"EMAILING THE POPE YOUR QUESTIONS" http://www.MelvinDurai.com/pope.htm
Pope Benedict XVI has been given an email address, [EMAIL PROTECTED], and will spend a few minutes each day reading messages from around the world and the rest of the day deleting spam. The pope has already received email from thousands of people, some congratulating him on his new position, others seeking his answers to various moral and religious questions: Should gay people be allowed to marry? Should brain-dead people be kept alive on feeding tubes? Should the church continue to ban contraceptives? And what about gay people who use contraceptives -- should they be kept alive on feeding tubes? The papal inbox will be a repository for all sorts of interesting email:
Dear Pope: First let me congratulate you on an impressive election victory. You really trounced your opponents, especially those non-European cardinals who actually thought they had a chance. You need to tell them to go easy on the grape juice. Anyway, it's good to see democracy working so well within the church. If only more countries would learn from the Vatican and follow its democratic ideal of "one man, one vote, let the women sit and watch." I'm glad you believe that only men should be priests, bishops and cardinals. We already let women attend church and take communion -- must we let them wear the gowns too? Women today are already doing everything men do: they're doctors, lawyers, accountants, and engineers. Some jobs ought to be reserved for men. Even my wife says that, right before asking me to take out the trash. Prayerfully yours, David C.
Dear Pope: I am really struggling with the abortion issue. While I've always believed, like you do, that abortion is wrong, a Jewish friend of mine has made me reconsider my position, insisting that the world would be a better place if Hitler's mother had chosen abortion. Such a choice may even be considered "pro-life." Of course, you may ask how Hitler's mother could have possibly known that her son would turn into such a monster. But I'm sure she could have found out, I'm sure she could have consulted a good psychic. Don't you agree? Respectfully yours, Rhonda B.
Dear Pope: I am a churchgoing man, very faithful to Catholic principles. I just wanted to know if you think the church will ever change its stance on same-sex marriage. In case you are wondering, I am heterosexual man. But it just so happens that my partner is not. He wants to get married in church, but that raises a problem: Which one of us should wear the dress? I think he should, because I'm the one who's heterosexual. Don't you think that's reasonable? Heterosexually yours, Kenneth D.
Dear Pope: My wife and I are both devout Catholics, but disagree on one important issue. She feels that the Vatican is too old-fashioned and impractical in its opposition to contraceptives, but I tend to agree with your position -- and so do our 14 children. We've been trying the natural method of birth control and it's quite effective, giving my wife a few days off between pregnancies. But nowadays, she often locks me out of the bedroom, telling our children that this is a critical part of the natural method. My question to you is this: Can a locked door be considered a contraceptive? If so, shouldn't the church ban locked doors? Desperately yours, Manuel S.
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