Paraplegic Wedding Denied
Paraplegic Wedding Denied
May 14, 2005Posted By weddings
More articles on the Weddings topic: Wedding News
The catholic church denied a man the right to get married because he was impotent. His life struggle overcoming paralysis was thrown another blow when two weeks from marrying the girl of his dreams he recieved a letter from his bishop denying his application for a marriage certificate.
The story itself is going to be broadcast as a documentary on the Sundance network at 9pm eastern time on Monday.
Hedir Antonio Debrito wrote a letter to the Pope, which has gone unanswered. The Brazil native is in an especially precarious situation because nearly three fourths of his countrymen identify themselves as Catholic, and the forbidden wedding will put him in bad light within his community.
Antonio had been been a leading disability advocate, and with the church discriminating against him he responded by writing a letter to a local radio station. Support began to spread accross the country and international media picked up the story.
Antonio's mother initially did not support the marriage, but over time she accepted the relationship. In turn she was ostracized by her friends because of their perception she was speaking out against the church. "With all the problems in Brazil - the poverty, the lack of education - I couldn't believe the church would get involved in someone's sex life," she said in an interview.
The documentary filmmaker, Flavia Fontes, researched canon law and eventually flew to Rome in hopes of interviewing some cardinals. Se was told they were on vacation upon arrival.
Antonia De Brito became a paraplegic at the age of 15. He was shot on the way home from the movies. The bullet tore his lung and hit his spinal cord. The doctors gave him less than two years to live. He underwent 25 surgeries during recovery.
He never gave up the hope of finding love and companionship. He met the girl of his dreams 8 weeks after her husband died. She was looking for work to support her children and he was looking for a caretaker. Their friendship spawned into romance. Their wedding plans were well underway - the wedding invitations had been mailed - when a local priest asked Antonia if he was impotent.
The couple argued that the impotence did not prevent the couple from being intimate. The relationship is real. The love is sincere.
