No Offense Pope Benedict, but Are You Freakin' Serious?

MSNBC reports today from Africa that Pope Benedict XVI made his first explicit anti-condom statement regarding the fight against HIV/AIDS epidemic:

From the MSNBC article:

"You can't resolve it with the distribution of condoms," the pope told reporters aboard the Alitalia plane headed to Yaounde, Cameroon, where he will begin a seven-day pilgrimage on the continent. "On the contrary, it increases the problem."

From the Telegraph newspaper in the UK:

While en route from Rome to his first stop, Cameroon, the Pope said that the condition was "a tragedy that cannot be overcome by money alone, that cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms, which even aggravates the problems."

Seriously? His answer? Of course, abstinence. Because anyone who knows anything about health education knows the abstinence message works so well in preventing sexually transmitted infections...NOT! In my opinion, he may as well be saying those who get HIV/AIDS deserve it. And folks wonder why fewer and fewer people are identifying with organized religions...

May I just say, out of touch much, Pope?