A BUNCH of Catholic prelates attending the Second Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for Africa in the Vatican yesterday made it clear that they had no intention of deviating from the Church’s strong opposition to the use of condoms in the fight against AIDS.
The bishops warned that “the problem cannot be overcome by the distribution of prophylactics” and urged greater awareness of sexual abstinence and fidelity programmes.
Pictured at the African bishops' meeting are, from right, Archbishop John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan, of Abuja, Nigeria, Chaldean Archbishop Youssef Ibrahim Sarraf of Cairo, and Archbishop Francisco João Silota, of Chimoio, Mozambique (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Addressing young people, the bishops said:
Let no one deceive you into thinking you cannot control yourselves. Yes you can, with the grace of God.
The bishops, according to this report, also told corrupt Catholic leaders in Africa that they needed to repent or leave public office,
In a strongly worded final message, the bishops said Africa needs “saints” in government:
Who will clean the continent of corruption [and] work for the good of the people.
They cited as an example the late Tanzanian president Julius Nyerere, the father of Tanzanian independence and a symbol of Africa’s hopes as it emerged from the shadow of colonial rule, who is being considered for possible beatification.
While praising some Catholic leaders who are doing their public service well, they accused others of having “fallen woefully short in their performance in office”.
The synod calls on such people to repent, or quit the public arena and stop causing havoc to the people and giving the Catholic Church a bad name.
The bishops didn’t name names, but Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe, who has been blamed for presiding over a politically repressive regime that led to the economic collapse of the country, and Angolan President Eduardo dos Santos, whose party swept elections last year that critics say were marred by fraud and corruption, are two well-known Catholic leaders.
The bishops said the Catholic Church had to get its house in order, too, saying it must serve as a model for good governance, transparency, good financial management and unity – a reference to the ethnic divisions that even mar relations between priests and bishops.
They made no mention, though, of Rwanda where Catholic Church officials themselves were alleged to have played significant roles in the 100-day massacre of Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
The Freethinker was founded in 1881 by GW Foote, an outspoken critic of religion. After the publication of 
October 24th, 2009 at 10:04 am
Yes, you can abstain from sex, it just requires a thing called Pornography, but they want you to abstain from that too. Choose.
October 24th, 2009 at 10:37 am
For “fidelity programmes” see also fiddling programmes.
October 24th, 2009 at 11:54 am
“the problem cannot be overcome by the distribution of prophylacticsâ€
And they’re right. Only the problem certainly won’t be overcome without condoms, either.
October 24th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
It sickens me to my very soul to hear them once again condemming people to die in the name of God. A sad world indeed.
October 24th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
Religious hypocrisy strikes again. The catholics and other cults bang on about the right to life when bombing abortion clinics but in their usual dogmatic way, smugly allow millions to die of HIV.
October 24th, 2009 at 1:38 pm
THE PROBLEM CANNOT BE OVERCOME BY THE DISTRIBUTIONS OF CONDOM TO NURSERYS AND PRIMARY SCHOOLS STUDENT BUT , SIMPLY ENCOURAGING A SOCIETY WERE THE FEAR OF GOD WILL NO LONGER BE AN ISSUE,EXPOSING THE YOUNGER GENERATION TO EARLY SEX, AS IT SAFETY MAY NOT BE GUARANTEE.
October 24th, 2009 at 2:03 pm
I wonder if all those Catholic priests wore condoms while rogering young boys in their ‘care’.
October 24th, 2009 at 2:09 pm
Yet again the medieval thinking and control mechanisms of the Catholic Church are shown clearly…do as we say not as we do.
isn’t it time this rancid evil organisation was dismantled and all it’s money given to the starving millions, or for research into malaria and AIDS vaccines..
But No…the Catholic Church thrivesand lives from th poverty, misery, sickness and suffering for it’s minions..while the priests, bishops and cardinals live it up,,driving mercs..wearing prada…and rogering and abusing innocent children.
October 24th, 2009 at 2:10 pm
@Mike..
Very true. Neither condoms nor religion will solve the problem. A massive cultural change needs to happen for AIDS to stop. And that cultural change involves moving away from Woo, and educating people from a scientific standpoint about the disease.
October 24th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
It is to bad these asshats fathers didn’t use condoms while having sex with their mothers
October 24th, 2009 at 5:29 pm
Catholic theocrats have “fallen woefully short in their performance in office.” In other words the Uberreichsfuhrers are not doing enough to turn Africa into the same kind of totalitarian Catholic slave state that Europe used to be in medieval times, and places like South America and Ireland still are.
October 24th, 2009 at 6:56 pm
Nice to see them not mentioning Rwanda, again. Because if you keep repeating the lie that religion is the basis of morality it must be a bit tricky to explain why priests and nuns urged so many people to murder their neighbours. And their neighbours’ children…
October 24th, 2009 at 7:36 pm
Now that the Pope has offered a safe haven for the C.of E. priests, including those who are married, and who cannot accept women bishops, an intriguing speculation arises. Unless these priests have few or no children they must, I suggest, be either celibate, quite extraordinary lucky with the rhythym method, sticking to the various other sexual activities such as fellatio or cunnilingus, hand jobs of various kinds, sodomy or, god forbid, using contraception. The list is not of exhaustive.
October 24th, 2009 at 9:07 pm
I hate to Godwin myself, but I firmly believe that history will judge the Catholic church as culpable for this continental homicide as those that ran the concentration camps.
“Ratzi” doesn’t rhyme by accident.
October 24th, 2009 at 11:51 pm
South America is in a medieval slave state? I can’t even begin to describe how much of an ignorant generalization that is. Go do some research. South America is a huge continent with enormous cultural diversity. In Brazil and Argentina, for instance, the political influence of the Catholic church has been steadily declining. During the last eight years, the left-of-centre Brazilian government has implemented several socially progressive measures. Even long before that, there were several government-sponsored campaigns in favour of condom use, and subsidies to lower the price of condoms. The Catholic bishops can only whine and grumble, because nobody gives a rat’s ass here.
The problem in Africa is a whole different story, so don’t drag us into it.
October 25th, 2009 at 12:44 am
Ratzinazi is inviting Anglicanism’s most racist, sexist, homophobic, bigoted, evolutionary throwbacks to abandon a cult that is outgrowing them and join one that is still firmly entrenched in the 19th century. Does it surprise anyone that the two places where his invitation is falling on the most receptive ears are voodoo-ridden Africa and Republicanazi-ridden America?
October 25th, 2009 at 12:33 am
Let’s face it, there’s only one reason why religious organisations are against contraception: they want to out-breed the opposition, regardless of the consequences – however dire.
October 25th, 2009 at 2:56 am
My information about South America comes from American TV networks that are part of the conspiracy to convince the godphuqt that religion is winning, so it is logical that they would report only increases in Catholic absolutism while (apparently) suppressing a reality that may be the polar opposite. I am not prepared to take Nastasie’s word (once bitten…) but I certainly hope he/she is right.
October 25th, 2009 at 3:37 pm
Also note they appear to be wearing condoms on their heads at the press conference, which sums up their lack of knowledge about contraception quite nicely.