I shouldn't have used the word "temper" a ways back; don't know why I did that. What I really intended to say is that the pope should have spoken perfectly clearly or not at all on the subject. And definitely should not try to appease anyone who might hear the remarks (not saying he did that).
I understand your point, but I just don’t believe one can be sufficiently clear so that those whose minds are clouded by sin can’t pretend to misunderstand.
These are people, after all, who proclaimed that the Church had abandoned its condemnation of contraception when Pope Benedict said that using condoms during homosexual prostitution activity didn’t make homosexual prostitution more sinful ... that in fact, a concern to avoid spreading disease was a positive sign of human decency, under the circumstances.
I think one either has to avoid the topic at all, thereby entirely conceding the issue, or simply accept that evil people will proclaim that you’ve said something very different from what you said.
And yes, they can twist “perfectly clearly” as well but at least the transcripts won’t be ambiguous.