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pope john paul II was strongly opposed to any form of birth control. judging by the declining birth rates and declining number of roman catholics in north america and europe, it seems that this rule goes largely unheard. do the roman catholic families you know, have higher birth rates?

on the other hand the church in africa is growing and the population is exploding. many africans do not have access to birth control. the catholic church and the USA spend money in africa, but refuse to fund programs to distribute condoms. both believe that abstinence is the way to prevent HIV and unwanted pregnancy. distributing condoms is against their "morals". from the church's stance on condoms in africa, one can deduce that they believe that one acquires HIV by having frivoulous sex with multiple partners. the church believes that these people are "immoral" (by church standards) and should be allowed to catch this deadly disease and die. i agree that these people must bear some responsibility for their actions - but the church knowly allows them to catch a deadly disease. also the infected often bring home HIV to their spouse and pass it on to new born children - innocent parties.

so here's the summary. the church has the money and knows how to prevent the spread of HIV in africa. but for "moral reasons", they refuse to promote and distribute condoms, effectively allowing millions more to become infected with HIV. i understand the church wants to change the behaviour of the africans, believing that sexual practices must be changed. the collateral damage is that thousands of children will be born with HIV.

the united nations was critized for lack of action in the balkians and rwanda that cost millions of lives in the past decade. so here is my point - pope john paul II's inactions are directly responsible for some of the millions of people in africa dying of AIDS. save your tears, pray that his sucessor will be wiser.