the Vatican is working feverishly to undermine reproductive choice around the world, thereby insuring ever larger starving multitudes. The Pope rails against worldwide hunger, yet his actions guarantee more of it.
What's wrong with this picture?
From its maniacal campaign to de-legitimize and undermine condom use in Uganda to its relentless assault on contraception and abortion rights around the world, the Catholic Church has a lot to atone for. Perhaps it's just a matter of witless patriarchy; as one friend pointed out, "What do you expect from an institution run exclusively by old men for 2,000 years?"
But I think it's more than that; something worse. There is something deeply mysogynistic about the Catholic Church, something dark and twisted that's causing ever greater harm as humanity approaches a social, economic and environmental singularity in this century. While the Pope mentions environmental stewardship and economic justice, that's just talk. Where is the Church actually committing its political resources? On revoking or blocking civil rights for our gay bretheren; on encouraging equally bigotted Anglicans to return to the fold; and most of all on blocking access for women to reproductive rights around the world.
From preventing a 9 year old Brazilian victim of rape from terminating the pregnancy, to doing everything in its power to prevent women everywhere from controlling their own bodies and fertility, my former Church has become a force for evil.
I learned a great deal from the scholarly, serious, always honest Jesuits during my high school years. One of the great principles that stuck with me was that of "intent". A cardinal principle of Catholic morality, this holds that the true morality of an action or decision rests upon the moral intent or goal of the individual taking that action. Not the real-world outcome, but the moral intent. A world of mischief can be shielded behind the doctrine of intent. This explains why the Catholic Church embraces a dogma (like, a ban on all "artificial" contraception) that absolutely, positively, leads to a greater amount of suffering and death worldwide from AIDS and perinatal mortality. The Church's avowed intention is to save their souls, even if it means more death and suffering.
But riddle me this, Batman: the Church has placed its institutional seal of approval on "natural family planning", i.e. the thoroughly ineffective "rhythm method", while assaulting "artificial", i.e. effective contraception as a mortal sin. But the intention is the same. There should be no moral difference by traditional Catholic teaching between the laughable "rhythm method" and effective family planning. Unless of course it's not about contraception at all, but about keeping women barefoot...well, you know the rest.