Benny, Wake Me Up For the Third Vatican Council

Found on cnn.com:

Vatican reviews policy on condoms

The Vatican is studying whether condoms can be condoned to help stem the tide of AIDS and a host of other bioethical issues such as stem cell research, officials said Tuesday.

But there is no indication of when or whether it would pronounce itself on the matter.

Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, who heads the Vatican office for health care, was quoted over the weekend in Italy's La Repubblica daily as saying his office was preparing a document on the question of condoms and AIDS, and that it would be released soon.

But on Tuesday, he clarified that his office was merely studying the issue at the request of the pope as part of a broader "dialogue" with other Vatican departments.

Pope Benedict XVI was picked because of his strong, conservative views on many of the church’s hot button issues. He didn’t get the job because he was going to shake things up and institute any major changes. He’s there to maintain the status quo (just with less kid touching).

I paraphrase myself when I say he is more of a “rebound Pope.” Since Pope John Paul II was so popular, there was no way his replacement would be universally accepted. That next guy will be the one to clean house. Having accepted that idea, I’m currently playing the waiting game. It’s easy for me, I’m not in Africa.

But, Benny, don’t go around presenting the possibility of a change. Don’t use obtuse words like “review.” I can review my checking account, but that doesn’t mean I can buy a house tomorrow.

The Second Vatican Council, now over forty years in the past, was the last set of sweeping changes the Church made and most of those modifications are still being criticized today. The thing to remember though is that the Second Vatican Council lasted for FOUR YEARS.

Do you think the Church will figure out what to do about condoms within the next four years – especially if we are only talking about a “broader dialogue" for the time being??

Found on avert.org:

Sub-Saharan Africa is the region of the world that is most affected by HIV & AIDS. An estimated 25.8 million people were living with HIV at the end of 2005 and approximately 3.1 million new infections occurred during that year. In just the past year the epidemic has claimed the lives of an estimated 2.4 million people in this region. More than twelve million children have been orphaned by AIDS.

The extent of the epidemic is only now becoming clear in many African countries, as increasing numbers of people with HIV are now becoming ill. In the absence of massively expanded prevention, treatment and care efforts, the AIDS death toll on the continent is expected to continue rising before peaking around the end of the decade. This means that the worst of the epidemic's impact on these societies will be felt in the course of the next ten years and beyond. Its social and economic consequences are already being felt widely not only in health but in education, industry, agriculture, transport, human resources and the economy in general.

Let’s see, four years times three million new infections equals..

Well, I guess I do use porn as a comedy crutch, because none of this is funny.

The Porn Free Week Continues...

wojr  ¶ 5:13 PM