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Philly Gives Condoms to 11-Year-Olds Recent survey of West Philly sixth graders found that 25 percent of them have sex Wednesday, Apr 13, 2011 | Updated 11:57 AM EDT Philly Gives Condoms to 11-Year-Olds By Teresa Masterson Children as young as 11 years old are encouraged to get free condoms sent to them, compliments of the Philadelphia Public Health Department. Daily News columnist Ronnie Polaneczky was first alerted to the city’s youth-oriented condom campaign by a horrified mother, and upon perusal of the health department’s website takecontrolphilly.org, Polaneczky herself was a bit depressed by what she found. “If you live...

THE EMAIL was from a wigged-out mom I know well. She was appalled that the city's campaign to reduce sexually transmitted diseases allows kids as young as 11 to get free condoms via mail-order from the Public Health Department. Eleven! Go to the website www.takecontrol philly.org and see for yourself. Be warned: The site contains very straightforward info, including explicit animations illustrating the proper way to don or insert a condom. "Every girl is different," the website notes in its instructions on female-condom use. "Figure out what position works for you. You can stand with one foot on a chair,...

TAVARES, Fla. - The pastor of a Florida house of worship called Saturday Night Live Church says its billboard reading "Scumbags Welcome!" is in keeping with Jesus' preaching. Pastor Moses Robbins said his church's message isn't intended as a put down for a societal fringe that includes addicts, thieves and others who don't feel at home in a traditional church setting, the Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel reported. "Our hope was that we would fill up the building, bring new people to the cross and Jesus," Robbins, 42, said. The non-denominational church holds services in the activity center of the First United...

If young people have casual sex, they’re rock stars, as long as they use condoms. If they casually smoke cigarettes, they’re borderline criminals. According to the FDA, that is. The FDA takes a hypocritical and overly invasive stance on two adult products: Condoms and cigarettes. The FDA’s inconsistent and excessive regulation of these adult products hurts free enterprise and represents an inappropriate extension of government in our daily lives. This month, The Associated Press reported that condom maker Graphic Armor Inc. is releasing the first line of FDA-compliant condoms with full-color advertising graphics directly on the latex. The graphics will...

Need a condom? Naturally, there's an app for that. As a way to encourage safe sex, New York City health officials have released an official smart phone application that helps randy residents track down the nearest location that gives out the city's free, branded rubbers, according to the Associated Press. The free app, currently available for iPhone and Android users, shows up in the phones' respective marketplaces when users search for "NYC Condom Finder." To find protection, couples can manually enter their address or use their phone's GPS; the app automatically pulls up the five nearest locations with the snazzy...

I am trying to relax and watch Star Wars on a beautiful Christmas morning. However, my enjoyment quickly turned to disgust and I had to send the children out of the room and change the channel. Star Wars, obviously an American icon and children's favorite, was interrupted every 8 minutes or so, to sell female self pleasure devices, i.e., vibrators. When they were not selling vibrators, they were selling some kind of lubricated condom guaranteeing his and her fantastic pleasure. Now keep in mind this is in the morning, before noon, on Christmas morning during Star Wars. Who is more...

Pope Benedict's recent comments regarding condom use have some folks and followers confused, but there can be no mistaking the very clear message in PETA's new international campaign:  Visitors to the Vatican yesterday were the first to receive our new "Pope Condom" campaign leaflets, which we'll also soon be taking to cathedrals and churches across the U.S. Simply stated: It's sinful that millions of dogs and cats are killed every year in animal shelters simply because there aren't enough homes for all of them—and that millions more are abandoned on the streets, where they starve, die of untreated injuries or...

TRULY, if one does not understand the days we live in, the recent firestorm over the Pope’s condom remarks could leave the faith of many shaken. But I believe it’s part of God’s plan today, part of His divine action in the purification of His Church and eventually the whole world: For it is time for the judgment to begin with the household of God… (1 Peter 4:17) BINDING THE SHEPHERD’S MOUTHSIn Scripture, God generally purifies His people in two ways: by making them leaderless and/or handing them over to their enemies. St. Gregory the Great, speaking of the Shepherds...

When the Pope made some comments on condoms, the press ran to take his words out of context. Or, as South Australian blogger Peter Wales put it: “Oh my goodness, the legacy media really are a laugh a minute. Three examples: Pope changes view on condom use. No he hasn’t. Pope Agrees Condom Use Can Be Justified. That’s not what he said. Pontiff Blesses Condom Use. Did you even read what he said?” It’s my view that many secular journalists are simply too emotional to cover issues pertaining to Catholics and condoms. Tim Black of London’s libertarian-leaning spiked website also...

Catholic commentators are trying to correct the fact, that the Pope talked about a male prostitute in a weak-headed interview. Pressesplitter. The decadent majority as a measure of the moral. Swiss Television: Mr. Seewald, do you see the Pope as having completely made a change of the Catholic sexual morality?

