Postscript.

"Use Natural Planning: It Doesn't Work! ... NFP proponents tout its 99 percent effectiveness rate, but they neglect to mention that this is only true if the husband is in the Navy assigned to extended, uninterrupted sea duty of three-year tours or longer."

--H.W. Crocker, a conservative, in a vaguely tongue-in-cheek promotional piece for natural family planning. (1)

"John Paul II's most lasting legacy to Catholicism will come from the episcopal appointments he made. In order to have been named a bishop, a priest must have been seen to be absolutely opposed to masturbation, premarital sex, birth control (including condoms used to prevent the spread of AIDS), abortion, divorce, homosexual relations, married priests, female priests and any hint of Marxism. It is nearly impossible to find men who subscribe wholeheartedly to this entire catalogue of certitudes; as a result the ranks of the episcopate are filled with mindless sycophants and intellectual incompetents."

--Thomas Cahill, author of a biography on Pope John XXIII. (2)

"Any worthwhile visitation must be predicated on a firm recognition of the clergyman's fondness for the expedient lie."

--From an advice column for those carrying out the Vatican-approved visitations at every US seminary to investigate how to prevent a recurrence of the sexual abuse scandal. (3)

"There will be no excommunication, but [going to the polls] is a serious and impudent act of disobedience."

--Cardinal Francesco Pompedda, a senior Vatican official, speaking before the referendum on Italy's fertility taw. (See p. 7 for more on this.) (4)

"No priest may take any active part in politics, whether in political parties or in partisan groups or associations."

--From a letter from the bishops of Haiti to the nation's priests. (5)

"I am in favor of the promotion of women and always defended their ordination by the Catholic church. My mother raised 21 children, 13 of her own and eight by adoption, and all of them accomplished what they set out to do. How can I accept that women be treated as less than men? I have immense respect for my mother and all my sisters. "

--Cardinal Paulo Evaristo Arns of Brazil. (6)

"Woman as child, in her condition as daughter of God the Father; woman as spouse, in her ministerial role and her relationship to man; woman as mother, in her role of service which involves the fertility of maternity and of work; woman as sister, in her differences with man, yet fundamental equality."

--From the blurb for a conference in Argentina that will study and promote John Paul II's vision of "authentic feminism." (7)

"It would be like saying the Pope needs to maintain lines of communication with Hitler, and, therefore, we're going to invite Hitler to give a major policy speech at the Vatican. "

--Patrick Reilly, president of the Cardinal Newman Society, a conservative campus group, suggests that inviting Hillary Clinton to a Catholic university is akin to inviting Hitler to the Vatican. (8)

"Priesthood is a gift, celibacy is a gift: they are not the same gift.... We request that ... the Synod Fathers examine honestly the appropriateness of insisting upon a priesthood that is, with very few exceptions, obliged to be celibate."

--Part of a letter to the Vatican from the National Council of Priests in Australia, representing some 50 percent of Australia's clergy, including 42 bishops and three cardinals. (9)

"[I resent] being told how to be a good Catholic.... I absolutely resent the Catholic Church preaching to me because I represent people of all faiths. I question their ability to continue to be in tax-exempt status. We don't need to be preached to or read to."

--Fran Coleman, a Democratic State Representative for Colorado, reacting to a letter from the state Catholic conference, calling for a vote against a bill mandating hospitals to give information about emergency contraception to women who have been raped. (10)

"Your faces are marked with sin and you've destroyed your bodies with licentiousness and debauchery--so only toys from sex-shops can move you now."

--Bishop Jozef Zawistowski of Lomza, Poland, speaking during a "reconciliatory" mass after the Polish senate adopted a bill on same-sex partnerships. (11)

(1.) H. W. Crocker III, "Making babies, A very different look at Natural Family Planning," Crisis Magazine, December 2004; (2) Thomas Cahill, "The price of infallibility," New York Times, April 5, 2005; (3) Diogenes, "The real picture," Catholic World Report, January 2005; (4) Irene Peroni, "Fertility vote galvanises Vatican," BBC News, June 13, 2005; (5) Origins, "Letter opposes roles for priests in politics," May 26, 2005; (6) Laura Greenhalgh, "Interview with Cardinal Arns," O Estado de Sao Poulo (Brazil), February 12, 2005; (7) Catholic News Agency, "Forum on 'authentic feminism' to take place in Argentina," June 1, 2005; (8) Carlos Briceno, "Dialogue vs. witness," National Catholic Register, February 13-19, 2005; (9) Linda Morris, "Priests plea to Rome: Let us marry," The Age (Australia), January 26, 2005; (10) Peggy Lowe, "Catholic statement angers legislator," Rocky Mountain News, February 1, 2005; (11) Warsaw Voice (Poland), "Heard in passing," February 2, 2005.