Pope Benedict's New Book Suggests Condom Use Is Responsible

Pope Benedict may have moved the Catholic Church lurching towards common sense with his latest book that is scheduled for release this week. Excerpts have already been released, and they include comments on the use of condoms. The Church has been quite adamant about abstinence being the only method of birth control, but here the Pope suggests that condom use has its place - particularly in stopping the spread of AIDS among prostitutes and johns.



At a minimum, he's opened the door on the use of condoms and their part in reducing the spread of AIDS.

But ever since the Vatican’s official newspaper published highlights on Saturday, the book has created the opposite effect: widespread confusion, most notably over the pope’s comments that in select cases, such as those involving male prostitutes, condom use might be a step toward acting responsibly to reduce “the risk of infection.”

AIDS activists are calling the pope’s comments a breakthrough, while members of the church hierarchy and some Catholic commentators say the comments have been misconstrued. The Vatican itself has furiously played down Benedict’s words, or rather contextualized them, noting that the pope was not changing church doctrine banning contraception, or justifying condom use — even though the Vatican newspaper clearly used the phrase “justified in some cases.”

On Sunday, the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, added to the confusion. He called Benedict’s remarks unprecedented, the first time such comments had come “from the mouth of a pope,” but he added that they were “not a revolutionary turn,” as they echoed the stance of other moral theologians — and had been offered “colloquially,” not as part of official church teaching.

As is often the case with the Vatican, the clarification yielded more ambiguity. Was Benedict, in his book of interviews with the German journalist, Peter Seewald, opening up a conversation on condom use — albeit in specific cases to prevent AIDS between male sex partners — or wasn’t he? And how is the world supposed to consider remarks by the pope that are not official church teaching?

“It’s not very easy to define the difference,” said Sandro Magister, a veteran Vatican reporter in Italy. In the “graduated spectrum of authority” between official church teachings — encyclicals, laws, homilies — and Benedict’s conversational remarks, “I’d say this is an inferior grade,” Mr. Magister added.

“The important thing is that he said it,” he added. “Said by a cardinal it’s one thing, but said by the pope, it’s another.”

The Church is so tied to the abstinence doctrine that it has meant that a reliable means of reducing the spread of AIDS has not gained even wider acceptance.

At a minimum, the Pope has opened the door on giving Church approval for a useful tool in fighting the spread of AIDS along with engaging in a discussion over condom usage. One could only hope that the Pope takes a more forceful stand to bring about a change in the Church's attitude towards birth control and condom usage in particular. The inability of the Church to consider condom usage as appropriate has gone against the public health for far too long and has meant that millions of people have been exposed to the perils of sexually transmitted diseases like AIDS for far too long over Church doctrine and teachings that prohibit such use.

Five Arrested In Terror Plot Against Pope Benedict During UK Visit

British law enforcement arrested five men on terror charges for plotting to attack Pope Benedict when he visits the country.

Five men were arrested in pre-dawn raids Friday on the second day of Pope Benedict XVI's trip to Britain, police said.

The men, between the ages of 26 and 50, were detained under the Terrorism Act at a business in central London. They were being questioned at a London police station and had not been charged.

Police said an initial search of the business and other properties did not uncover any hazardous items.

Police said they received information about a potential threat against the pope overnight, prompting the armed operation to arrest the men early Friday morning.

The BBC reported that the five suspects worked as street cleaners for Veolia Environment Services, a company that is contracted by Westminster Council. They were arrested by armed officers as they prepared to start their shift, the BBC said.

Landmarks within Westminster’s boundaries including Buckingham Palace, Britain's Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey and Westminster Cathedral, the Catholic headquarters of the United Kingdom.

Several homes were being searched for additional evidence. No hazardous materials or weapons have been found thus far.

It is not clear whether the investigations relate to a plot against the Pope himself, an element of the visit or events or other matters that may be connected to the visit. Most of the men are understood to be Algerian.

In the statement, the Metropolitan Police said: "Today's arrests were made after police received information following initial inquiries by detectives. A decision was made to arrest the five men.

Justifiable Anger Over Pope Benedict's Preacher's Statements

Pope Benedict's preacher made some inflammatory statements yesterday when he compared the cloud of controversy swirling around the Pope and the Catholic Church's ongoing sex scandals involving priests, potential and actual coverups, and the failure of the Church to clean up its mess.

The pope's personal preacher, Father Raniero Cantalamessa, in a Friday sermon in St Peter's Basilica, said attacks on the Catholic Church and the pope over a sexual abuse scandal were comparable to "collective violence" against Jews.

Jewish leaders around the world used words like repugnant, obscene and offensive to describe the sermon, particularly, as Di Segni noted, it came on the day that for centuries Christians prayed for the conversion of the Jews, who were held collectively responsible for Jesus' death.

"How can you compare the collective guilt assigned to the Jews which caused the deaths of tens of millions of innocent people to perpetrators who abuse their faith and their calling by sexually abusing children?" demanded Rabbi Marvin Hier of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, the international Jewish rights group.

Cantalamessa, speaking with the pope sitting nearby, said Jews throughout history had been the victims of "collective violence" and drew comparisons between Jewish suffering and attacks on the Church.

"The use of stereotypes, the shifting of personal responsibility and guilt to a collective guilt remind me of the most shameful aspects of anti-Semitism," Cantalamessa quoted from the letter.

A Vatican spokesman said the comparison "is absolutely not the line of the Vatican and of the Catholic Church."

Jewish groups have roundly condemned Cantalamessa, and the Church for condoning these statements, which were made in a Good Friday sermon.

