Pope Benedict XVI has indicated that condom use may be acceptable for certain people, such as male prostitutes, to reduce the spread of HIV. The pope's comments, which were published Saturday in the Vatican's newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, represent a break from the 42-year-old Catholic ban on artificial contraception. Other than significant papal statements, what kinds of stories are in the Vatican newspaper?
Movie reviews, interviews, and travel articles. L'Osservatore has always been, first and foremost, a sort of papal fanzine. Benedict XVI's views, travel schedule, and official pronouncements dominate the publication, and until three years ago, there wasn't much to entice casual readers. But, in 2007, the Holy See gave Editor Giovanni Maria Vian the task of making the paper relevant, and he has paired the Benedictine fare with general-interest pieces.
The pope is still the main attraction, of course—the Nov. 17 English-language edition has five stories on the front page, four of which relate to papal activities. But the inside pages break roughly into three departments: international politics, culture, and general religious content like interviews with bishops. Vian also added color photographs to the paper.
Vian has demonstrated his savvy by running headline-grabbing pop culture stories. L'Osservatore writers have declared Homer Simpson a Catholic (mistakenly), celebrated that famous Catholic flickThe Blues Brothers, forgiven John Lennon's heresies, and trashed James Cameron's Avatar as bland. The political editorials also generate debate, as when Vian published consecutive pieces commending and attacking President Obama. The Vatican goes out of its way to emphasize that cultural commentary and political statements do not necessarily represent the pope's views.
Vian's overhaul took L'Osservatore back to its roots, since the paper was originally meant to be a lightning rod for controversy. The first edition, published in 1861, was jam-packed with searing polemics against the Italian unification movement. Pope Pius IX had just seen his ragtag band of 10,000 pan-European fighters routed at the Battle of Castelfidardo, and the papal states he once ruled had fallen almost completely into the hands of secular Italian rulers. L'Osservatore Romano was founded with the express purpose of defending the papacy and soon replaced the less fiery Giornale di Roma as the Vatican's publication.
Unlike the Gideons or the Mormons, the Roman Catholic church isn't about to give its literature away gratis. The first edition of L'Osservatore sold for five baiocchi. (In the old papal states, 100 baiocchi made up one scudo.) Today, you can buy the newspaper at Italian newsstands for one Euro. If you really can't get enough pope news—and you read Italian—you can have every issue of the paper from 1861 through 2008 formatted digitally on CD-ROM for $2,815.
L'Osservatore publishes daily in Italian and weekly in several other languages and employs around 25 full-time writers. For the first time, under Vian's leadership, some of those writers are women.
Instead of relying on God's word alone (solo scriptura), the Pope (God's representative here on earth) claims infallibility.
With this claim comes the responsibility that what he teaches is irreversible.
God does not change the word that comes from His mouth. They back themselves into a verbal corner, by adding to God's word.
Revelation 22:18 says:
"For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book".
Pope Benedict XVI quote: "Condom use may be warranted in certain situations." The pontiff was referring to male prostitution to avoid the spreading of HIV/AIDS. So if your a child molesting priest picking up a male prostitute, it is alright to wear a condom.
The Vatican has played down the importance of Pope Benedict's remarks appearing to temper the opposition of the Roman Catholic Church to condoms.
The Vatican has long opposed the use of condoms as a form of contraception
The Vatican spokesman said the pontiff's comments were not "revolutionary", but added it was the first time Pope Benedict had commented on the issue informally.
The Pope made clear in his view condoms were no answer to the Aids pandemic.
But he said their use could sometimes be justified in exceptional cases.
Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi said the Pope was speaking about "an exceptional situation" in one of the interviews in the book Light of the World: The Pope, the Church and the Signs of the Times, which is being published on Tuesday.
"The Pope considered an exceptional situation in which the exercise of sexuality is a real danger to the life of another," said Fr Lombardi.
Benedict used the specific example of a male prostitute using a condom to illustrate his apparent shift in position.
"The Pope maintains that condom use to lessen the danger of infection is a 'first assumption of responsibility,'" said Fr Lombardi, quoting from the book.
"In this, the reasoning of the Pope certainly cannot be defined as a revolutionary breakthrough."
'Step forward'
The Vatican has long opposed condoms as an artificial form of contraception.
This had drawn heavy criticism, particularly from Aids campaigners, who said condoms were one of the few methods proven to stop the spread of HIV.
The head of the United Nations Aids agency, Michael Sidibe, said the Pope's words were a significant step forward.
They were also welcomed by the Save the Children charity, although a spokesman said the Catholic Church needed to go further in supporting condom use for preventing the spread of Aids.
The new book is based on a series of interviews the Pope gave German Catholic journalist, Peter Seewald, earlier this year.
The Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, published excerpts of the interview in its Saturday edition.
Post From Alex on Logo and Endame of Papacy’s CFR: Antichrist of Revelation 6
CFR Logo: Antichrist; White Horse Rider of Revelation 6:2
Hello Eric,
I am sure you are aware of the CFR’s obvious “rider on the white horse” logo, but have you also researched the background of the Latin phrase that the logo also contains? In latin, it is “VBIQVE” which means, “everywhere”. This same phrase was also commonly used on Roman coins. The phrase “Vbiqve victores” would be used by the legions of Constantine (the same Constantine, who, like emperors before him, belonged to a secret Mithraic order, and who would successfully fuse Mithraism with Christianity: hence, Roman Catholicism), after he made his most notable conquests [Milvian Bridge]. Basically, VBIQVE was used in a context dealing with conquests.
Also, if Constantine was so “Christian,” why did he continue to use the deity of Sol Invictus on his coinage, as well as adopt the title of “Pontifex Maximus” which was a title used by the high ranking figures in the cult of Mithraism [that title used by every Roman Caesar until Gratian gave it to Damasus I, Bishop of Rome---the first Pope of Rome]? Mithraism was, (and still is) a mystery religion, and was also most likely a precursor to those that followed it, i.e., freemasonry.
Of course, all of this (in particular, the CFR logo) ties in really well with this Bible verse:
“And I saw, and behold a whitehorse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.” Revelation 6:2
This verse is attributed to the Antichrist, also known as the “conquering child” by Aleister Crowley, and “Sol Invictus” (the unconquered Sun), as well as the rider on the CFR logo, who “everywhere, conquers.”