Recently, the pope, on a visit to Cameroon informed the locals that "condoms cannot protect from HIV"?

and may, in fact, makes transmission rates worse. (source: BBC World news).

Isn't it about time someone called out this buffoon and *****-slapped him?

According to this fool, spermatozoa can "easily" traverse condom walls.

HE'S LYING!

Just another example on how an ignorant superstitious so-called leader figure can and *will* do damage to millions of gullible people.

PS. I retyped "idiotic" to "ignorant" just to be polite.

OMG I could not believe this man, does he not study customs of countries in Africa, is he not educated of the groups hes addressing, in some area men just do who they want still like years ago, its thier deal. The Pope should be tried on crimes against humanity with some of his statements. Did he offer to build hospitals, nope, did he offer money, nope, he told em to do with no condoms. Please someone stop this man, hes is hurting humanity. the average woman with no birth control, the world wide average is 13 live births that survive no telling how many die before their one.
He said that? Hes a liar and a bafoon, someone needs to get in control of that man and take him out and make him life in Africa and watch the aides people die and tiny children scavenge to eat how dare he do that.

The Republic of Cameroon (French: R茅publique du Cameroun) is a unitary republic of central and western Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the Bight of Bonny, part of the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean. The country is called "Africa in miniature" for its geological and cultural diversity. Natural features include beaches, deserts, mountains, rainforests, and savannas. The highest point is Mount Cameroon in the southwest, and the largest cities are Douala, Yaound茅, and Garoua. Cameroon is home to over 200 different ethnic and linguistic groups. The country is well known for its native styles of music, particularly makossa and bikutsi, and for its successful national football team. English and French are the official languages.

Early inhabitants of the territory included the Sao civilisation around Lake Chad and the Baka hunter-gatherers in the southeastern rainforest. Portuguese explorers reached the coast in the 15th century and named the area Rio dos Camar玫es ("River of Prawns"), the name from which Cameroon derives. Fulani soldiers founded the Adamawa Emirate in the north in the 19th century, and various ethnic groups of the west and northwest established powerful chiefdoms and fondoms. Cameroon became a German colony in 1884. After World War I, the territory was divided between France and Britain as League of Nations mandates. The Union des Populations du Cameroun political party advocated independence but was outlawed in the 1950s. It waged war on French and Cameroonian forces until 1971. In 1960, French Cameroun became independent as the Republic of Cameroun under President Ahmadou Ahidjo. The southern part of British Cameroons merged with it in 1961 to form the Federal Republic of Cameroon. The country was renamed the United Republic of Cameroon in 1972 and the Republic of Cameroon in 1984.

Compared with other African countries, Cameroon enjoys political and social stability. This has permitted the development of agriculture, roads, railways, and large petroleum and timber industries. Nevertheless, large numbers of Cameroonians live in poverty as subsistence farmers. Power lies firmly in the hands of the president, Paul Biya, and his Cameroon People's Democratic Movement party, and corruption is widespread. The Anglophone community has grown increasingly alienated from the government, and Anglophone politicians have called for greater decentralisation and even the secession of the former British-governed territories.

Then I suggest you tell the scientists and successful governmental officials about your proof.

+ Expert Opinion +

Last year, Edward C. Green, director of the AIDS Prevention Research Project at the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies, wrote: "In every African country in which HIV infections declined, this decline has been associated with a decrease in the proportion of men and women reporting more than one sex partner over the course of a year鈥攚hich is exactly what fidelity programs promote."

And: "Many countries that have not seen declines in HIV have seen increases in condom use, but in every country worldwide in which HIV has declined there have been increases in levels of faithfulness and usually abstinence as well." http://www.harvardaidsprp.org/index.html

Sam L. Ruteikara, co-chair of Uganda's National AIDS-Prevention Committee wrote: The proportion of Ugandans infected with HIV plunged from 21 percent in 1991 to 6 percent in 2002. Telling men and women to keep sex sacred -- to save sex for marriage and then remain faithful -- is telling them to love one another deeply with their whole hearts. Most HIV infections in Africa are spread by sex outside of marriage: casual sex and infidelity. The solution is faithful love. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con...

The Catholic Church has never asked unmarried people to have unprotected sex. Neither has she asked married couples with diseases to have unprotected sex.

Judeo-Christian tradition has taught for thousands of years:
1. Single people should be celibate.
2. Married people should be faithful to each other (adultery is wrong).
3. Married couples should welcome God's gift of children and, therefore, artificial birth control is against the will of God.

If the world is going to ignore teachings about chastity (1 & 2), then why is the world so upset about teaching artificial birth control (3)?

People who are already ignoring the more important teachings about chastity (1 and 2) should have no problem ignoring the less important teaching of artificial birth control (3).

Even if a person infected with AIDS was to use a condom to help protect his or her spouse, condoms are not 100% effective (read the box) and the spouse may be infected and die anyway. A person who truly loves their spouse would not endanger them in this way.

In regards to sex outside of marriage, the Church makes it a practice not to tell people how to sin. With or without a condom:
鈥?Fornication is still fornication
鈥?Adultery is still adultery
鈥?Rape is still rape

With love in Christ.

He just thinks that condoms will make them have more sex.

Sure, not having sex would lower the rates of HIV.

But considering they are somewhere in the 90%+ effectiveness against STDs, if you're going to do it... wrap it up.

If you're going to deny availability to people, it won't help one bit.

Even if it is 1% more effective, it's better to use it.

Why can't he just say "Don't have sex... but if you do ... use a condom"

Yeah yeah, hes a pope, you're some dude on Yahoo Answers.

A change in lifestyle and mass conversions of African Catholics might not be a bad thing.

Hes not telling people to stop using condoms, hes telling people to keep it in their pants and get married and be faithful.

The liberal spin on his message is more harmful.

What right does this man have to try and force non believers to follow his religious dictats?!!

Aids is the largest killer in Africa by far and his ideas will increase the rate of infections and deaths!! So much so that he could cause far more deaths than the holocaust!!

You need to understand the Catholics believe sex is to be ONLY between married heterosexual couples and then ONLY for the purpose of reproduction!
So condom = no pregnancy = sin.

And to be fair, they also believe the earth and universe was created in 6 days. They also have a belief that some dead guy arose after a few days in a tomb. Go figure.

While outrageous, it is not surprising.
Christians have no qualms about lying to promote their agenda.

It depends on the type of condom used. Natural membrane condoms can pass diseases.

The pope has lost his mind. I would love to sit the pope down and make him watch Superbad over and over.

The pope has "Paper bag syndrome" himself.

yeah the popes an idiot