The fact of the matter is that the Catholic Church has been repeatedly wracked by sex scandals involving priests abusing underage parishioners and the Church has been incapable of dealing with the problem headlong.

Instead of dealing with the scandal directly and honestly, the Vatican has claimed that media reports of the scandals and the purported coverup have been a smear job on the Pope. This is far from the truth, and instead of dealing with the scandal's root causes, it deflects attention away from the lack of responsibility among Church leaders to oversee their charges.

The fact is that Church leaders, including Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict, knew of one particular case involving a German priest, but chose not to defrock him.

What's most troubling is the excuses coming from people like Bill Donohue of the Catholic League to avoid the Church taking responsibility for failing to clean its house of priests and others who have engaged in such behavior, condoned such behavior, willfully allowed such behavior to continue, or otherwise engaged in actions that allows such individuals to continue to have any role in leading Church activities.

The way I see it, the Catholic Church (and any other group for that matter) should have a zero tolerance attitude towards such activities, including pedophilia and hebephilia or ephebophilia (all of which are usually put together as pedophilia - and often constitute statutory rape in most jurisdictions because the children are not of the age of consent). It's not just that, it's that the church officials were taking advantage of their position of power and abusing these kids.

And the coverup is even worse - because instead of taking actions to restore some measure of trust in the Church, the fact that religious leaders at the highest levels knew and did nothing (or worse - sought to obfuscate the issues), people who do believe in the Church will find that confidence shaken and the trust broken.

The Church is suffering a crisis of conscience and leadership, and if it wants to regain the trust of Catholics around the world, it has to take a far stronger stand on the child sex abuse scandals than it has taken to date. That means adopting a zero-tolerance position around the world, not just in the US (where canon law requires defrocking priests involved in sex scandals).

Dawkins Versus the Pope

It's the age old issue of whether abstinence or condom usage is the appropriate means of reducing the spread of AIDS. Richard Dawkins, a prominent biologist and an avowed athiest, is more than willing to claim that millions will die as a result of Pope Benedict's stance on condoms:

Richard Dawkins yesterday called the Pope 'stupid' for claiming that condoms have made the Aids epidemic worse.

The outspoken biologist - a prominent atheist - said that Benedict XVI would end up with the blood of millions on his hands if they took his words seriously.

On his first visit to Africa a fortnight ago, the Pope said that Aids was 'a tragedy that cannot be overcome by money alone, that cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms, which can even increase the problem'.

To play Devil's Advocate, one could also make the claim that if people abstained from sexual relations outside marriage, the incidence of AIDS would be lessened.

The real message that should be spread, both by the Church and people like Dawkins is that you need both abstinence and condom usage to reduce the spread of AIDS - preventing the disease from spreading further than it already has in decimating much of Africa. Both policies should be complementary to each other. It's not an either/or all or none solution, but a combination of the two that will help get AIDS under control.

I understand the Pope's position that as Church Doctrine, abstinence is the method to be used because they do not condone extramarital sexual relations. However, even there, the Pope and Church must take into account human frailty and weakness (sins of the flesh), and contemplate something that will ease suffering for millions.

Advocating a policy that is solely based on abstinence or condom usage isn't the right approach. One that stresses the need for abstinence, but one that suggests condom usage should you find yourself in that position, is not unreasonable.

Pope Benedict Visits Ground Zero

Pope Benedict visited Ground Zero this morning and in a small prayer ceremony, offered the following prayer before blessing the site:

O God of love, compassion, and healing,
look on us, people of many different faiths and traditions,
who gather today at this site,
the scene of incredible violence and pain.

We ask you in your goodness
to give eternal light and peace
to all who died here-the heroic first-responders:
our fire fighters, police officers,
emergency service workers, and Port Authority personnel,
along with all the innocent men and women
who were victims of this tragedy
simply because their work or service
brought them here on September 11, 2001.

We ask you, in your compassion
to bring healing to those
who, because of their presence here that day,
suffer from injuries and illness.

Heal, too, the pain of still-grieving families
and all who lost loved ones in this tragedy.
Give them strength to continue their lives with courage and hope.

We are mindful as well
of those who suffered death, injury, and loss
on the same day at the Pentagon and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Our hearts are one with theirs
as our prayer embraces their pain and suffering.

God of peace, bring your peace to our violent world:
peace in the hearts of all men and women
and peace among the nations of the earth.

Turn to your way of love
those whose hearts and minds
are consumed with hatred.

God of understanding,
overwhelmed by the magnitude of this tragedy,
we seek your light and guidance
as we confront such terrible events.

Grant that those whose lives were spared
may live so that the lives lost here
may not have been lost in vain.

Comfort and console us,
strengthen us in hope,
and give us the wisdom and courage
to work tirelessly for a world
where true peace and love reign
among nations and in the hearts of all.

Some folks had wondered what the Pope might say about the Islamic terrorists and what they did on 9/11. The Pope's comments only obliquely deal with the terrorists who attacked the US on 9/11, but instead offer words that call for the terrorists to look away from violence. If anything, the words are meant to comfort and console those who survived the terrible toll inflicted on us on 9/11 and to use that experience to improve the situation around the world.

It doesn't call for the US or anyone else to turn the other cheek, but rather work for a world where true peace and love reign. When confronting jihadis who seek only to force submission of Islam on the world and to kill as many people as possible, just war is appropriate.

However, the jihadis will ignore such calls for love and respect, and instead redouble their efforts to engage in mass casualty attacks.

Pope Benedict Visits the United Nations

In to the hive of scum and villainy.