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VALLEYFIELD, Quebec, March 18, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Claude Fluet, a Catholic priest in the diocese of Valleyfield wrote a letter to the editor published in Le Devoir March 14 in which he says he would rather be excommunicated than give up his convictions about allowing abortion in certain cases.  The letter entitled “Perhaps I too should be excommunicated,” took issue with the Catholic Church in Nicaragua which told the parents of a nine year old girl that by advocating abortion for their daughter they incurred ipso facto excommunication.

  The case in Nicaragua has caused much commotion since feminists are typically using this hard case to push the country to legalize abortion.  A nine year old girl, known as Rosa, was raped and conceived a child.  Doctors said that her health was equally at risk from an abortion as it would be to continue with the pregnancy.  Despite the fact that Nicaraguan law prohibited abortion in those circumstances the baby was aborted.  The local Bishop and the head of the Nicaraguan bishops conference had attempted to save the life of the child while offering aid to the young mother and her baby.

However, Rev. Fluet falsely painted the situation as one of selecting which life to save, that of the unborn baby or the nine-year-old girl.  He said that destruction of the unborn child was the correct recourse for the girl and that he was “shocked” that “the most recalcitrant sectors of the Catholic Church aimed at obstructing the abortion.”

Rev. Fluet concludes his letter saying, “If I am truly wrong, I would prefer excommunication rather than renounce my convictions.”

To contact the Bishop of Valleyfield:  Most Rev. Luc Cyr Bishop of Valleyfield Email: [email protected]