A few years ago, I created a bit of a stir -- including a letter from the head of the Catholic League -- when I published an op-ed piece in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that was criticial of Pope Benedict's statements that the use of condoms in Africa increased the spread of AIDS.
Put in his own context, he was saying that -- relative to abstinence or monogamy with an uninfected partner -- relying on condoms resulted in more cases of AIDS. But he ignored the reality: Those choices may be the ideal, but in the real world people do have sex, and AIDS cases were rampant in Africa, particularly. It seemed a particularly bad time for him to be preaching against the evil of birth control.
Benedict was also the pope who chastised the American nuns and took over the leadership of their organization because they spent too much time helping the poor and sick and not enough working against abortion and gay marriage.
Now we have Pope Francis making statements like this:
"Today, and it breaks my heart to say it, finding a homeless person who has died of cold, is not news. Today, the news is scandals, that is news, but the many children who don't have food - that's not news. This is grave. We can't rest easy while things are this way. . . .Now this is a pope I can respect. He sounds more like the one who spoke similar words more than 2100 years ago.
"We cannot become starched Christians, too polite, who speak of theology calmly over tea. We have to become courageous Christians and seek out those (who need help most). . . .
"If investments in banks fall, it is a tragedy and people say 'what are we going to do?' but if people die of hunger, have nothing to eat or suffer from poor health, that's nothing. This is our crisis today. A Church that is poor and for the poor has to fight this mentality."
Ralph
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