Loss of Reputation or Loss of Life?

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Good question. I don't know if anyone but a Catholic would be equipped to answer, and yet one might assume that a Catholic might have more reason to answer in a way meant to not make their religion seem deficient.

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Committing a murder is no way for an aspiring nun to act. She got plenty of mercy by pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter.

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It wouldn't have mattered one way or the other, the bottom line is the baby would be alive.

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Confessing before her baby's death, means confessing instead of killing, right?

I am willing to bet that many a pregnant young catholic girl has shown up at a convent and been accepted, so long as the male priests in the parish weren't told and so could go on in blissfully righteous ignorance and/or plausible deniability. The baby would be reported as a foundling that appeared on the doorstep one morning.

And given the situation, this would be as it should.

Edit: If she had become pregnant after becoming a postulant, the situation might be different.

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One report says, "When 26-year-old Sosefina Amoa traveled from Samoa to a convent in Washington, D.C., she says she had no idea she was pregnant. But alone in her room one night she felt abdominal pains and eventually gave birth to a 6-pound, 2-ounce baby."

http://thestir.cafemom.com/in_the_news/162814/apprentice_nun_who_killed_her

She was new to the US, and possibly based her predictions on how her pregnancy would be seen and treated, on misconceptions.

I know of (or did, years ago) one example of a convent/home that would assist single pregnant women in their pregnancy, delivery and adoption out, and welcome those later having a vocation for the convent.

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Well, getting back to your original question, I don't know what would have happened. What should have happened depends on how far we rewind the situation, all the way back to Samoa 9 months earlier. I can only guess that she had a perceived fear of being sent back to Samoa and who knows what fate, and she was ignorant of how the convent leadership would react.

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It is possible she did not know she was pregnant, but she had to know something was wrong and should have went to a doctor to find out what.

Originally posted by RJHinds
It is possible she did not know she was pregnant, but she had to know something was wrong and should have went to a doctor to find out what.

Actually, she may not have been able to go to a doctor. The rest of the situation depends on the order she entered. Very few have realistic expectations that every woman entering will be a virgin. Many aspirants today were even married at some point. Most communities won't take young girls (girls who haven't been out of high school for at least a couple of years). Cloistered (you never or rarely leave) communities are more apt to expect virginity and youth, because those are the women who will have an easier time adjusting (going from parents' house to another lack of freedom). Many communities, even more "modern" ones, aren't big on medical care in some ways. For example, if she was a postulant, she might have to explain to the formation director why she wanted to go to the doctor, and then receive permission or not. In other communities she might be able to go without permission but since she'd be expected to account for her time, she might still be expected to explain why she was going to the doctor. There are many symptoms to pregnancy. It's hard to believe she never felt the baby move or kick her or hiccup, didn't notice her breasts getting large, sore, and leaky, didn't notice that she could no longer see her feet, walked funny, was puking for two months, and missed her period for nine months, and that this somehow coincided with that one night with that cute guy. I agree with whoever suggested she was afraid of being sent back to Samoa.

Originally posted by Sahuaro
Actually, she may not have been able to go to a doctor. The rest of the situation depends on the order she entered. Very few have realistic expectations that every woman entering will be a virgin. Many aspirants today were even married at some point. Most communities won't take young girls (girls who haven't been out of high school for at least a couple ...[text shortened]... with that cute guy. I agree with whoever suggested she was afraid of being sent back to Samoa.

I believe it is clear to everyone that the murder of the innocent baby was not the solution.