The Pope continues to put the Apostolic Foot in His Imminence's Mouth
 

France chastises Pope on condoms
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Pope Benedict meets Cameroon's president, Paul Biya, and his family

The French foreign ministry has voiced "sharp concern" following the Pope's rejection of condom use to fight Aids.

Benedict XVI, who is on a tour of Africa, said handing out condoms only increased the problem of HIV/Aids.

The Roman Catholic Church says marital fidelity and sexual abstinence are the best way to prevent the spread of HIV.

But France, echoing the reaction of some aid agencies, said it "voices extremely sharp concern over the consequences of [the Pope's comments]".

"While it is not up to us to pass judgment on Church doctrine, we consider that such comments are a threat to public health policies and the duty to protect human life," foreign ministry spokesman Eric Chevallier said.

The Pope arrived in Cameroon on Tuesday at the start of his week-long African tour.

"A Christian can never remain silent," he said, after being greeted by President Paul Biya.

HIV/Aids was, he argued, "a tragedy that cannot be overcome by money alone, that cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms, which can even increase the problem".

The solution lay, he said, in a "spiritual and human awakening" and "friendship for those who suffer".

But some activists were dismayed by the approach, saying condoms were one of the few methods proved to stop the spread of HIV.

Rebecca Hodes, of the Treatment Action Campaign in South Africa said: "His opposition to condoms conveys that religious dogma is more important to him than the lives of Africans."

Some 22 million people are infected with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa, according to UN figures for 2007.

This amounts to about two-thirds of the global total.

you know he is correct in one regard,

that condom's and money alone will NOT stop the spread of HIV/AIDS anywhere in the world.

He was also right to say that abstinence is in fact the best solution to prevent the transmission of STDs, as no sex= no transmission, and with HIV this is a serious matter which people should genuinely consider, it is not hard to remain abstinent if it is for your life..

BUT,
while the pope's report contained a bit of truth, we ALL KNOW it is cursed with IDEALISM. while people SHOULD practice abstinence, we all know by human nature that they WONT, and so CONDOMS NEED to be used in tandem with abstinence programs.

But in the Pope's defense, he is the legal head of the Catholic Church, and organization which itself prohibits the use of condoms as sin to begin with, and so he could not publically promote condoms, so this is why I believe his best solution would have been just to keep quiet in this matter..

as we say in Rastafari, "If a fish woulda kep him big yap shut, him never woulda got caught.."

bump to diss the pope

The world is - and has always been - in flux.

It's all about evolution - and not just in the context of life and species, but evolution in society (whether it be for better or worse).

The point I'm making concerns doctrines made centuries ago that people are supposed to blindly follow today. I can understand (somewhat) the virtues of abstinence and discipline in 'keeping one's body and soul pure in order to gain entry to the kingdom of God'. I mean Hedonism is good and all, but giving in to every single temptation comes across as a bit selfish.

What's happening in Africa regarding the AIDS crisis has very little to do with hedonism. It's a health issue and the Catholic Church should evolve, show some enlightenment and remember it's 2009, not 1009.

The pope's commentary on condoms equally has nothing to with morality or hedonism, the catholic church theologically opposes the use of condoms, and in this regard, the pope feels that, by no coincidence, the abstinence promoted by the Catholic Church is the most effective means of stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS, and technically he is right. as I said above, NO SEX=NO TRANSMISSION, and this is essentially the Pope's argument. in fact, i don't understand why the scientific community is arguing a silly argument that is blatantly not true.

The Pope said "the traditional teaching of the Church has proven to be the only failsafe way to prevent the spread of HIV/Aids".

But the London-based Lancet said the Pope had "publicly distorted scientific evidence to promote Catholic doctrine on this issue".
It said the male latex condom was the single most efficient way to reduce the sexual transmission of HIV/Aids.









Why the Pope opposes condoms

"Whether the Pope's error was due to ignorance or a deliberate attempt to manipulate science to support Catholic ideology is unclear," said the journal.
But it said the comment still stood and urged the Vatican to issue a retraction.
"When any influential person, be it a religious or political figure, makes a false scientific statement that could be devastating to the health of millions of people, they should retract or correct the public record," it said.
"Anything less from Pope Benedict would be an immense disservice to the public and health advocates, including many thousands of Catholics, who work tirelessly to try and prevent the spread of HIV/Aids worldwide."

