> One of the greatest tragedies of our time is happening right now in Africa, and if it was up to the Catholic church it would be a lot bigger than it is alread

> One of the greatest tragedies of our time is happening right now in Africa, and if it was up to the Catholic church it would be a lot bigger than it is already. (HIV/AIDS spread because of a lack of / refusal to use condoms). In all fairness, the Catholic Church does a lot for people in 3rd world countries (I live in an African country and they provide a lot of services). As an example, the school and hospital system in such poor countries as Lesotho was at a time almost 100% CC run and funded. The CC has probably the most extensive hospital system in Africa – and this provides medical service to thousands of people. Some abstinence programs did work (for instance in Uganda which uses an ABC approach). On the flipside of the coin some programs promoting just condom use were huge failures (a good example is the “Love Life” program that was partially funded by the Bill&Melinda Gates Foundation – a lot of money went down the drain there). The best program (IMHO) is probably an ABC type program that promotes both.