I am disgusted

[soaps]

Pope John Paul II.This man presided over a clerical abuse coverup and contributed to an AIDS epidemic. And now they want to make him a saint?

[sandyRoe]

Naomi, I hesitate to ask this, but are you suggesting that primitive people living in Africa are less intelligent than, say, chavs on a sink estate?

[ummmm]

Less educated I would guess...

[Ankou]

i thought in november last year, the pope said its ok to use condoms.

[naomi24]

Ummmm's right in a way Sandy - they are less educated - but it's more than that. They come from a totally different culture. They think differently - although having said that chavs on a sink estate come from a different culture and think differently to the majority of us. :o)

[jno]

he did say it was okay to reduce the risk of infection. But just think how many people his predecessor had given Aids to before that.

[ummmm]

He did Ankou....a little too late though.

[society]

I don't believe it's ever too late to use condoms.

[Ankou]

there is of course, the point of no return sandy.

[jomifl]

sometimes it is too late to use a condom...

[sandyRoe]

Premature thinngymajig? Yes, it's embarrassing when it happens

[Huderon]

Naomi, if I understand the story of your friend in South Africa correctly, she is responsible for helping to spread AIDS.

Perhaps the organisation who sent her there bear some responsibility as well, because they did not make it absolutely clear to her that she would be dealing with an alien culture and explaining the way of thinking of that culture.

Do you really think that the Catholic clergy (and I am including the nuns here) in developing countries is comprised solely of men and women from the west who have no understanding of the cultures they are working in ? Or that those who come from the west are incapable of understanding other cultures and ways of teaching ?

Somehow, I doubt that you do. And if you don't believe that you must be aware that developing countries have plenty of clergy who come from their own countries, who do understand and relate to the cultures they come from and who are quite capable of explaining things to people from their own culture in ways that they CAN understand.

You are perfectly right about one thing though, we are not going to see eye to eye on this.

[naomi24]

Huderon, no one sent her there - it is her homeland, and therefore I think she is probably a little more aware of the situation there than you are.

[Huderon]

I'm sure she does Naomi.

And I apologise for my remark about your friend, it was unfair and uncalled for.

I suspect that our opinions with regard to some things are a lot closer than they might seem from this thread, but I can see that I am not going to be able to explain my viewpoint in a way that will make any sense to you, so I'm going to stop posting.

[naomi24]

No problem Huderon. Nice talking to you. :o)