What false statement? What distortion of science?


IT IS ABSOLUTELY CORRECT THAT ABSTINENCE IS THE ONLY FAIL SAFE WAY TO PREVENT THE SPREAD OF AN STD, PERIOD. For science to dispute this is simply absurd.. Sure it is dangerous for the pope to diss condoms in a largely superstitious and even backwards continent like Africa, however, regardless of the irresponsibility of these statements, they remain absolutely correct. No sex=no transmission, and there is a proven, scientifically accepted margin of error with condom use, that as the pope said, it is not fail safe at all..

dude?

seriously?

fuck the pope, this guy's a fucking train wreck. you can still get AIDS via needles, and his false scientific statements have been several more and regarding the fact that "the condom does not prevent the disease".

which is utter bullshit.

yes, I am serious. I think the pope is equally full of shit in many regards, and while his intentions are not good here, is facts are correct. ABSTINENCE IS INDEED THE ONLY FAIL SAFE PREVENTION OF AN STD, PERIOD.

CONDOMS HAVE A MARGIN OF ERROR, in many places it is even printed on the packaging. SO NO, CONDOMS ARE NOT A FAIL SAFE PREVENTION TO THE SPREAD OF HIV.

so how was the pope wrong here? I am an honest rastaman, and while fyah bun the vatican and papal throne, I can accept when the man is saying something true.

Condoms are NOT FAIL SAFE, and they SHOULD NOT BE PROMOTED AS SUCH.

essentially, I think the middle ground here would be for the scientific community and HIV activists to say, YES, condoms are not perfect, but they are highly effective. Anything else would not be according to science, but rather opinion.

This is nightmare inducing :D

I think the only thing more frightening would be if they printed these on the packaging :(

I think people in Europe don't care of what the pope says.
People in the US care even less.
'IF' some people care, they're more likely to be africans or asians.
You are preaching in the desert, SFAD.
(edit: or preaching to the converted)

who said anything about preaching or that I agree with the pope specifically?

I just am noticing that what he says is absolutely correct, but folks are getting all twisted because he is the one saying it..

or was the derisive styling of the title of this thread not obvious enough?

Oops, sorry.
I guess I'm a bit brainwashed by the medias, these days.

I think the hunders of millions of poor Roman Catholics (the Roman Catholic church grows and grows in poor africa and south american and asia, where people can be more easily controlled, indoctrinated, and "converted by missionaries") all listen to what the Pope says very carefully.

fucking Nazi fuck.

the fucking Roman Catholic church allows rich fucks to have marriages anulled after years and decades, with children and everything, as long as they pay up a good chunk o change. fuck them.

Mother teresa was a torture bitch, refusing to give her destitute sick charges even aspirin for their pain, because her and her twisted fucking nun bitches believ4ed suffering is goodd and sufering will get these pooor heathen indians into heaven faster. fucking bitch whore

You are a conspiracy nutcase.

me? there is no CONSPIRACY

read about Mother teresa. al I say is true. she let peiople suffer and die and be "comforted" by her nun's prayers. she was a fucking deluded psyxcho whore.

that is why what he says is dangerous in its context, specifically in Africa where there was a Mass with one million attendants..

BUT, none-the-less, what he says is true. Though he is wrong to say that condoms should not be used, and he is also wrong to say that condoms exasperate the problem [though truthfully there might also be a grain of truth in this as well, for if people believe condoms are fail safe they might continue to engage in sexual activities which might endanger their safety in a world of 1-15% HIV infections rates its easy in the western world with a 0.001% infection rate to talk about the glory of condoms, when if we were as infected as other places, we might be promoting folks zip up as well, for their lives, I mean come on, I can be abstinent for fun, for faith, let alone for my life if it depended on it :) ]

the pope is absolutely correct, no sex is the safest bet, because no sex = no transmission..

essentially the solution lies in the middle between preferable abstinence and condom use with sex and sex education. They are not diametrically opposed, they are complimentary.

THE POPE IS WRONG FOR SAY ABSOLUTELY NO CONDOMS

THE SCIENTISTS ARE WRONG FOR DISCREDITING THE OBVIOUS EFFECTIVENESS OF ABSTINENCE AT PREVENTING STDS.

there I said what I said, now lets get to bustin heads..