Today, the gay news website www.365gay.com (and the Associated Press) is reporting that Pope Benedict XVI is now accusing AIDS groups of "intimidation." This news comes in response to the Pope's stance on condoms, and also, in reaction to the criticism he received for his comments about AIDS in Africa. For some context, I should explain that Pope Benedict said, "condoms weren’t the answer to Africa’s AIDS epidemic and could make the problem worse." What? Condoms could make the AIDS pandemic WORSE?!?! WTF? Because of these comments, the Pope sparked a firestorm of debate, as many of you may know. But now, the Pope is trying to accuse AIDS groups of silencing him and his views. In other words, he's blaming AIDS groups to shift the media narrative and tell people who's really wrong and disrespectful to the papacy. It's a sad strategy, to say the least.
This discussion has already been well-document by Kossacks, such as Deoliver47 and Tamar, both of whom have made it very clear that there are tens of millions of people living with HIV and AIDS in Africa, and who are constantly being misled about the worth of condoms. But this most recent news is like a further insult to injury because rather than owning up to his mistakes on how condoms are indeed good preventative measures, the Pope basically denied his mistakes by just making another bone-headed move. In particular, the Vatican denounced the criticism of the AIDS groups and others, such as the Belgium government. Yes, that's right, the Pope is now blaming Belgium for being mean to him and taking a stand on the Pope's misinformation. As the Associated Press shows...
"The Belgian parliament passed a resolution calling them (his comments about condoms) "unacceptable" and demanding that the government officially protest. [...] Criticizing the Belgian vote, the Vatican said it deplored "the fact that a parliamentary assembly should have thought it appropriate to criticize the Holy Father on the basis of an isolated extract from an interview, separated from its context.""
So let me get this straight ... the Pope is upset that a country's parliament is correct in its knowledge that condoms do prevent the transmission of STDs and is actually speaking out? Umm, what the hell? But of course, that's not where it ends. According to AP, the Vatican went further just recently in its remarks about the criticism that Benedict received. The Vatican said that the Pope's remarks about condoms were misused, or to be more accurate, the Vatican said the remarks were...
"used by some (AIDS) groups with a clear intent to intimidate, as if to dissuade the Pope from expressing himself on certain themes of obvious moral relevance and from teaching the Church’s doctrine."
So now, these AIDS groups, which he won't even name are all ganging up on the Pope, just to be mean? Is that his accusation? It seems that that's the case. So I just have to ask - Did the Pope ever once consider that maybe people are trying to educate him about his misteps? Apparently not. From what we can see, the Pope doesn't think he has made any misteps. The Pope still seems to live in "pre-1980s-land" where no one knows anything about AIDS or STDs or condoms. But perhaps we should be unsurprised by Benedict's comments considering the fact that --
In addition to the uproar over his condom comments, his decision to remove the excommunication of a bishop who denied the Holocaust sparked outcry, even within his own church. (AP)
Yes, that's right, you read it correctly, the Pope condones the actions of people who deny the Holocaust. From my perspective, that doesn't say anything good about the Pope's judgment or education. It shows a lack of sensitivity, lack of knowledge, and lack of concern among other things. Sigh. All I have to say, if you haven't already noticed, is that Pope Benedict's comments are misleading people, when the church has an opportunity to help spread informative messages about health. So to be more constructive on this, rather than just Ranting, I plan to write the Pope's office, and so, I thought I'd give you the same information I found on Our Sunday Visitor's Website (A major Christian site). Here's his snail-mail address as well as his e-mail address...
His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI
00120 Via del Pellegrino
Vatican City, Italy, Europe
Or write his e-mail address: benedictxvi@vatican.va