catholic church stole babies from single mums

I read this story just after I read the story about a Sudanese women being sentenced to death for marrying a Christian. Given the atrocities of organised religion, it makes me realise how much better off the world would be if everyone was atheist.

The Catholic church in Chile is under investigation over allegations that priests played a central role in a network that stole newborn babies from single mothers.

Police investigators are now probing dozens of cases in which unmarried women who became pregnant were pressured by priests to give up their child for adoption. Those who refused were anaesthetised during delivery and, upon awakening, told that the child had died. The healthy babies were hidden from their biological mothers and given away in order to be raised by married couples in "traditional" Catholic families.

Church leaders now admit they have known about the network for at least 10 years. Unlike in Spain and Argentina, where babies were stolen from leftwing political activists, the motivation in Chile was to shield the reputations of well-off families from the social stigma of unmarried motherhood.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/15/chile-catholic-priests-investigated-stolen-babies