Several readers, including the sharp-eyed Thomas Peters and his posse over at American Papist, noticed that one of the questions in our survey--the one on possible roles for women--did not allow for an alternative to the role of "priest" ("priestess"?) or "deaconess." Not kosher, really. So we have added a couple possibilities, including a "none of the above." Apologies for the glitch--such is the nature of these things. Feel free to take the survey again by clicking here, or just pass the word on. As always, feedback is welcome. Many thanks.
Catholic Survey tweak
Monday March 31, 2008
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About Benedictions: The Pope in America
The last update to the Benedictions blog was in April 2008. We welcome your comments about the Pope and Catholicism in general in our http://community.beliefnet.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=140”>Catholic forums.
David Gibson is an award-winning religion writer who specializes in writing about the Catholic Church, which he joined as a convert at the age of 30. He is the author The Rule of Benedict: Pope Benedict XVI and His Battle with the Modern World. He also wrote The Coming Catholic Church: How the Faithful are Shaping a New American Catholicism. He has written about Catholicism for leading newspapers and magazines, including the New York Times, Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal, New York magazine, Boston magazine, Fortune, Commonweal, and America. Gibson worked in Rome for Vatican Radio for several years and traveled frequently with Pope John Paul II. He later covered religion for The Star-Ledger of New Jersey. He has co-written several recent documentaries on Christianity for CNN. For further information check out his website at dgibson.com.
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Regarding your question in the survey about birth control:
There are those of us who differentiate between barrier methods of birth control (ie., condoms,foam,diaphragm,sponge)that prevent egg and sperm from uniting to start a new life and other methods which work by preventing the implantation of a very tiny embryo where egg and sperm have united to start a very tiny human being but then these united cells are prevented from implanting in the woman's uterus. Every form of chemical birth control (ie., the pill, Norplant, Depro-Provera injections, RU-486, the mini-pill) has the ability to cause early abortions. The IUD irritates the uterus and makes it hostile to the developing embryo and prevents it from implanting to continue its journey to becoming a full-term baby. For the pill and others mentioned above, the birth contrl usually suppresses ovulation but not always, and then the possibility of conception followed by early abortion can occur. To me there is a huge difference between preventing the union of egg and sperm and preventing the further development of the human being whose life has already been started.