The truth is still half an hour behind the slander; and nobody can be certain when or where it will catch up with it. The garrulity of pressmen and the eagerness of enemies had spread the first story through the city, even before it appeared in the first printed version.... - The Scandal of Father Brown, by G. K. ChestertonThe press has eagerly seized upon Pope Benedict's statement, in a book to be issued on November 23, that the use of condoms may be morally permissible if the sole intention is "to reduce the risk of infection." This is...

Thousands of secular media outlets-- and more than a few Catholic news services-- are leading their coverage today with headlines about Pope Benedict's statement on the use of condoms. CWN is not linking to those stories because, with rare exceptions, they are inaccurate. Our news service exists to give Catholics (and others who are interested in the Church) an accurate guide to coverage of stories that affect the Church. Often we feel obligated to link to stories that contain some inaccuracies, because informed readers should be aware of what is being reported. But we never intentionally carry, or link to,...

Here is what the New York Times reported to its readers on November 21: “Pope Benedict XVI has said that condom use can be justified in some cases to help stop the spread of AIDS . . . .” No, the pope did not say that in his new book, Light of the World, to which I had the honor of contributing a foreword. Here is what the pope actually wrote, answering two questions from German journalist Peter Seewald: Seewald: On the occasion of your trip to Africa in March 2009, the Vatican’s policy on Aids once again became...

Pope Benedicts XVI's change of heart on condoms marks a significant break with the damage done by one of his predecessors' most romantic, wicked and wrong-headed policies. The idea of an absolute ban on condoms makes no sense even within the framework of Catholic teaching. Since the purpose of the ban on artificial birth control is to make conception possible, it makes no sense at all in situations in which conception is utterly impossible. That is why Benedict chose a male prostitute as his example of someone who might use a condom to fight disease. The really interesting question is...

An excerpt from Light of the World, Peter Seewald’s book-length interview with Pope Benedict XVIFrom Chapter 11, "The Journeys of a Shepherd," pages 117-119: On the occasion of your trip to Africa in March 2009, the Vatican’s policy on AIDs once again became the target of media criticism.Twenty-five percent of all AIDs victims around the world today are treated in Catholic facilities. In some countries, such as Lesotho, for example, the statistic is 40 percent. In Africa you stated that the Church’s traditional teaching has proven to be the only sure way to stop the spread of HIV. Critics, including...

In a break with his traditional teaching, Pope Benedict XVI has said the use of condoms is acceptable "in certain cases", in an extended interview to be published this week. After holding firm during his papacy to the Vatican's blanket ban on the use of contraceptives, Benedict's surprise comments will shock conservatives in the Catholic church while finding favour with senior Vatican figures who are pushing for a new line on the issue as HIV ravages Africa. The comments were made in a book-length interview with a German journalist, Peter Seewald. In the case of a male prostitute, says Benedict,...

Now that I’ve got your attention, please buy a copy of the new book Light of the World, an interview of B16 by Peter Seewald, and find out for yourself. In addition to the question of condoms, you’ll also find that Benedict is an incredibly interesting and deep leader. So, here’s the scoop. L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper (where I once worked), broke the embargo on the book and published some excerpts. Of course, if there’s something to do with sex and anything Catholic, you can be sure that it will get attention.In a detailed section on the question of...

This is a companion to the thread titled: Pope approves use of condoms in fight against Aids Condoms are not the answer to Africa's fight against AIDS, and in fact exacerbate the epidemic, Pope Benedict said at the start of a 7-day visit to the continent today. It's the first explicit statement about condoms from the pontiff, who has said that the Roman Catholic Church is at the forefront of the battle against AIDS. The Vatican encourages sexual abstinence to fight the spread of the disease. "You can't resolve it with the distribution of condoms; on the contrary, it increases...

Pope Benedict XVI says in a new book that condoms can be justified for male prostitutes seeking to stop the spread of HIV, a stunning comment for a church criticized for its opposition to condoms and for a pontiff who has blamed them for making the AIDS crisis worse. The pope made the comments in a book-length interview with a German journalist, "Light of the World: The Pope, the Church and the Signs of the Times," which is being released Tuesday. The Vatican newspaper ran excerpts on Saturday. Church teaching has long opposed condoms because they are a form of...

He will say that it is acceptable to use a prophylactic when the sole intention is to "reduce the risk of infection" from Aids. While he will restate the Catholic Church's staunch objections to contraception because it believes it interferes with the creation of life, he will argue that using a condom to preserve life and avoid death can be a responsible act – even outside marriage. Asked whether "the Catholic Church is not fundamentally against the use of condoms," he replies: "It of course does not see it as a real and moral solution. "In certain cases, where the...