Atlantis Online
March 28, 2024, 10:40:23 am
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
News: Did Humans Colonize the World by Boat?
Research suggests our ancestors traveled the oceans 70,000 years ago
http://discovermagazine.com/2008/jun/20-did-humans-colonize-the-world-by-boat
 
  Home Help Arcade Gallery Links Staff List Calendar Login Register  

Europe' Smallest Countries: - THE VATICAN

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 [8] 9 10   Go Down
  Print  
Author Topic: Europe' Smallest Countries: - THE VATICAN  (Read 3460 times)
0 Members and 68 Guests are viewing this topic.
Bianca
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 41646



« Reply #105 on: March 18, 2009, 05:41:30 pm »










                                                FRANCE CHASTISES POPE ON CONDOMS






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.





'HIV tragedy'

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

He urged Christians everywhere to speak out against corruption and abuses of power.

"A Christian can never remain silent," he said, after being greeted by President Paul Biya, Cameroon's ruler for the past 26 years.

But he sparked controversy by telling reporters that HIV/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".

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

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.





Private meeting

 
The Pope said Catholicism faced a threat from superstition
On Wednesday, the Pope attended a gathering of more than 30 Cameroonian bishops in the capital, Yaounde.

He told the bishops they had to preserve traditional African families and protect the country's poor.

"In the context of globalisation with which we are all familiar, the church takes a particular interest in those who are most deprived," he said.

He said it was the duty of Christians to help to build "a more just world where everyone can live with dignity", the Associated Press reported.

The Pope also warned of a threat to the Catholic Church in Cameroon from evangelical movements and from the "growing influence of superstitious forms of religion".

Earlier on Wednesday, he held a private meeting with Mr Biya at the presidential palace.

The BBC's Caroline Duffield in Yaounde says Mr Biya's consistent electoral victories have been widely condemned as fraudulent.

Having spoken out publically against corruption, many Cameroonians will be hoping that the Pope delivered his message in private as well, says our correspondent.
Report Spam   Logged

Your mind understands what you have been taught; your heart what is true.
Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 [8] 9 10   Go Up
  Print  
 
Jump to:  

Powered by EzPortal
Bookmark this site! | Upgrade This Forum
SMF For Free - Create your own Forum
Powered by SMF | SMF © 2016, Simple Machines
Privacy Policy