CATHOLIC groups from Europe to the Americas have called on Pope Benedict XVI to reverse the Vatican's stance on contraception, in an open letter published in a daily newspaper. Sixty organisations were signatories to the letter, which appeared in Corriere della Sera on the 40th anniversary of the late Pope Paul VI's encyclical "Humanae vitae" (On the Regulation of Birth).Dissident Catholic bodies from countries including Britain, Brazil, Canada, France and and the United States said the effects of the Roman Catholic Church's condemnation of artificial birth control had been "catastrophic".
They said the world's poorest and weakest were suffering the most from the doctrine, saying that Catholics should be able to "plan their family life with certainty and in good conscience".
The letter criticises a stance it says "puts the lives of women in danger and exposes millions of people to the risk of contracting the AIDS virus".
It says the impact of the Church's position has been "disastrous in the southern hemisphere, where the Catholic leadership exercises considerable influence on the politics of family planning".
The authors say the encyclical has "completely failed in its aim" to convince Catholics to avoid modern contraceptive methods.
In 2006, the Vatican denied it was ready to ease its ban on the use of condoms amid growing pressure from religious groups.
But the Vatican newspaper Osservatore Romano said today the encyclical, which has the status of a law for Catholics, was ahead of its time, given "the worrying developments in genetic engineering".
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