If you're a woman, there's not much hope from the Pope

It is sad that the Pope is ill. A once high-energy, athletic man, he has never been the same since he was shot, and now his health is obviously declining even more. His illness has prompted me to think about him and all he represents. What especially prompted me was a statement by his representative that the Pope is "a symbol of hope."

Hope for whom? I have to ask. Certainly not for the millions of worn-down Third World Catholic women who have been told repeatedly that any form of birth control is sinful. Or the Catholics who have been told by high church officials that condoms do not prevent transmission of the AIDS virus. Certainly not for the children born into never-ending poverty. Or the women in Bosnia who were raped and then told they could not get abortions.

The Vatican's oppression of women is extreme. Western Catholics deal with the ban on birth control by ignoring it, but it is a different story in other parts of the world. It is no coincidence that a church that forces women to get pregnant against their will also will not make them priests.