<p>^ Being “learned” just means he’s read a lot of books. It’s applying the knowledge to solve epidemics which is important. I respect the pope as a leader, but if all he’s saying is “Stop having sex and become an abstinent Catholic like me!” well…ok, hardly realistic and does nothing to solve the crisis at hand. </p>
<p>I suppose the answer will lie with science, not religion. the religious will go on about abstinence while hopefully researchers will work on finding treatments and a cure for the HIV virus.</p>
<p>I can’t respect the Pope as a leader. His position on certain items perceived to be moral issues has caused a great deal of suffering. Birth control, when used to protect against HIV and to limit family size, is a wonderful thing, and the Pope’s unwillingness to see past dogma causes death and poverty for those who follow his instructions blindly. To place pseudo-morality over the prevention of suffering is idiocy.</p>