Condoms for the Pope

The 27 March Facebook group is protesting Pope Benedict XVI's condemnation of use of condoms by sending him a few (tens of thousands, even millions).

The group had close to 30,000 members as of this writing. The organizers expect to send 60,000 condoms to the Vatican on Friday. Der Speigel reports:

Similar social networking groups supporting the condom campaign have sprung up elsewhere on Facebook, triggering pledges of participation from across Europe and beyond. Some estimate that deliveries to the pontiff may total 5 million. One Web site calls on people to either send a real condom addressed to "His Holiness" at the Vatican or a photograph of the contraceptive to his email address.

It was founded by Francis Miles, who described the effort in the Italian newspaper La Voce as "a peaceful provocation ... a reaction to the pope's absurd words on condoms."

He went on to say of himself and other members of the group:

. . . none of this group believes that the condom is the "holy hands" to the eradication of HIV from Africa, but there is one thing that has never been emphasized: the Pope's words were not in Africa. The condom is used throughout the world . . . no one should make it possible to convey the message that the condoms do not drastically lower the risk of infection.
Try a thought experiment: There are two large groups of people of both sexes. Each group is half and half not HIV-positive. Members of one group have sex using condoms. The group other does not us condoms. What do you expect?

The ongoing criticism of the Pointiff's condom remarks has made some church officials unhappy. The London Telegraph reports:

Senior Catholics rallied to the Pope's defense this week, with the head of the Italian Bishops Conference, Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, saying the depth of opprobrium directed towards the pontiff had "been prolonged beyond good reason."

What the critics seek, however, is the change of Vatican policy they believe reason requires. Thus the number of protest-participating Facebook groups is multiplying, along with the number of voices raised in disagreement with the Pope's unretracted remarks.