This just in…

…Pope dumps load of Catholic shaming on Cameroon.

Seriously? Still? It’s 09, Pope. Make like a modern human being and wake the frak up. Because I’m just dying to hear his explanation for how the promotion of condom use “can even increase the problem” of the spread of HIV/AIDS and other STDs. And how exactly a “spiritual and human awakening” and “friendship for those who suffer” will help stop the spread or find a cure?

While this rebuttal isn’t fantastic, it does make an interesting faith-based analogy: [T]here is nothing in the Bible about wearing a seat belt. But it would be foolish of any pastor not to tell his or her members to use the safety device when driving. Churches all across the country trust and love their fellow members, but you can bet that an accountant is employed by many churches to ensure that no one is stealing the tithes and offerings.

Pope Benedict surely loves God and sees him as his protector and provider, but he goes nowhere without armed bodyguards. The pope has to know that murder is against God’s will. He has to believe that every person has the choice to be a moral and upstanding person. Yet not everyone abides by those religious views, and his security is there to prevent him from being harmed.

So how are condoms any different?

As I said, Pope, I’m all ears.

Pope Joan

By now, I hope you’ve had a chance to enjoy our first historical fiction addition to the book club, Pope Joan. I’m a huge fan of any historical fiction that uses strong women as the storyline’s main catalyst, so this book had me at hello.

Pope Joan, by Donna Woolfolk Cross, follows the life and death of the Vatican’s only female pope [somewhat controversially] known to us today. The author explains her interest in the topic this way:

“I learned about Joan quite by accident. I was reading a book in French and came across a reference to a pope named “Jeanne.”…[T]he next day I went to the library and checked the Catholic Encyclopedia. Sure enough, there was an entry on Joan–the woman who lived disguised as a man and rose to become Pope of the Church in the ninth century.”

New Book: Pope Joan

Hellllllloooo readers!
It’s new book time, and we decided to switch gears for the next one. Read on…

Pope Joan is the novel based on the life of one of the most fascinating, extraordinary women in Western history– a controversial figure of historical record who, disguised as a man, rose to rule Christianity in the 9th century as the first and only woman to sit on the throne of St. Peter.

Brilliant and talented, young Joan rebels against the medieval social strictures forbidding women to learn to read and write. When her older brother is killed during a Viking attack, Joan takes up his cloak and identity, goes to the monastery of Fulda, and is initiated into the brotherhood in his place. As Brother John Anglicus, Joan distinguishes herself as a great Christian scholar. Eventually she is drawn to Rome, where she becomes enmeshed in a dangerous web of love, passion, and politics. Triumphing over appalling odds, she finally attains the highest throne in Christendom.

Pope Joan is a sweeping historical drama set against the turbulent events of the 9th century — the Saracen sack of St. Peter’s, the famous fire in the Borgo that destroyed over three-quarters of the Vatican, the Battle of Fontenoy, arguably the bloodiest and most terrible of medieval conflicts. The novel is a fascinating vivid record of what life was really like during the so-called Dark Ages, as masterwork of suspense and passion that has as its center an unforgettable woman, reminiscent of Jean Auel’s Ayla, Jane Austen’s Emma, and other heroines who struggle against restrictions their souls will not accept.

Check it out. Read up.
We’ll chat.