Tanzanian Bishops Oppose Teaching of Condom Use

ALLAFRICA, Jan. 10 — Roman Catholic bishops in Tanzania have condemned as “unacceptable” a new science syllabus for primary schools that incorporates the teaching of condom use, AllAfrica reported.

The disputed part of the syllabus is a section that lists several means of preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS, including “the proper use of condoms.” The Ministry of Education released the new primary school science syllabus in November 2005.

The bishops said their opposition did not imply that the Church was “blind to the magnitude of the loss of life and suffering to millions of people infected by the disease.” However, it said, the Church was obliged to defend the dignity of human beings and, as such, therefore, had to speak out.

“Introduction of the [teaching of] use of condoms in schools, apart from being sinful, is indeed justification and opening the door for immoral lifestyles,” Cardinal Polycarp Pengo, archbishop of Dar es Salaam, said Jan. 9 in a statement issued on behalf of Tanzania’s Bishops Conference.

He added, “Teaching children, some as young as 12 years old, the use of condoms is disastrous.”

Chinese Activist Under Arrest Since September

REUTERS, Jan. 6 — A blind activist in China and his family have been placed under house arrest for four months and he was beaten by thugs when he tried to venture out, after exposing forced abortions in his home province on the east coast, Reuters reported.

Club-wielding goons believed to be hired by local authorities have been posted outside Chen Guangcheng’s one-story brick home in Dongshigu, a farming village in Shandong province, since Sept. 6 to prevent him, his wife and 71-year-old mother from leaving, Chen said. His freedom was restricted when officials accused him of providing information to foreigners about forced abortions and sterilization as part of strict family planning rules.

Authorities have jammed signals to and from Chen’s mobile phone but they could not block calls on Jan. 6 due to a power failure. His home phone has also been cut. Up to 30 people have been guarding Chen’s house in each shift round the clock. The only visitor allowed is Chen’s older brother.

“China is lawless,” the 34-year-old activist said. “They’re worried I will expose more of their crimes. Do [President] Hu Jintao and [Premier] Wen Jiabao know? If they know, why have they not done anything?”

Germans Flock to See Silent Monks

BBC NEWS, Jan. 5 — An unlikely film has been filling cinemas in Germany in recent weeks: a three-hour documentary with hardly a single spoken word, set in a monastery in a remote corner of the French Alps, BBC News reported.

The film Into Great Silence is an intimate portrayal of the everyday lives of Carthusian monks. This almost totally silent film was not expected to be a hit. But it is playing to packed cinemas, fascinating audiences with the unique glimpse of a contemplative life, unknown beyond the monastery walls.

“I think they [monks] simply do it because they choose to ... become close to God,” says the film’s director Philip Groening, who lived at the monastery for several months to make the film.

“When I left the monastery, I was thinking about what exactly had I lived through and it was realizing that I had had the privilege of living with a community of people who live practically without any fears,” he said. “They have the feeling that death is just a transition; they have the feeling that if something goes wrong, then it’s okay because it’s something that God wanted — and this is something that changed me.”