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Catholic critics urge pope to change anti-contraception policy



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More than 50 Catholic groups published an open letter to Pope Benedict calling for the Church's ban on contraception to be lifted as it "has had a catastrophic impact on the poor and powerless around the world, endangering women's lives and leaving millions at risk of HIV."

The letter was published in Italy's largest newspaper, Corriere della Serra, on the 40th anniversary of the late Pope Paul VI's controversial encyclical "Humanae Vitae," which established the ban. While criticism of the Vatican is fairly common in articles and editorials in Italian newspapers, it is unusual for a group to take out paid advertising against the pope.

The letter stated that the encyclical continued to be "a source of great conflict and division in the Church" and because most Catholics use contraception and feel they are not sinning, the policy has been "an utter failure."
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31 responses // Catholic critics urge pope to change anti-contraception policy

  • do you think he'll really do it?
    joshuaheller
  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_1yqk_d6nw&feature=rela...
    Banning contraception is so idiotic...
    ag0093
  • in this day and age a ban on contrceptives is nothing short of genocide.
    teddy14
  • as a catholic we would hope that the pope would see that it is time to update our rules to reflect the times in which we live.

    lives are being lost because of it and nothing is being gained. what they really need to teach is abstinance for our younger people, respect for each other (we can all use a little more of that). but more importantly... life is precious.

    good luck with changing anything at the vatican! and if you do it will be time to change again.
    cutsietx1
    1 response to this
  • Wow I'm shocked anyone who believes in catholicism actually has enough sense to realize contraceptives are a good thing....
    Kati_kat
  • well i guess the pope can agree on the fact that it feels better to have sex with out one,
    ask their victims they'll tell you.
    phukna
  • I hope the Pope does not lift the ban.

    It would be like:

    "Hey, lets have sex"

    "Sure, just let me take all these drugs first for I don't have to take the responsibility of having sex."

    Contraception could be a close relative of abortion, just at different stages of life. Many people say no to abortion; taking all the prevention drugs or trying some other way of having the cause without the effect is a close relative.
    Old science class always said their was an effect for a cause.
    kaecvtionr
    3 responses to this
  • At last, voices of reason in the Catholic church! Let pragmatism take its course.
    AndreaKnoll
  • It's about time...birth control has existed for over a hundred years, and the pill for over 50, and there is no explicit mention of limiting births anywhere in the bible.

    If he really is the "green Pope" he will heed this advice and save millions of unwanted children from crushing poverty.
    scottwill
  • Things will never change, you should simply not have sex until you are married. If you do want to have Sex, use a freaking condom, else, inform yourself. Women do normally not get pregnant from day 1-9 and 18-28. Consult your doctor and he will inform you.
    petarro
    1 response to this
  • the catholic church, only 1000yrs behind the times.
    gimp15
    2 responses to this
  • ...more like 2,000 years behind the times. But, then again, who's counting, right?

    This is all about control of the masses. It's always been much easier to tell people what they can't do (...or are "forbidden" to do by a loving savior) rather than to educate them so they can make the right choices for themselves.

    Of course, the statement "trust me, I'm a man of God" has taken more than a few hits recently, hasn't it?
    extblues
  • So let me get this straight:

    A bunch of strange isolated men, who wear odd clothes with sparkly bits and who never have sex, tell everyone else how to have sex and what not to do sexually.....

    and people listen?

    More fool the people.
    Owwmykneecap
  • There is nothing Biblical about not using contraceptives. Then again, there is very little that is Biblical about Catholic doctrine.
    GavinTheMother
  • Catholic ideology continues to harm people though out the world- the poor, uneducated, women and children living in this paternalistically corrupt world.

    You can’t even find condoms (birth control) in many of such poor countries. The church is a throw back to the dark ages, a throw back that sat by as Nazi Germany tore through Europe! A throw back that enriched itself from gold and silver from the New World taken from the labor of poor indigenous cultures that today still live in squalor.

    Hey Papa de dios, the world is simply overpopulated!Figure it out!

    Patrons are leaving the church in droves.
    Not because they stopped believing in god
    but because then no longer accept the churches word as being divine!
    rube
  • Finally, the Catholic Church should have changed the anti-contraception policy years ago. I hope he makes the change.
    jimenagamio
  • I cannot understand the 'reasoning' behind the Cathlic Church's objection to contraception. It certainly isn't clear enough to justify facilitating the spread of HIV. The scary thing is that people are dying because these old virgins with undeserved power and influence think they're doing god's work.

    Dangerous lunatics...
    rwylie
  • What about cleanliness is next to godliness?
    IKilledBambi
  • There is nothing foolish or misguided or wrong about the Catholic Church suggesting no contraception and no abortion is a good idea. For one thing, people who disagree, do so dishonestly, in support of their ulterior motives about population control, or Know Nothing Nativism, or newfangled government or party ideologies about feminism and individualism and modernism. America got along fine without abortion and contraception and feminism and even modernism for 150 to 400 years. Think American Pioneers. You do not have these notions and potions, these post 1973 laws and policies, to avoid medievalism, so called. Fundamentalism is another favored description. The Catholic Church connects sex with procreation, and keeps that connection. What is so hard for so many opinionated Americans to figure out about that? The two should be connected. Also, the Catholic Church teaches that abortion is the snuffing of an innocent life. Again, how can you argue with that? The "seamless garment" teaching of the Church precludes death penalty politics and eugenics and murdering elderly people, too. Keeping national and government civic culture and policies bounded by these strictures, makes a lot of good sense. People are not happier with libertine lifestyles. Letting biotech companies and corporations and the government play games with the human genome is not my idea of enhancing humanity or citizenship. Basically, I do not look to Bill Maher, or to most opinionated people, for guidance. I look to the Catholic Church and to the Pope. Keeping governments limited and "in their box" is the genius or the "DNA" if you will, of the American Experiment. Just build highways and fund schools, but forget about stepping outside the limiting boundaries of government. Provision for the future, without snuffing or stifling it. People's opinions --and I include many so-called Scientists and Academics and their "out of bounds" opinions on religion and God as well -- are not informative, not helpful, and not modern or liberal or democratic in the true sense of these words, when they decide that their opinions and ideologies which fail to show respect for Catholic Church teachings and leadership, escape their ignorant lips and uninformed minds.
    ItaloSuave
    1 response to this
  • I don't see the church ever changing its stance on this issue. If you don't agree then you are free to worship or not worship elsewhere.
    marsbar204
  • I love how the pope can "ban" contraceptives... like if you use a rubber in your own home, ol Benny is gonna battering ram your door down, yank you out of the sack, wave an MP5 in your face, cuff you, and haul your ass to jail...

    The Catholic church can be so silly
    seary6579
  • "in this day and age a ban on contrceptives is nothing short of genocide."

    Well said, Teddy! I'm glad the regular rank and file Catholics have more sense than the pope!
    phoenix_fire999
  • i don't think that lifting the ban on contraception is tantamount to allowing abortion. it is unfortunate the number of young woman that can see abortion as the only way out and that may be to embarrased or use some other excuse not to use contraceptives but continue to have sex. Absetinance will always be the best way to go for young people or single adults if they choose to go that route. I just feel that with this issue as with many others the Catholic church as with other churches may think about joining this century instead of living in the past as they always do.
    cutsietx1

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