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November 27, 2003

Sex and the Holy City

by Red Wolf

It has been 25 years since Pope John Paul was elected as commander in chief of men who wear frocks and funny hats. While many Catholics are celebrating his reign, millions of women around the world may feel they have reason to regret his long rule — and the global battles he has waged against contraception, abortion and condoms.

In a unique Panorama documentary, Steve Bradshaw investigates how the Pope, who tried to act in the best interests of women, came to be accused by his opponents of ruining so many lives.

...The Catholic Church in Nicaragua goes back almost 500 years. Cardinal Obando Y Bravo has wielded the power of the church here for over three decades. He's just helped persuade the government to pulp copies of a sex education guide that mentioned abortion and contraception. As a political player, press and cabinet ministers hang on his words, today about Nicaraguan troops in Iraq. The Cardinal told us he couldn't see why it should ever be unsafe for a young girl to deliver children...
...I was telling him [the Pope] that the judge could do more to educate men because I said the judge could really play a very positive role, because many women became pregnant not because they wanted to but because their... you know.. spouses imposed themselves on them. He said: Don't you think that the irresponsible behaviour of men is caused by women?...
...The family's earnings, a dollar a day. Marichu, mother of 9, tells the congresswoman she won't use contraception, she's heard it's dangerous and the Catholic church says it's wrong, much to the dismay of the Catholic congresswoman...
...When I go to the United Nations and watch the Vatican representatives operate right on the floor, I see them going up to Libya, to the Sudan, to Oman, to very often to Muslim countries that have similar conservative views on women and reproduction and wheeling and dealing just like every other government official in the world...
...They aren't 100% useful because they can rupture, they're just made of rubber, they can rupture, and as you see, there is some pores in the condom that the virus can pass through. That is very true. So I seriously side with him that the option he has taken not to be with the wife, he will have to control himself is very good...

Sex and the Holy City - BBC News, 29th September 2003 (via Foreign Correspondent).

Posted in Love Thy Neighbour at 23:54. Last modified on July 14 2009 at 16:44.
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