The Roman Catholic church has had many problems over the past few years. Allegations of abuse of young boys by pedophile priests have rocked the world. While these allegations of abuse are horrible, the way the Vatican has acted has been even more deplorable.
When these allegations surfaced, Pope John Paul did virtually nothing. If anything, he enabled the pedophile priests to continue abusing young boys by looking the other way while American bishops reassigned priests and did virtually nothing else. The Vatican didn't even come out strongly against the abuse.
Now to further show the continued nuttiness of the Catholic upper echelon, the Pope has started telling people in African countries stricken by AIDS not to use condoms because they have tiny holes in them through which the HIV virus can pass - potentially exposing thousands of people to risk.
While countries like Kenya fight a 20% AIDS rate, the Vatican is holding its party line that sex should be about procreation, even at the expense of people's lives. The Vatican says even if only one partner (spouse) is AIDS infected, it is wrong to use a condom.
The World Health Organization spends billions of dollars around the world on education about AIDS prevention, while the Catholic Church does everything in its power to circumvent that message.
With the United States set to send billions to fund AIDS prevention and health assistance to these countries, it is morally reprehensible for the Church to willingly put more people at risk because they are promoting this antiquated "good old boy" catechism.
I find it hard to believe that people in the modern 21st century can look at these policies in an objective way and not see them as destructive and wrong.
For more information, visit The UK Guardian
Article comments
1 - bhw
How much more evidence do we need that the Catholic Church is not benignly irrelevant but dangerous?
Unbelievable, even for them. Counseling couples in which one is infected with HIV to still NOT use a condom is basically tantamount to negligent homicide, if you ask me, if the previously uninfected party dies. Or if the children produced by this unprotected sex die.
Don't you love the so-called pro-life stance now?
Schmucks.
2 - Phillip Winn
For the record, the Roman church is not advocating unprotected sex, but rather abstinence. That's over-trusting in the self-restraint of humans, perhaps, but not maliciously dangerous.
IANARC.
3 - fjfk
hi mom Slash