[Thor]

Maybe we need an "ongoing stupid things the Vatican says" thread...

The Pope today reignited the controversy over the Catholic church's stance on condom use as he made his first trip to Africa.The pontiff said condoms were not the answer to the continent's fight against HIV and Aids and could make the problem worse.

Addressing bishops from South Africa, Botswana, Swaziland, Namibia and Lesotho who had travelled to the Vatican for papal audience, he said: "The traditional teaching of the church has proven to be the only failsafe way to prevent the spread of HIV/Aids."


He also warned them that African life was under threat from a number of factors, including condoms.


"It is of great concern that the fabric of African life, its very source of hope and stability, is threatened by divorce, abortion, prostitution, human trafficking and a contraception mentality," he added.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009...a-condoms-aids



Recent news on the Brazil child rape abortion case:

BRASILIA, Brazil (CNN) -- A doctor excommunicated by the Catholic Church for performing an abortion on a 9-year-old rape victim received a standing ovation during a national convention on women's health, according to a local media report.

Archbishop Don Jose Cardoso Sobrinho excommunicated the doctors who performed the child's abortion.

The response came during the opening ceremony of an event hosted by Brazilian Minister of Health Jose Gomes Temporao.

The newspaper O Povo reported that Temporao called on the audience to acknowledge the "brilliant" work done by a medical team in the abortion, performed in Brazil's northeastern city of Recife.

The girl was pregnant with twins after being raped, allegedly by her stepfather, police were quoted in media reports as saying. The abuse had gone on since the girl was 6, authorities said.
The abortion was performed March 4 during the fourth month of pregnancy, according to media reports

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/am...ef=mpstoryview

And some comedy, how can anyone not love condoms:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5sTBrs4fhQ