Pope Benedict, the anointed leader of the Catholic Church, is visiting Africa this week. Among his declarations upon arriving in that land of famine, genocide and political corruption: condoms should not be used to prevent HIV transmission. "Just say no," is the papal solution to the scourge of AIDS.
Governed by an army of "celibate" priests, bishops and nuns, the Church has always been squeamish about human sexuality. And its stance against birth control has contributed to a vast array of human suffering: hunger, abused children, unsafe abortions, venereal disease and childhood AIDS, to name a few.
But then the Catholic Church has always been enamored with suffering, the express route to eternal bliss.
