No Mercy

I have been thinking about the situation that Margaret McBride, RSM, finds herself in these days.  Sr. Margaret is the Mercy sister who, until recently, was vice president for mission integration and served on the Ethics Committee of St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix.  The hospital was founded by the
Sisters of Mercy in 1895.  Margaret was on call for the Ethics Committee when the situation about what to do for a woman whose 11 week pregnancy was causing pulmonary hypertension - a condition the doctors deemed nearly 100% fatal.  The decision was made to terminate the pregancy and save the life of the mother of four.

When he learned of this event, the Bishop of Phoenix, Thomas J. Olmsted, saying that "abortion is not permissible under any circumstances" excommunicated Sr. Margaret immediately along with anyone else at St. Joseph's who participated.  While I am surely not alone in this opinion, I am surprised at Bishop Olmsted's use of such a blunt and severe instrument to address what had to be an incredibly delicate and heartbreaking decision.  This type of clerical behavior widens the gulf between many ordinary members of God's people and some of the hierarchy.

One of the great lessons of history is being ignored here:  an institution whose leaders are encapsulated by their belief that they alone are worthy of deciding what is right and true risk making terrible and costly mistakes.  The decision by Bishop Olmsted reinforces the perception that church leaders are crushingly rigid and out of touch with the human condition.  The whole situation around this series of events in Phoenix draws into sharp contrast the futility of 'all or nothing' positions.  Makes me think of Jesus when he was asked about what should be done with the woman taken in adultery - his response was to bend down and write in the sand...at least then the accusers had the good grace to walk away and leave judgment to God.