PLANNED PARENTHOOD LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN AGAINST POPE BENEDICT XVI
New York, May. 04, 2005 ( CNA ) - Planed Parenthood has launched a
campaign
to motivate all of its members and supporters, nominal Catholics and
non-Catholics, to send letters to the editor, requesting that Pope
Benedict
XVI reconsider his "backward views" and change his opinion on sexual
morality.
Pope Benedict XVI must be encouraged to "reconsider his dangerously
outdated
stances on birth control, abortion and sexuality in order to help move
the
Catholic Church into the 21st century," reads a memo issued by campaign
manager Eve Fox.
"The new Pope's positions on these crucial issues pose a terrible
danger to
the health of millions of women and girls around the world and
undermines
efforts to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS," Fox wrote.
The campaign manager justified this action, saying that the "the Church
has
tremendous influence over many governments, especially in Latin
America, and
plays a powerful role in shaping social and political norms around the
world."
Calling him "even more conservative" than Pope John Paul II, Fox told
her
supporters that Pope Benedict XVI is "against all forms of
contraception and
opposes the use of condoms to prevent HIV/AIDS."
Prior to being elected Pope, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger "told Catholics
in
the U.S. it would be a sin to vote for pro-choice candidates like John
Kerry, and urged bishops to deny Kerry Communion. He has also led the
Catholic Church's campaign against same-sex marriage and other rights
for
same-sex couples, including the right to adopt children," wrote Fox.