Thursday, September 23, 2010

The Pope's Not So Welcomed Visit to England

According to this article, on Saturday, September 18, and estimated 20,000 protesters flooded the streets of London to protest the Pope's visit to England. Controversy concerning the view homosexuals within the eyes of the Catholic Church was at a peak after Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster stated that gay catholics are "difficult" to place because although they are not condemned as being sinful for their sexual desires, they are considered "inherently evil"by the church for their expression of sexuality towards another of the same sex. The archbishop mentioned a possibility for a future recognition of same-sex relationships but the Vatican is strongly apposed to such an idea.

People also were protesting the Pope's views on use contraception, such as condoms and birth control for women. Protesters held up signs reading "Popes opposition to condoms kills people" and "Keep the Pope out of women's reproductive rights."

Another reason people protested his arrival was due to his, in the protesters opinions, half hearted apology concerning the child abuse scandal within Catholic churches. People are upset that the abusers are still not being convicted of their crimes, and they believe the church is preventing that from happening. The protesters in general were looking for justice in many different and prevalent issues.

Submitted by: Jaime Hacker

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