TresSugar

Using Protection: Vatican Defends Pope on Condoms

CitizenSugar — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 00:01:12 -0700

Earlier this week, Pope Benedict XVI took a controversial stance against condoms when it comes to AIDS prevention. World health experts and the French government have come out against the Pope's position, and German Catholic bishops are hinting at dissent. But, the Vatican is sticking to the Pope's belief that condoms make the AIDS problem worse.

Vatican spokesman Father Lombardi defended the Pope yesterday, saying condoms can lead to risky behavior. He also said Pope Benedict XVI was simply continuing the position of his predecessors that fidelity within heterosexual marriages and abstinence are the best ways to stop the disease.

Since the Pope maintains that AIDS cannot be overcome by the distribution of condoms, health workers in Africa fear that their progress will be stalled among the growing number of Catholics.

Adding some sense to the debate, one Catholic bishop in Germany clarified his own stance: "Anyone who has AIDS and is sexually active, anyone who seeks multiple partners, must protect others and themselves." Amen!

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Battle of the Sinning Sexes: Church Says Sexes Sin Differently

LibertySugar — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 12:30:46 -0800

A new report, based on confessions, carried out by 95-year-old Catholic priest and scholar Roberto Busa, reveals that men and women sin in different ways. Apparently, there is no sexual equality when it comes to sin.

From the report:

Top Female Sins

Pride
Envy
Anger

Top Male Sins

Lust
Gluttony (over indulgence of food)
Sloth (laziness)

The male leadership of the Catholic Church doesn't quite lead the charge on gender equality. Do you think the Church has separated the sexes based on sin to further the message that men and women are are qualitatively different, or does the report simply offer insightful information?

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Skipped Church? Check Out the Pope's New YouTube Channel

LibertySugar — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 08:00:30 -0800

The Catholic Church's stance on some issues (such as decriminalizing homosexuality) might seem antiquated, but now the pope can say he's taking steps to enter the modern era. On Friday, the Pope Benedict XVI unveiled his very own YouTube page.

The Vatican hopes to increase the papal audience, while also staying on top of the pope's Internet image. Even so, the site isn't meant to encourage believers to spend countless hours listening to the Church's message. The 81-year-old pope previously has warned the younger generation of the dangers of "obsessive" online networking.

The pope may be infallible, but he's not embeddable - the embed feature has been disabled. But you can comment . . . pending approval.

Holy Birth Control! Vatican Issues Instructions on Bioethics

LibertySugar — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 11:00:53 -0800

Hoping to catch the attention of Roman Catholics, doctors, scientists, and lawmakers, the Vatican has issued a 32-page instruction document on bioethics. The Church's steadfast pro-life position, that all life is sacred including an embryo, informs the document "Dignitas Personae" (The Dignity of the Person).

Some positions include:

On in vitro fertilization, human cloning, genetic testing of embryos before implantation: These procedures violate the principle that every human life is sacred, and that children should be conceived only through sex by a married couple.
On stem cell research: Research should not be done on embryos, but using cells derived from adults, blood from umbilical cords, or from fetuses “who have died of natural causes” is acceptable.

To find out what the Church thinks about the morning-after pill and freezing embryos, read more.

On the morning after pill: The morning-after pill, the IUD, and RU 486, can result in what amounts to abortions.
On freezing embryos: It exposes embryos to potential damage and manipulation, and raises the problem of what to do with frozen embryos that are not implanted.

In an age where medical technology rapidly advances, the Church could play a crucial role in reflecting on how to preserve human dignity. Of course, the Church is only one participant in the dialogue, and disagreement with its positions allows society to sort through the murky waters of bioethics.

Do you think the document offers a useful perspective, or should families, lawmakers, and scientist ignore everything they have to say?

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Vatican Opposes Decriminalization of Homosexuality?

LibertySugar — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 15:30:42 -0800

The United Nations is set to vote on a resolution that would call on all governments to decriminalize homosexuality. Yet almost 80 states that still criminalize homosexuality, as well as the Vatican, oppose the measure proposed by the European Union. Specifically the resolution would condemn the jailing and execution those found guilty of homosexuality, which happens in countries like Iran.

The Vatican argues that while the teachings of the Church forbid unjust discrimination, a UN resolution would put pressure on countries that do not recognize same-sex marriage. Still regardless of concerns about gay marriage, there may be good reason to pass the resolution - decriminalizing homosexuality would help fights AIDS by bringing treatment and prevention programs into the mainstream.

Are you surprised the Vatican would come out against this UN resolution?

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Vatican Says Female Anglican Bishops Reveal a Divine Divide

LibertySugar — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 03:00:39 -0700

The Roman Catholic Church has signaled the start of Schism 2.0 (at least), thanks to the Church of England's decision to allow women bishops in its Church. As for its own clergy, the Vatican has promised automatic excommunication for any Catholic bishop who attempts to ordain a woman as a priest.

