a bunch of dead popes and cardinals.

2. The Church says abortion is evil, and if a Catholic gets an abortion then they've severely disobeyed the Church. If there's one message that comes through consistently in both the New and Old Testaments, it is obedience.

The Church hasn't turned its back on its bloody history, and they're not about to condemn genocide or murder or burning heretical books and people, or any of the things they used to do. Just look up Simon de Montfort (IV) on a Catholic apologist web site and watch how they spin. They could revere Hitler if they really wanted to.

[Metatwaddle]

I think sketerpot's got it in one. According to wiki, these excommunication-worthy crimes were all decided in the fourteenth century - just after the Crusades. Why in the world would they claim mass murder was evil when some popes and cardinals, some possibly in living people's memory, had endorsed it?

P.S. I just noticed ordination of women actually is grounds for excommunication, not just a bad thing to do! Good show.