African health minister, media critics pummel Pontiff

http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=2405

      Mozambique’s health minister, Ivo Garrido, condemned Pope Benedict’s March 17 comments on AIDS and condoms. “I don't know in what context the Pope said this, but we in the Mozambican government live in the real world, not the world we would like to live in,” he said. "In the real world, we know that people have sexual relations with more than one partner … That's why a responsible government has to include the component of condom use in its strategy to fight against this disease, as a way of reducing the level of infection." With rare exceptions (such as Mark Davis of the Dallas Morning News), op-ed writers who commented on the issue took aim at the Pontiff, with a particularly strident editorial appearing in the newspaper of New Zealand’s capital, Wellington. While one Irish priest (Father D. Vincent Twomey, SVD) came to the Pope’s defense, another priest (Father Kevin Hegarty of the Diocese of Killala) criticized him. Henry Makori, editor of Catholic Information Service for Africa, spoke for many Catholics when he wrote:

3-24  ACT UP calls Pope an ‘assassin,’ stages protest outside Paris cathedral

http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=2379

      Carrying signs that called Pope Benedict XVI an assassin, the militant activist group ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) threw condoms as worshippers left Sunday Mass at Notre Dame Cathedral at Paris. Police made 11 arrests after clashes between ACT-UP and supporters of the Pope. In 1989, some 5,000 ACT UP members protested at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, resulting in the desecration of the Holy Eucharist. . . .

      On his trip to Africa, the Pope expressed his thoughts about the AIDS epidemic and the present government that has been accused of abuses in crushing political opponents. He said, “A Christian can never remain silent in” the face of violence, poverty, hunger, corruption or abuse of power.

3-24 As media lashing continues, Harvard scientist backs Pontiff

http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=2377

      Pope Benedict’s comments on AIDS and condoms continued to garner criticism from editorial pages and health officials. Calling the pope “absolutely and unequivocally wrong,” Guyana's Health Minister Leslie Ramsammy said, “Whilst I would hope that Catholics would continue to be extremely supportive of their Church and the pope ... on this issue, they (should) rely on the evidence, and we need at this time to come out forcefully with the evidence to demonstrate that condoms and lifestyle matter.” However, Dr. Edward Green-- Director of the AIDS Prevention Research Project at the Harvard School of Public Health and Center for Population and Development Studies-- came to the pontiff’s defense, as did some newspaper columnists. “The pope is correct,” said Dr. Green, “or [to] put it a better way, the best evidence we have supports the pope’s comments.” . . Pray for our Holy Father

Russian Orthodox back Pope Benedict on condoms/AIDS

      The Russian Orthodox Church has issued a statement of support for Pope Benedict XVI in the controversy over his comment that condoms are not the best solution to the AIDS epidemic. Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, who heads the external-relations department for the Moscow patriarchate, said: "It is incorrect to consider condoms as a panacea." Moral behavior is a better defense against AIDS, he said. . . .