Barcelona, Spain, Apr 19, 2011 / 16:01 pm
The Archdiocese of Barcelona in Spain confirmed April 18 that Father Manuel Pousa was not automatically excommunicated after admitting to paying for two abortions.
Investigators concluded “with due certitude” that Fr. Pousa did not incur excommunication established by canon 1398 of the Code of Canon Law, reported the archdiocese.
Canon 1398 of the Code of Canon Law states: “A person who actually procures an abortion incurs a latae sententiae excommunication.”
The archdiocesan statement explained that the priest was not excommunicated “because he did not concur in the intention of the offense and was not principally complicit in the abortions that had already been decided and carried out by two girls in a very precarious economic situation.”