Did you know the one about condoms not being effective against HIV because the virus is so small that it can penetrate the condom latex? (A false claim, if you're wondering).
Or the one about the recognition of same-sex partnerships as being detrimental to hetero marriages even if nobody has quite explained just how?
OK, you might not be aware of the first claim but the second one is pretty much par for the course for some of the extreme right wing organizations fighting efforts to extend partnership benefits to same-sex couples in the United States and elsewhere.
Thing is, despite the Papal love-fest being witnessed here in the United States this week, these are also the Vatican's positions. And - if you really think about it - it means that the blood of millions who have died from AIDS throughout the world is still all over the current Pope's hands.
Personally, I can care less whether the Vatican approves of same-sex partnerships or not as long as they don't get involved in policy making for those of us who are not religious (of course, reality is that the separation of church and state is most times a mirage particularly in Latin American countries).
But when it comes to HIV prevention and the use of condoms, the Vatican has been as woefully blind and irresponsible as with its failure to address the pedophile scandal that has rocked Catholic churches in recent years (and, no, don't tell me that the Pope's apology this week or his meeting with abuse survivors atones for the damage done).
Fact is that when it came to preventing HIV, right wing demagogues have always had the Vatican's backing and key among the Vatican leaders who had best carried their flag was Colombian-born Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo (briefly considered as a candidate for Pope-hood when Pope John Paul II died).
Here are some of Cardinal Trujillo's views:
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