Following the previous posting, not to mention that he was the Chief Homophobe of a notoriously homophobic institution. This should be a no brainer: sexual orientation is innate, although being out is a choice; the Catholic Church either wants us to choose to not be out and to lie about who we are, or wants us to change or deny or erase a fundamental aspect of ourselves. Ideological dogma, however, is not innate, and the pope and the rest of the Catholic Church demonstrate their culpability when they choose not to denounce it.

By Dave Johnson (union-mod179.uniontel.net - 209.94.180.189) on Monday, April 11, 2005 - 8:45 am: Edit Post

I never met the pope but I have seen many examples of his policies, especially in Latin America where I served. Children born to families that have no way of supporting them, people infected with AIDS, pregnant teen agers, women forced to bear children at the expense of their health, people, Volunteers included, forced to conceal their sexuality. I believe he has inflicted more pain and suffering on the world than any other person I can think of, all because of his interpretation of some medieval doctrine. Dave Johnson RPCV Paraguay

By cbienkowski (249.omaha-04rh16rt.ne.dial-access.att.net - 12.73.112.249) on Monday, April 11, 2005 - 5:49 pm: Edit Post

You are so right!

How can a man or a pope accept the actions of Cardinal Law and then give him a cushy job in the Vatican. The cardinal should be in jail. The pope also accepted quietly the dogma in Africa about condoms and AIDS. He accepted that it was ok to give AIDS to your wife/children, but not ok to use a condom to prevent the spread of disease. This is not humanity at its best.

By CarmenBailey (h74-208-46-251.mesh.net - 208.46.251.74) on Monday, April 11, 2005 - 6:24 pm: Edit Post

I have a serious problem with the absurdly rich and powerful telling the poor what to believe but
not helping them through troubles they inflicted
upon them - actually demanding tithes which make
the rich richer, and the poor poorer and less
able to manage. The rich and powerful will continue to get their quotas; it's up to the poor to figure it out. How do they do that? Do they
want to know? It's the same as PCVs trying to
teach the poor masses out of poverty and starvation. Perhaps the most important item I
learned as a PCV is "What people will do to
remain a part of their culture,family."