The visit to the U.S. by Pope Francis was monumental. There are 1.8 billion Catholics on the planet – maybe more. But Catholics and non-Catholics crowded the streets of Washington, DC, Philadelphia, PA and New York City just to get a glimpse of him. The lucky ones were able to hear his speech on the subject of climate change and ecology.
Why is Papa Francis so concerned about the environment? He says that global warming hurts the poor before anyone else. He is a pope that has dedicated his life to helping the poor and disadvantaged.
However, while he is taking a stand on curbing emissions and green-house gasses, scientists are saying that he is not looking at the root cause of the problem – over population. The Church has always taken a stand against birth control, especially condoms. Scientists say that the best way to fight the erosion of our environment is to stop putting such a strain on our natural resources. More people mean more strain on what we have.
A line has been drawn in the sand and no one is trying to pull the other over to his side. Scientists Paul R. Ehrlich and John Harte are quoted as saying in Nature Climate Change, “Pope Francis needs to heed his own comments on the Church’s ‘obsession’ with contraception and abortion, and assume a leadership position in support of women’s rights and family planning.”
Condoms prevent disease and they also prevent pregnancy. If you want to really go out on a limb you could also say they prevent poverty. Look at the nations that strictly adhere to the rules of the Church. They have families with eight, ten and even twelve or more children that they cannot feed or educate. The families are dirt poor. If they had prevented two-thirds of the pregnancies, they would not be as poor.
In olden days families had a lot of children simply to have bodies available to work the farms. We are no longer an agrarian civilization. The poor do not even have land on which to grow food. Poverty can be addressed as well as the eco-system with fewer bodies.
While there are almost two billion Catholics across the globe it is obvious that they do not heed the Church’s directives on the use of condoms. It is their business and no one else’s. Parents who do not believe in condoms for birth control may change their tune when their teenager winds up pregnant or with HIV. You cannot stop younger people from having sex. But you can protect them from unwanted pregnancies and diseases.
