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Posts Tagged ‘pope’

Jesus Loves You (and Condoms)

11:56 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Funny|Health|Religion|sex · 1 Comment

10 Apr 2009

Remember the Pope’s statements about how condoms are bad? How they are only making the AIDS epidemic worse? Well his C-level supervisor doesn’t agree. Jesus Christ shows the Pope who’s boss in this hilarious video which answers the question “what would Jesus do?”

Happy Good Friday!

Via / Huffington Post

Pope: Condoms Make AIDS Worse

18 Mar 2009

How many of you — regardless of religious beliefs — can really call this statement valid?

The Pope has really outdone himself this time. Going a step beyond John Paul the II’s assertion that abstinence is preferable to condoms — which in itself is ridiculous — Benedict has clearly gone off the deep end. Condoms worsen the problem? That’s just crazy talk. AIDS experts in South Africa agree:

Rebecca Hodes, head of policy for the Treatment Action Campaign in South Africa’s city of Capetown, told Al Jazeera on Wednesday they were “extremely angered and saddened by this ill-considered response from the pope”.

“We know, based on over the 10-year experience of preventing and treating HIV in South Africa, that condoms are one of the only evidence-based means of preventing HIV available to us in Africa,” she said.

“There is very little evidence to support abstinence-only education campaigns as a means of preventing HIV. Condoms work in preventing HIV.”

Via / Al Jazeera

Ingrid Betancourt Meets With Pope

3:21 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Uncategorized · Comments Off

3 Sep 2008

I was kinda surprised to read today how much meeting the Pope meant to Ingrid Betancourt. I didn’t realize many of us Catholics/ex-Catholics still felt any serious emotional connection the Pope, most Catholics I know are lovers of La Virgin and occasionally remember some ancient rule (like eating fish on Friday’s) as way to show a seasonal respect to La Virgin.

I can see Betancourt’s point though, that hearing a trusted voice after being held captive for years has a way of being inspirational.

“It’s hard to explain the psychological effect this has on a prisoner, what it meant to know we hadn’t been forgotten at a time when we thought we didn’t exist,” Betancourt said. “The voice of the Holy Father was like a light.”

Betancourt said she told the pope about her distress for the hundreds of hostages FARC still holds and her concern for Colombia’s future after decades of civil war.

“The pope is pained by the suffering of the prisoners,” she said. “I know his prayers are also dedicated to obtaining the freedom of all the prisoners and peace in my country.”

via/Boston.com

Bachelet and the Pope make friends

11:09 am By Maegan La Mala · Chile|Latin America|Politics|Religion · Comments Off

19 Oct 2007

Who says the left and the church can’t get along? Chilean president Michelle Bachelet is out to prove the opposite on a recent trip to the Vatican where it seems that she and Ratzi got on like a house on fire. The pope and the president chatted in Spanish and German, respectively, about the importance of the Catholic church in Chile, particularly its “positive contribution” to Chilean education and society.

Michelle Bachelet also presented the Pope with a message of gratitude from the Chilean people for its role during the time of the country’s military dictatorship. The president seemed quite grateful herself to the church:

I’m extraordinarily happy to have given, in the name of the Chilean people, the recognition that Chile has for the relevant role that the Catholic church played in our most difficult moments, when we lost our freedom,” she said.

A cat tells all about the Pope

5:48 pm By Maegan La Mala · Books|Religion · 1 Comment

5 Oct 2007

capt.47cd79877c6848a99b7fb2d7fc75bc26.italy_pope_s_cat_book_pad101.jpg Apparently Pope Benedict (A.K.A. Joseph Ratzinger) — the pontiff known to damn people to hell — has a soft side. He’s letting a kitty cat tell his life story in a new illustrated biography narrated by “Chico the cat”:

In “Joseph and Chico: A Cat Recounts the Life of Pope Benedict XVI,” the orange tabby cat tells readers the pope is “my dearest friend, a wonderful man with whom I’ve spent many happy moments.”

He recounts Benedict’s childhood and his passion for reading and playing the piano. The books depicts the future pope’s early steps in the Catholic Church, from when he entered a seminary in 1939 to his ordination as a priest in 1951.

The Pope wants you be a better driver

5:09 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Religion|society|World · Comments Off

19 Jun 2007

It’s not enough that the Pope wants to tell us what to do and what not to do with our own bodies — now he wants to cramp our driving style. The Vatican announced today, via press release, its Ten Commandments of Driving. Heed thee:

The 36-page document was put together by the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Migrants and Itinerant People.

“Thou shalt not drive and drink”, “thou shalt not make rude gestures behind the steering wheel” and “help accident victims” are among the 10 recommendations for motorists.

The document also warns that driving can bring out “primitive” behaviour in motorists, including “cursing, blasphemy, loss of sense of responsibility”.

It says that automobiles can be “an occasion of sin” – particularly when they are used for dangerous overtaking or for prostitution.

I’m guessing the Pope-mobile has never been the site of such transgressions.

Via / BBC News

Brazilian model strikes out against Pope

8 Jun 2007

Brazilian model Gisele Bundchen is speaking out against the comments around condom use made by the Pope on his recent visit to her country:

“To prohibit condoms is ridiculous, just think of all the diseases transmitted without them,” the 26-year-old supermodel told the newspaper.

She added: “How is it possible to not want people to use condoms and also not have abortions? It’s impossible, I’m sorry.”

The outspoken Gisele had previously stirred up controversy when she placed the blame for the deaths of Latin American models from eating disorders on the women’s families.

Gisele’s views on condom use and birth control seem to be shared by many of her countrymen, among them, the president of Brazil, Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, who recently defied the Pope’s warnings.

Via / Yahoo! Entertainment

The Pope discourages condom use

1:04 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Brazil|Religion|sex · 1 Comment

11 May 2007

Earlier this week Maegan told us about Pope Benedict‘s trip to Brazil, where he declared that leftist Mexico City legislators supporting abortion rights would be excommunicated from the church. Perhaps more controversial (and in my own opinion much more damaging) is that on his trip to Brazil — a country that is fighting hard to win a battle against the spread of HIV — he spoke against the use of condoms (like his predecessor, John Paul II), and urged the faithful to opt for abstinence instead.

The Pope met with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is pushing for mass condom distribution throughout Brazil, but according to reports the topic of contraception was avoided, as was the other hot button issue: the legalization of abortion in Brazil, which Lula is advocating for. Then what did they talk about?

Incidentally, the Pope’s appearance in Brazil at a soccer stadium looked like a rock concert — people jamming out, sparks flying — all very un-Catholic. It reminds me of some videos I would watch in my days as an employee of a Christian bookstore (don’t ask). Click on the link to the original article below for video.

Via / 20 Minutos

Pope: No more limbo, it’s heaven or hell

2:02 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Controversia|Religion · 4 Comments

23 Apr 2007

While the words of the Pope have long gone unchallenged in Latin America and other countries with large Catholic communities, even the staunchest supporters of the Vatican’s doctrines must be scratching their heads at this: after 800 years, Pope Benedict XVI has done away with the concept of “limbo”:

The decision was taken after Benedict XVI was presented with Vatican studies that said there were “serious” grounds that such souls could go to heaven, rather than exist between heaven and hell as they have done for almost 800 years.

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