The Catholic cardinal in charge of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity said:

"Such a decision is a break with apostolic tradition maintained in all of the Churches in the first millennium, and is therefore a further obstacle for reconciliation between the Catholic Church and the Church of England."

The cardinal warned that the Church of England's decision would have a long-term impact on the previously fruitful interfaith dialogue.

Does the Catholic Church's belief that since Christ chose only men as his apostles, only men can be priests represent an irreconcilable difference between Catholics and Anglicans? What would be gained by a healthy dialogue between the two Christian churches that separated during the 16th century?

Tom Hanks/ Prof. Robert Langdon Not Welcomed in Church

LibertySugar — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 14:30:21 -0700

Tom Hanks is a persona non grata in all of the churches of the Vatican and Rome. The Vatican has banned the filming of Angels and Demons, Dan Brown's sequel to The Da Vinci Code because it is "an offense against God."

The head of the Vatican's Prefecture For Economic Affairs said:

[The stories] turned the Gospels upside down to poison the faith. It would be unacceptable to transform churches into film sets so that his blasphemous novels can be made into mendacious films in the name of business.

The Church did not even read the script, as the name Dan Brown was enough to merit a ban. In The Da Vinci Code, Brown suggests that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and had children, and Angels and Demons paints a picture of corrupt leadership in the Catholic Church.

I'm still trying to decide whether viewers are sophisticated enough to distinguish between fiction and accepted theology. Still, while modern moviegoers may wish the Catholic Church lightened up for the sake of art and entertainment, it's hard to imagine the Church freely giving its stamp of approval. Would it not lend credibility to the theology created by Dan Brown? Do you approve of the Church's disapproval?

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The Vatican Updates the Seven Deadly Sins

CitizenSugar — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 10:04:24 -0700

Looks like they might have to remake the movie Se7en, because the Vatican just added a whole shebang of new sins - hot, fresh, and updated for the modern world. The list was overhauled in response to the Pope deploring the “decreasing sense of sin” in today’s “secularized world” as well as falling numbers of Roman Catholics going to confession.

What's new on the list? Pollution, drugs, and genetic manipulations, for starters. According to the new rulings, genetic manipulations are considered violations of the fundamental rights of human nature, drugs "weaken the mind and obscure intelligence," - and all this is combined with the widening social and economic differences between the rich and the poor "cause an unbearable social injustice."

Why the update? To find out, read more. In the increased age of global communication, while sin in the past was thought of as an individual matter, it now has “social resonance.” Bishop Gianfranco Girotti, head of the Apostolic Penitentiary, the Vatican body said “you offend God not only by stealing, blaspheming, or coveting your neighbor’s wife, but also by ruining the environment, carrying out morally debatable scientific experiments, or allowing genetic manipulations which alter DNA or compromise embryos."

Was it high time for an update? Do you agree with the new additions?

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The Pope Answers Calls to Address Abuse Crisis

CitizenSugar — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 06:00:58 -0700

A victim support group for some 9,000 Americans who say they were sexually abused by Catholic clergymen pressed Pope Benedict XVI Tuesday to take action to protect children from pedophile priests.

Barbara Blaine, head of the Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests (SNAP), has big expectations of Pope Benedict's visit next week.

We are looking for the Holy Father to hold the enablers and wrongdoers accountable. Across the United States, we know that thousands of predator priests have been named... we know that tens, maybe even hundreds of thousands of children have been abused by predator priests. . .When a predator is enabled and empowered, those who give him that power are equally culpable and we would like the holy father to take action to hold them accountable.

Blaine herself was sexually molested by a priest when she was 12.

The Vatican's second in command says Pope Benedict XVI recognizes the damage and pain caused by the clergy sex abuse crisis and will seek healing during his US trip next week.

Time magazine's cover story this week features the Pope's relationship with the US. Did you know his nickname used to be "God's Rottweiler"?

Do you expect controversy surrounding the visit? Is "seeking healing" enough?

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Italy OKs Abortion Pill, Vatican to Excommunicate Doctors

TresSugar — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 14:51:13 -0700

Over the objections of the Vatican, Italy recently approved the use of RU486, commonly known as the abortion pill.

The pill, which can only be taken up to the seventh week of pregnancy, will not be sold in Italian pharmacies - only doctors will be allowed to administer it. The Vatican has made its opposition clear, promising that any doctor who does administer it will be excommunicated (along with the women who take it). According to the Italian health ministry, 70 percent of Italian doctors refuse to carry out abortions in the predominately Catholic country.

Unlike the morning after pill (Plan B), which prevents a pregnancy that hasn't happened yet, RU-486 causes the termination of an existing pregnancy. Italian law permits surgical abortion "on demand" within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy and until the 24th week if the fetus has genetic defects or if the mother's health is in danger. Now women will have legal access to a chemically induced abortion as an alternative to the surgical procedure.