Pope Draws 60K in Cameroon

Pontiff praises growing church but worries about 'superstition'

(AP) - Pope Benedict XVI set down strategy for his church in Africa today, telling bishops to protect the traditional values of the African family and to spare the poor from the impact of globalization. The pontiff, beginning his first African pilgrimage in Cameroon, also said that the exuberant local African rites should not "obstruct" the liturgy of the Mass. More»

Free prawn crackers, anyone?

(NEWSER) - Ah, the power of citizen journalists at work. The Guardian is asking its readers to help it track Pope Benedict’s trip to England, requesting reports of popemobile sightings, protests and… miracles. So far, eight miracles have been reported, but we’re pretty sure most of them are jokes. Or at least, we hope so. “Cloud that looked like the Pope. I wept,” read one. Another boasted of seeing Jesus’ face in a sliced pepper. More»

Study shows that monogamy is the best weapon against AIDS in Africa

(NEWSER) - Pope Benedict's controversial statements that condoms aren't helping in Africa may be unpopular, but evidence shows that he might be right, a public heath researcher argues in the Washington Post. It's a divisive topic in part because the condom has become such a potent symbol of sexual freedom and female emancipation, acknowledges Edward C. Green. Yet research has revealed that condoms do not work as a primary HIV-intervention measure in Africa, Green notes. More»

Thousands protest pontiff's claim that contraceptives don't halt HIV

(NEWSER) - The pope’s recent remark that condoms not only don’t prevent the spread of HIV but make it worse hasn’t earned him many friends on Facebook, CNN reports. Almost a dozen groups have sprung up in protest of the pontiff’s scientifically inaccurate statement, with thousands of Facebookers—many of them in Europe—pledging to send millions of condoms to the Vatican. More»

(NEWSER) - The UK's most prestigious medical journal has joined the condemnation of Pope Benedict’s comments on contraception, the Financial Times reports. “By saying that condoms exacerbate the problem of HIV/AIDS, the Pope has publicly distorted scientific evidence to promote Catholic doctrine on this issue," says an editorial in the Lancet. And the Vatican's "attempts to tweak the Pope’s words" are "not the way forward." More»