2 Teens Die in Pope Stampede

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 Pope urged Catholics in Angola to reach out and convert witchcraft believers frightened by “evil powers,” the AP reports. “In today's Angola, Catholics should offer the message of Christ to the many who live in the fear of spirits,” a fear that can lead them to “condemn street children and even the most elderly because—they say—they are sorcerers.” More»

(NEWSER) - In his short reign, Pope Benedict has managed to insult Muslims, women, and Holocaust survivors, writes Robert S. McElvaine, a professor at Millsaps College in Mississippi. But his latest controversy, telling Africans that condoms increase the spread of AIDS, is the last straw. "I am a Catholic and the idea that such a man is God's spokesperson on earth is absurd to me," writes McElvaine in the Washington Post. More»

Condoms make Africa AIDS crisis worse, he had said

(NEWSER) - Irked by Pope Benedict’s anti-condom remarks in Africa, the French foreign ministry today called them “a threat to public health policies and the duty to protect human life” and voiced “extremely sharp concern over the consequences,” the BBC reports. The pontiff said on the first day of his current visit that condom distribution worsens the AIDS crisis. The Vatican advocates abstinence instead. More»

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»