Vatican Talks Details, Progress in Developing World

The Vatican “dialogue” on condoms rages on – and one can only hope the pope is talking about the issue as much as the rest of the world. "The Vatican is like a submarine. On this one, it has put up its periscope, looked around and submerged again," said the Rev. James Keenan. For the church, the issue at-hand is deciding which is the “lesser of two evils”: the “theoretical possibility of preventing life with condoms has to be weighed against the statistical probability of losing millions of lives without them.

The Vatican “dialogue” on condoms rages on – and one can only hope the pope is talking about the issue as much as the rest of the world. "The Vatican is like a submarine. On this one, it has put up its periscope, looked around and submerged again," said the Rev. James Keenan. For the church, the issue at-hand is deciding which is the “lesser of two evils”: the “theoretical possibility of preventing life with condoms has to be weighed against the statistical probability of losing millions of lives without them.

Unlike Rome, no condom controversy in Fiji. In fact, just the opposite: A recent promotional and awareness effort has given rise, so to speak, to condom sales.

The 1st International Health Management Conference is now under way in the Philippines. “The conference will highlight the cross-cutting concerns of reproductive health, adolescent and youth reproductive health and rights, prevention and management of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, maternal and child health and nutrition, and education and counseling on sexuality and sexual health.”

And in other international leadership news, “women in positions of influence and authority in various sectors across Africa will converge in Cape Town this week to discuss issues affecting women on the continent.”

From its position of privilege, the Catholic Church dances around a “delicate issue” like whether or not to save millions of lives… And while they figure that out, the rest of the world moves on and just starts doing it.