This is really, really rich

Melancholicus is wryly amused, and more than just a little irritated, by the obtusity of those—and they are many—who attribute the AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa to the teaching of the Catholic Church regarding artificial contraception.

This story, courtesy of Catholic World News, displays to the world the foolishness and unreason of such leftist bureaucratic functionaries as Alberto Stella. This man represents—need we be surprised?—the UN.

UN official blames Church for spread of AIDS

Tegucigalpa, Oct. 24, 2007 (CWNews.com) - A UN official has blamed the Catholic Church for the spread of the HIV virus in Latin America.

Alberto Stella, who coordinates UN efforts to fight AIDS in central America, complained that condom use has been “demonized” by Catholic leaders in the region. He made the remarkable claim, “I guarantee the epidemic would be resolved in the region” if condoms were always used.

Stella told the Reuters news service that sexual abstinence programs are “not working” as a means of curtailing the spread of AIDS. He reported that teenagers are becoming sexually active, eschewing the use of condoms, and therefore contracting the infection.

UN statistics show 1.7 million people in Latin American infected with the HIV virus, with over 400,000 new infections reported last year.

If Melancholicus understands Dr Stella correctly, persons in Africa engaging in immoral sexual liaisons eschew the use of condoms since these are forbidden by the Catholic Church, and apparently for no other reason. Hence, according to his reasoning, when they contract HIV and other unpleasant infections, only the Church can be to blame for this terrible state of affairs.

Would Dr Stella care to explain to the public why these unfortunates are apparently so eager to obey the moral teachings of the Church when it comes to the use of contraceptive devices, but apparently so unwilling to submit to the teachings of the same Church when it comes to pre-marital/extra-marital sex?

Pacé Dr Stella’s outraged blusterings, Melancholicus can with confidence “guarantee the epidemic would be resolved in the region” if the teachings of the Church were always followed.

And as one of the commentators on the CWN website so perspicaciously observed, “it’s funny how teenagers are “becoming sexually active” in all the 3rd world countries the UN meddles with”.

*UPDATE: after a more careful reading of the original news story, Melancholicus has realised (not without a twinge of embarrassment) that Stella's discourse treated Latin America and not Africa. However, he will neither withdraw nor modify his remarks since the principle in each case is exactly the same.