By Nick Squires in Rome. Saturday March 28 2009
The Pope has been accused by the leading medical magazine 'The Lancet' yesterday of "distorting" scientific evidence following his claim that distributing condoms in Africa was exacerbating the HIV/Aids crisis.
The British publication, one of the world's most respected medical journals, demanded a retraction of his comments, which it claimed manipulated science in order to promote the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.
"Whether the Pope's error was due to ignorance or a deliberate attempt to manipulate science to support Catholic ideology is unclear," the journal said in an editorial.
Disservice
Anything less than a retraction of the remarks "would be an immense disservice to the public and health advocates, including many thousands of Catholics, who work tirelessly to try and prevent the spread of HIV/Aids worldwide," the journal says.
Pope Benedict was criticised after saying during his African tour that condoms not only did not help stem the spread of HIV, they in fact "aggravated" or increased the problem by encouraging promiscuity.
The Vatican faces the prospect of being bombarded with condoms in a protest organised through Facebook, the social networking website. Up to 60,000 people have pledged to send prophylactics to the Pontiff in the next few days.
Campaigners described it as "peaceful provocation" by young people.
Senior Catholics rallied to the Pope Benedict's defence this week, with the head of the Italian Bishops' Conference, Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, saying the depth of opprobrium directed towards the pontiff had "been prolonged beyond good reason". (© Daily Telegraph, London)
( Retirado do jornal Irish Independent - 28.03.09 )
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